Canadian Retail Thread

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by JHikka

I guess the key line in the CTV article is that Starbucks typically closes 100 locations in NA each year anyway.


It's anecdotal but i'd disagree with this. Most I know in their mid-20s still prefer Starbucks to most other coffee shops. Independents are great and all but they're still independents at the end of the day and sole-location.

Tim Hortons on the other hand? That's a demographic customer base bomb waiting to go off.

Yes, I think people are underplaying the effect of COVID. Starbucks is reading the writing on the wall and getting ahead of the game in terms of adjustments.

Some decisions would have come anyways so as to restructure, to increase profitability, and in response to the pre-COVID retail downturn.

This isn't a reflection of Starbucks or their weakness in the market, but rather it is a reflection of the market, itself. Everyone is going to suffer.

[casper]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

Yes, I think people are underplaying the effect of COVID. Starbucks is reading the writing on the wall and getting ahead of the game in terms of adjustments.

Some decisions would have come anyways so as to restructure, to increase profitability, and in response to the pre-COVID retail downturn.

This isn't a reflection of Starbucks or their weakness in the market, but rather it is a reflection of the market, itself. Everyone is going to suffer.

Maybe I am not typical. But i usually go to Starbucks because I have a meeting scheduled with someone and that is where we are meeting, I don't go there for the coffee.

When I want coffee at home we just make a pot of Nabob and in the office there is always reasonably fresh coffee (from a regional roaster). What was the point of "going out to get coffee".

I suspect most people pre covid had easy access to coffee without going to a coffee shop. What did they go to a coffee shop in the first place? Get out of the home/office? Go for a walk? On the way to another location? Meet somoene? That is the "real" product.

[goodgrowth]

Originally Posted by casper

Maybe I am not typical. But i usually go to Starbucks because I have a meeting scheduled with someone and that is where we are meeting, I don't go there for the coffee.

When I want coffee at home we just make a pot of Nabob and in the office there is always reasonably fresh coffee (from a regional roaster). What was the point of "going out to get coffee".

I suspect most people pre covid had easy access to coffee without going to a coffee shop. What did they go to a coffee shop in the first place? Get out of the home/office? Go for a walk? On the way to another location? Meet somoene? That is the "real" product.

It's why Starbucks was going to struggle more through this pandemic than Tim's. I'd say a good percentage of Tim's coffee sales are drive-thru.

The reality is there a lot of coffee drinkers out there who aren't looking to "peacefully enjoy a quality cup of coffee" so much as they are physically dependent on a stimulant in the morning and they just want the most cheapest/quickest way to get it way to get on the way to work.

That's why Tim's drive-thru's are typically insane during morning rush hours.

[Jeff]

Zara's next..

https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/...00-stores.html

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by casper

Maybe I am not typical. But i usually go to Starbucks because I have a meeting scheduled with someone and that is where we are meeting, I don't go there for the coffee.

When I want coffee at home we just make a pot of Nabob and in the office there is always reasonably fresh coffee (from a regional roaster). What was the point of "going out to get coffee".

I suspect most people pre covid had easy access to coffee without going to a coffee shop. What did they go to a coffee shop in the first place? Get out of the home/office? Go for a walk? On the way to another location? Meet somoene? That is the "real" product.

Look at the amount of seating at any given Starbucks location versus how many customers you see actually being served. Most people are making their purchase and then leaving so they are there for the coffee, Frappuccino, food, etc.

Starbucks says they are currently at around 50% of pre-COVID sales. I would be curious to see what Tim Horton's numbers are. I don't imagine they're very good either. People have been staying at home more, period. They're worried about money and therefore spending less. All businesses, other than those that profit from the change in behaviour, are suffering.

I would never drink Nabob. I hate Tim Horton's. My opinions on those things have no correlation with how popular they are.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

Look at the amount of seating at any given Starbucks location versus how many customers you see actually being served. Most people are making their purchase and then leaving so they are there for the coffee, Frappuccino, food, etc.

Depends on where the franchise is located. In a central CBD a Starbucks will be littered with people meeting up, chatting, and many ordering and leaving. Near a university campus it'll be filled with people working and idly sitting around, and many ordering and leaving. Out in the suburbs it'll be the odd people sitting around and many ordering and leaving.

Starbucks has perfected that sitting on a stool facing the window with your Mac pointing towards the street market.

[casper]

On the topic of Tim Hortons. Perhaps they should be give a contract for contact tracing given the database they have already been building on Canadians.

https://business.financialpost.com/t...oadsheet_promo

[esquire]

Originally Posted by casper

On the topic of Tim Hortons. Perhaps they should be give a contract for contact tracing given the database they have already been building on Canadians.

https://business.financialpost.com/t...oadsheet_promo

Is Tim's really any different than anyone else who makes an app, though? Broadly speaking, I always thought that was kind of the deal with Google, app makers, etc. You let them track you in exchange for some free products or services.

