Canadian Retail Thread

[SpongeG]

Hackers put Winners, HomeSense shoppers at risk
Updated Thu. Jan. 18 2007 10:27 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The U.S. parent company of Canadian retailers Winners and HomeSense says its computer systems were hacked late last year, exposing the personal information of millions of customers.


About 20 million people shop at the stores, including 2 million Canadians, meaning the retail security breach was one of the biggest in North American history.


"There have been events of about this size but not really much bigger," Richard Reiner, of Telus Security Technology, told CTV News.


Ben Cammarata, chairman of U.S. parent company The TJX Companies, Inc., acknowledged the breach in a press release.


"Our first concern is the potential impact of this crime on our customers, and we strongly recommend that they carefully review their credit card and debit card statements and other account information for unauthorized use," he said.


Portions of the information regarding credit and debit card sales transactions during 2003 and from the period from mid-May to December 2006 may have been accessed in the intrusion, says the release.


The system that was hacked handles transactions along with cheques and merchandise returns in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Other regions that could be affected include the U.K. and Ireland.


"It is believed that thieves may have stolen credit card and debit card information for as many as two million Canadian shoppers," ROBTv's Michael Kane said Thursday.


The RCMP and their American counterparts told TJX, operator of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls in the U.S., to not say anything publicly until now so that officials could continue the investigation.


The company said the full extent of the breach is still unknown.


"Sources close to VISA say worldwide as many as 20 million credit cards may have been compromised," said Kane.


The company has hired General Dynamics Corp. and IBM Corp. to help upgrade their security systems.


"It's prudent on the part of a consumer to remain vigilant with respect to what's being charged to one's credit cards," Richard Reiner, chief technology officer at Telus Security Solutions told CTV Newsnet Thursday.


"(But) I think the majority of the responsibility for incidents and issues like this (is) on business rather than on individuals."


TJX operates 826 T.J. Maxx, 751 Marshalls, 271 HomeGoods, 162 A.J. Wright and 36 Bob's Stores in the United States. In Canada, the Company operates 184 Winners and 68 HomeSense stores and in Europe it operates 212 T.K. Maxx stores.


With a report by CTV's Graham Richardson and files from The Associated Press

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...ub=CTVNewsAt11

[SpongeG]

I was driving down granville today and noticed Williams Sonoma is opening a store on south granville - across the street from CIBC - i think where that long china place used to be - i think its two levels - so it should be a big enough space

[Taller Better]

Originally Posted by habsfan

never been a big fan of Le Chateau. Always thought their clothes were of cheap quality.

I don't expect top quality when one buys cheap clothing, but honestly it is hard to get a Le Chateau shirt home without some of the buttons falling off in the bag. And their T shirts shrink incredibly after one wash. The salespeople always tell you to hand wash them, or use cold water. They are T shirts, not a silk shirt. There is such a thing as pre shrinking the cotton. And Le Chateau will have a hard time competing with the big guys like H&M who flip the merchandise monthly, instead of seasonally like Le Chateau. Many years ago when Chateau was booming they made a huge, huge mistake one year, and went whole hog into the New Romance fashion style that was coming out of London. The style never caught on in North America ( or most of the rest of the world either) and they got stuck with an entire season of unsellable stuff. Too many puffy, frilly men's shirts and not enough Pirates out there to buy them. They "lost their shirt" that year and have been struggling with seasonal choices ever since. They seemed to decide to go the other direction and keep season after season pretty much the same, which lead to a number of years with the clothing all looking the same. Now that there are alternatives like H&M and Zara, it is going to be hard for them to keep up. Thus, when I see they are going to aggessively expand, I'm wondering if they are going down the same slippery slope that a lot of other retailers have already gone. Interestingly, the man who started Le Chateau was branching out from his original line of clothing, "Parachute" (this was back in the late 70's). It was extremely cool, but sadly bit the dust. I remember buying those clothes in Manhattan.

[SpongeG]

New Wal-Mart 'super centre' will feature fresh produce, bakery

New stores in Vegreville, Wainwright, Pincher Creek to make 45 in Alberta

EDMONTON - Wal-Mart is building a bigger store in South Edmonton Common and opening new outlets in Vegreville, Wainwright and Pincher Creek.

Construction has started on a 200,000-square-foot building south of Ikea in South Edmonton Common. It will open in about one year, replacing the 135,000-square-foot store at the north end of the power centre.

The new "super centre" will be among the first in Alberta with fresh meat, produce and a bakery, says Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Groh.

"The idea is to improve the areas that have the greatest demand -- fashion, home electronics and food," he says.

Employment will rise to 500 from 300, with about 60 per cent of staff being full-time.

The foundation is in place for the new store, with structural steel work to start this week.

An expansion now underway at the store on Stony Plain Road, at 185th Street, also will add meat, produce and baked goods.

Wal-Mart will open new stores, Wednesday, in Vegreville, Wainwright and Pincher Creek, offering "a greater selection of foods than any other Wal-Mart in Alberta, but without meat and produce," Groh says.

