Thread: Will Crappy Tire Survive The Coming Competition?

Interesting views from the Ottawa Citizen:

Column: Appeals to patriotism won

Some of my favourite parts:

"If patriotism mattered in Canada, Eaton’s would still be in business ..."

"If Canadian Tire really thinks that Canadians will patronize its stores because it is Canadian, it doesn’t know Canada."

"If Canadian stores want to survive in the new retail world, they will have to compete on location, service, selection and price."

Read more here: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion...406/story.html

Indeed, it will take more than a few maple leaves, to make up for years of shoddy service, rip-offs, and the worst return policies of any major retailer in the country.

Andrew Cohen pointed out that Crappy Tire's new campaign say nothing more than, "We're Canadian - so buy our Chinese crap".

Then CEO Steve Whatsizname zinged back with a snappy retort: "We've been Canadian for 90 years - so buy our Chinese crap"

Proudly Canada's Store

I think Steve is right in this case. I have seen some of the commercials that will be used in this upcoming campaign, and only one relies on the "We are Canadian" message. They all revolve around Canadian Tire being 'Canada's Store' however only one is going to dig into this. The rest are all focused on product categories.

The article was written based on one commercial, like Steve mentioned. Hardly good journalism.

Oh-oh!

Now Barclays is echoing the Bloomberg report from July:

"There is not doubt that Canadian Tire will suffer some sales erosion to Target, particularly in Target’s perceived ’go to’ categories such as housewares, apparel and seasonal merchandise".

Wow, aren't those the categories that the Crappy People have been trying to boost lately, to get the ladies in the door?

Ouch!

But the good news is, the Crappy Stores that are far away from a Target store will be able to hang onto any remaining "loyal customers".

(Assuming these customers don't figure out that Crappy's return policy is "Don't Bring It Back", LOL!).

More here: Target Canada to steal sales from Canadian Tire, Sears: Barclays | Retail | News | Financial Post

Actually, the "coming competition" might already be here.

It turns out that the lowly Dollar Stores, such as Canadian-owned Dollarama, are a real threat:

Canadian Tire is "trying to recapture shoppers who are drifting to dollar stores"

"The fastest-growing sector in Canadian retailing, dollar stores are forcing mainstream merchants [including] generalist Canadian Tire Corp., to step up their own dollar promotions."

The dollar stores have many advantages. For instance, consumers expect them to have poor return policies, so when there are problems with products, people don't have the same expectations as they would for Crappy Tire.

Plus people expect the quality of the merchandise to be lower, based on the low prices, so they are less likely to be unsatisfied - they basically already know they are buying junk.

How Canada's retailers discounted the rise of the dollar store - The Globe and Mail

We've all seen how Crappy Tire wants to offer low-quality products with poor return policies, but doesn't want to offer the same low prices as the dollar stores.

But Canadians who want to buy from a Canadian store but still save money have lots of choices.

Well, Crappy Tire, good luck with your plan to invade the Dollarama market, LOL!

A lot of people don't realize that the same people who run the Red Triangle of Crap stores, also run the Marks Work Warehose stores.

And, the Work Wearhouse stores are also at risk with the impending arrival of retailers like Target, especially when it comes to sales of women's clothing.

After trying so hard to get women to walk into their Red Triangle of Crap outlets, as well as the Work Wearhouse outlets, they are understandably worried that Taget is going to steal these women away, and their spouses and families with them.

But this story points out the inept approach that Crappy Tire Corporation is using, in an attempt to attract more women to Work Wear ... But could instead be driving them away:

WTF Wednesday: Mark's Work Wearhouse is "Now Accepting Women"? | This Magazine

Nice job, Crappy People! I wonder what competing retailer will be the Target destination for all the women you've offended, LOL!

The "Buy Our Crap Because We're Canadian" campaign has been in the works for a while, and does NOT focus on specific products (obviously).

Check out this article from earlier this week, this time in The Globe:


Major retailers mark anniversary blitz ahead of Target invasion - The Globe and Mail