[casper]

Originally Posted by esquire

Is Tim's really any different than anyone else who makes an app, though? Broadly speaking, I always thought that was kind of the deal with Google, app makers, etc. You let them track you in exchange for some free products or services.

I think it is a grey area.....

Google maps is a mapping program, you expect it to access you GPS position for the purposes of knowing where you are.

Tim Hortons is a coffee sales app. Not certain I would expect Tims to keep track of everywhere I go during the day even I am not buying any coffee from them that day.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Depends on where the franchise is located. In a central CBD a Starbucks will be littered with people meeting up, chatting, and many ordering and leaving. Near a university campus it'll be filled with people working and idly sitting around, and many ordering and leaving. Out in the suburbs it'll be the odd people sitting around and many ordering and leaving.

Starbucks has perfected that sitting on a stool facing the window with your Mac pointing towards the street market.

A location may vary by the number of people sitting in the cafe but they are always outnumbered over the course of the day by the number of people ordering and leaving. That was my point.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by esquire

Is Tim's really any different than anyone else who makes an app, though? Broadly speaking, I always thought that was kind of the deal with Google, app makers, etc. You let them track you in exchange for some free products or services.

I get in my car every morning, my phone says how long it will take me to get to work. In the afternoon it tells me how long to home. Before the pandemic, there was a restaurant I went to every Friday night, my phone would tell me how long to there. I never told my phone I was going to work, or going for dinner, it just somehow knows lol. How does it know I'm not going to work at 5pm? If anyone is surprised that anything on our phone is tracking us, they shouldn't be.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I get in my car every morning, my phone says how long it will take me to get to work. In the afternoon it tells me how long to home. Before the pandemic, there was a restaurant I went to every Friday night, my phone would tell me how long to there. I never told my phone I was going to work, or going for dinner, it just somehow knows lol. How does it know I'm not going to work at 5pm? If anyone is surprised that anything on our phone is tracking us, they shouldn't be.

Your car may well be tracking as much as your smartphone.

[rbt]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I get in my car every morning, my phone says how long it will take me to get to work. In the afternoon it tells me how long to home. Before the pandemic, there was a restaurant I went to every Friday night, my phone would tell me how long to there. I never told my phone I was going to work, or going for dinner, it just somehow knows lol. How does it know I'm not going to work at 5pm? If anyone is surprised that anything on our phone is tracking us, they shouldn't be.

Open Google Maps.

Second icon from the left on the bottom row -> "Commute"

Triple Dot menu at the top -> "Commute Settings"

Midway down "Commute times".


It's configured with the standard 9 to 5 for a work period by default; but if you make a specific trip on a repeatable schedule it'll pick up on that and adjust accordingly.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Your car may well be tracking as much as your smartphone.

Great, my car and my phone are in kahoots. If they start talking to my wife's phone, I'm in shit lol.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by rbt

Open Google Maps.

Second icon from the left on the bottom row -> "Commute"

Triple Dot menu at the top -> "Commute Settings"

Midway down "Commute times".


It's configured with the standard 9 to 5 for a work period by default; but if you make a specific trip on a repeatable schedule it'll pick up on that and adjust accordingly.

I don't even have google maps

[casper]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Great, my car and my phone are in kahoots. If they start talking to my wife's phone, I'm in shit lol.

Obviously your wife's phone is chatting with your phone. The issue is when they are exchanging notes with your barista.

[Jeff]

Men's clothing retailer Moore's parent company (Tailored Brands) is close to bankrupcy next.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/14/inves...eat/index.html

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Tims presence in downtown Toronto was essentially non-existent 5 years ago though. Far from it today. They have opened a ton of stores in the downtown core in that time.

It was really their last untapped market, inner city locations.

I’d say that was more accurate 15 years ago. There are more Tim Hortons locations in Downtown Toronto now versus 5 years ago, but they were still easy to find back when I first worked there.

In the early 2000s, I remember Tim Hortons being almost nonexistent there.

[whatnext]

Canadian clothing retailer Frank & Oak files for creditor protection:

Frank and Oak is the latest clothier retailer to seek creditor protection as it faces challenges dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic

Parent company Modasuite Inc. last week filed a notice of intention that it plans to file a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

The Quebec-based company was launched by Ethan Song and Hicham Ratnani in 2012 as an online brand, but now has stores across the country....

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...-for-creditor/

[goodgrowth]

Cineplex loses $178.4M in first quarter

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/cine...ures-1.5005019