Each of those stores will be about 100,000 square feet and will cost $20 million, he says.

This will give Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, 45 Alberta locations.

Wal-Mart has no plan for a Sam's Club members-only retail warehouse in Edmonton, Groh said. "We've got contingency plans in place for major markets nationwide, including Calgary and Edmonton, but we're in no rush."

During the week before Christmas, Wal-Mart stores at South Edmonton Common and Clareview remained open 24 hours each day.

"It showed significant consumer interest," Groh said. "But we have no short-term plans to make that a standard part of our business," despite the year-round, 24-hour operation of some of the company's U.S. stores.

Wal-Mart will own the new South Edmonton Common land and building and owns its current location, which it intends to lease after moving, Groh said.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjourna...2690c7f&k=2191

[Hardhatdan]

F*ck off, I hate Walmart. This is disgusting.

[tkoe]

Why aren't there municipal limits in terms of sqr. footage to prevent super-ultra-mega-hyper marts from opening? Honestly, they add nothing to the community and look like shit.

[mersar]

Some places do have limits in place. The town (approx 15,000 pop) I live in will decide tonight if we will change ours to let Walmart in or not (or at least a possible Walmart, a developer who builds a lot of properties for them is pushing for the development in question without naming names). It's been a huge issue here with a slightly different angle then most small cities fighting against them, as in our case the local business community *wants* them to come, in hopes it keeps people shopping in town, and not going into Calgary. The big issue here is the property they want to build on is a brownfield site that Domtar once owned and has huge contamination issues. And building commercial requires a less complete cleanup then residential, which is what the lobbyist groups in town want done.

Fortunately our planning commision voted 6-1 last week against it, so it will be interesting to see if council risks going against them and in the process possibly assuring themselves of having no chance of being re-elected in this years municipal elections.

[neilson]

Originally Posted by tkoe

Why aren't there municipal limits in terms of sqr. footage to prevent super-ultra-mega-hyper marts from opening? Honestly, they add nothing to the community and look like shit.

So it's ok to hate on Wal-Mart but when Supercentre or a large Zellers comes to town, there's no complaints? Come on now.

And I think Big Box Stores look great.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by neilson

And I think Big Box Stores look great.

Wow. You are amazing.

[neilson]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Wow. You are amazing.

My history shows I'm not kidding. And for a bunch of "progressives" on here, you guys by and large seem to be hypocritical in being open-minded about my opinions, conservative traditionalist views, and the like.

Seems like it's only ok to be friendly when it's toward those you agree with.

[MolsonExport]

^guess that you didn't take it as a compliment.

[harls]

What I really want to know is what will be the next city to get an Ikea.

[Jay in Cowtown]

Originally Posted by mersar

Some places do have limits in place. The town (approx 15,000 pop) I live in will decide tonight if we will change ours to let Walmart in or not (or at least a possible Walmart, a developer who builds a lot of properties for them is pushing for the development in question without naming names). It's been a huge issue here with a slightly different angle then most small cities fighting against them, as in our case the local business community *wants* them to come, in hopes it keeps people shopping in town, and not going into Calgary. The big issue here is the property they want to build on is a brownfield site that Domtar once owned and has huge contamination issues. And building commercial requires a less complete cleanup then residential, which is what the lobbyist groups in town want done.

Fortunately our planning commision voted 6-1 last week against it, so it will be interesting to see if council risks going against them and in the process possibly assuring themselves of having no chance of being re-elected in this years municipal elections.

Hey Mersar... how did the vote go down?

I'm all for Wal-Marts... hell, I'm pissed all these new ones they built were not Supercenters. In Cochrane's case... they could use one, but in no way should it go on the Domtar land... the traffic on Griffin now is horrific, imagine it with an approach into a Wal-Mart!!!

[LordMandeep]

i went to the new wal mart super center today. I saw Oranges in Wal-Mart, very wierd...

[SpongeG]

so i was at the Coquitlam Zellers and they have been redoing it the last few months and it is looking more than ever like a target - they have changed all the inside signage and have done a similiar design to the target stores

and than we noticed they were selling Target branded product! they had some floor mats that were a target brand - for target stores...

is Zellers nearly finished? is target about to take over? hmm....

[Taller Better]

Originally Posted by harls

What I really want to know is what will be the next city to get an Ikea.

I just had an amazing idea!! Start a thread!!

[Jay in Cowtown]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

so i was at the Coquitlam Zellers and they have been redoing it the last few months and it is looking more than ever like a target - they have changed all the inside signage and have done a similiar design to the target stores

and than we noticed they were selling Target branded product! they had some floor mats that were a target brand - for target stores...

is Zellers nearly finished? is target about to take over? hmm....

Hopefully!

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by harls

What I really want to know is what will be the next city to get an Ikea.

My dog's nephew's best-friend's mother heard from the garbage man's son that he overheard the neighbor talking about her second-cousin (twice removed) Winnifred who used to work at the five-and-dime down two towns over that her boss said that he heard from his niece's best friend's father that IKEA was considering expanding into London, but that it was just a rumour.

[SSLL]

From: http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/0...ml#skip300x250
_______________

L.L. Bean looking to expand Canadian presence
Last Updated: Saturday, January 27, 2007 | 11:00 AM ET
CBC News
L.L. Bean, the Maine-based retail catalogue giant, says it wants to significantly increase its presence in Canada.

The company said that could ultimately include building retail stores in Canada, as well as a Canadian website and Canadian catalogue.

Currently, the only way for Canadians to buy L.L. Bean's outdoor gear and clothing is to order it through the U.S.-based website or from the thick catalogues that flood into the country by the hundreds of thousands each year.

As a privately held family company, L.L. Bean does not release much financial information. But it said its interest in establishing a bigger Canadian footprint was sparked by a 30 per cent annual increase in its Canadian business in each of the past three years.

"We are … looking to boost our presence in Canada with an in-country catalog, website and ultimately a retail presence," said Zane Shatzer, who was recently named as L.L. Bean's general manager of international new market development.

Shatzer has led L.L. Bean's expansion in Japan, where the company now has 15 retail stores. It has 22 retail and factory-outlet stores in the U.S., and a huge flagship store in Freeport, Maine.

Continue Article

L.L. Bean is also looking to expand its retail presence in Latin America and beyond Japan. Company CEO Chris McCormick said "it makes sense" to think about diversifying into other markets. "Of particular interest are international locations with a strong outdoor orientation," he said.

In Canada, L.L. Bean would face a lot of competition in the bricks-and-mortar "outdoor" retail market. Rivals would include Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op — which has 11 retail stores in Canada and a catalogue business — as well as Canadian Tire-owned Mark's Work Wearhouse, which sells casual and outdoor apparel at its 300 stores across Canada.

Roots, Eddie Bauer and Bass Pro Shops all have stores in Canada that cater, at least in part, to the typical L.L. Bean customer.

[SSLL]

From: http://www.insidetoronto.ca/to/scarb...oc=scarborough
_______________

Road paves way for Wal-Mart Supercentre

LISA QUEEN
Jan. 23, 2007

So much fanfare for such a little stretch of road.
But a grand opening last week featuring many local dignitaries goes to prove the short extension of Lebovic Avenue north of Eglinton Avenue west of Warden Avenue in the heart of Scarborough's "Golden Mile" signifies more than just 300 metres of new pavement.

The $1.6-million road, paid for by retail developers in the area, paves the way for the new Wal-Mart Supercentre, which opens its doors today.

"Although this is a small street or small avenue, it's an important element in this community," said Ward 37 Councillor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre), who pointed out the road extension fulfills the city's goals of boosting economic development and relieving traffic congestion.

Since last fall, Wal-Mart has launched a handful of super centres in southern Ontario communities. Scarborough will host the only such store in Toronto.

Compared to the 80,000 to 120,000 square feet of retail space in a regular Wal-Mart, the super centre is 220,000 square feet. In addition to an expanded line of general merchandise, it features a full grocery store with fresh meat, fruit and vegetables.

"We feel Scarborough customers will respond very well to it," district manager Rodd Olmstead said at the Lebovic extension event.

Just as the road paves the way for Wal-Mart, the super centre is a sign Scarborough is a desirable location for big box retailers offering their customers one-stop-shopping.

Helping to secure that reputation is HBC, which is looking to construct a Zellers superstore in the area of Eglinton and Birchmount Road.

"It will be one of our superstores so that's a special prototype that we have introduced and we're rolling out across the country," spokesperson Hillary Marshall said.

The superstore will be more than 100,000 square feet compared to a typical Zellers at less than 75,000 square feet.

It will feature a neighbourhood market, which offers packaged and frozen food, bread, milk and dairy products but not fresh meat, fruits and vegetables. The Zellers superstore will also include an enhanced cosmetic department with health and wellness products.

The superstore plays to Zellers' core customer, who is a busy mother with small children who likes the convenience of shopping for clothes, diapers and other general merchandise while also being able to pick up grocery items, Marshall said.

Meanwhile, despite an announcement this week that Loblaw Cos Ltd., Canada's largest supermarket chain, plans to cut 800 to 1,000 head office and regional office jobs, a spokesperson confirmed the company is building a Real Canadian Superstore on Progress Avenue near the Scarborough Town Centre but would provide no further details.

Real Canadian superstores offer a combination of groceries and other merchandise such as clothing and housewares.

Ironically, as Scarborough plays host to more big box stores, it is also laying claim to Asian condominium malls in which stores range in size from a large closet to a couple of hundred square feet.

Three condo malls have been announced for northern Scarborough in the last two months.

Attracting both big box stores and condo malls shows Scarborough appeals to a wide variety of retailers and consumers, Thompson said.