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A Canadian Tire store. Popular with Canadian consumers and Canadian birds.[/caption]
Here's a Canadian retail institution in one of it's recent "big-box" incarnations at Cambie Street and 7th Avenue.
Canadian Tire used to sell everything men needed for their cars and their workshop. For decades, when a man needed a hand tool, he turned to Canadian Tire's trusted Mastercraft-branded line of tools.
These days the nation-wide chain has expanded their wares considerably; they now sell everything a man needs for his car, his workshop, his kids, his home and his backyard, and his forays into Nature. And, not to make the Tire's business model sound too sexist -- they also have products aimed at housewives.
Canadian Tire had adapted very successfully to a big-box store model. Ninety-one years after the first location opened in Toronto in 1922, it is estimated that 85 to 90% of all Canadians now live within a 15-minute drive of a Canadian Tire store.
The store famously also has it's own money -- high-quality notes dispensed to customers in 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1 & $2 denomination with every purchase.
Officially known as "cash bonus coupons," Canadian Tire money was introduced in 1958. It is the most successful customer loyalty program in Canadian retail history. More than that it is part of Canadian culture, and even more than that, it is seen by Canadians as so nearly like real money that debts have been paid in Tire money (by me at least), and there are businesses across Canada that will accept Canadian Tire money at par.
Here's an Edmonton liquor store, a Fort Erie yarn store, a Toronto bar, and nightclub, and a restaurant in Victoria, BC, that all accept Tire money.
True or not, one serious user of crack cocaine, a self-described "rock star," in the Fairview area has laughingly told me how some some years ago, a few Colombian drug dealers in the Downtown Eastside -- very briefly -- accepted Canadian Tire money before they learned what Canadian money really did and didn't look like.
It's contempt actually -- familiarity breeds contempt. Hence the well-known nickname for Canadian Tire: "Crappy Tire."
It was well-known enough that in era of the World Wide Web, someone was quick to tie up the "crappytire.com" domain name.
Mick McFadden used the domain to start a Web site where people could voice their complaints about Canadian Tire's pricing and quality. He took the site down in 2000, after Canadian Tire threatened court action, but kept ownership of the domain name.
In 2001 Canadian Tire lost an attempt through the World Intellectual Property Organization to finally wrest control of the domain from McFadden. The retailer's arguments to WIPO, which are contained in the decision in McFadden's favour, paint a picture of a very sensitive retail giant. The WIPO decision also serves as a useful source of Canadian Tire superlatives.
Google "crappy tire" today and the number one result is the Canadian Tire home page -- hope Mick got a lot of Canadian Tire money.
Have to be honest though -- I won't shop at the Canadian Tire store at 7th Avenue and Cambie Street -- ever since I bought some motor oil there about two years ago, for a friend who worked nearby.
Turned out he asked me to buy the wrong kind. I turned around and took it back, to return it and get the right kind. But even though I had the receipt, the same cashier who sold it to me wouldn't allow me to return it, because I didn't have photo ID.
I already had a problem with their policy against bringing backpacks into the store; the pay lockers set aside for customers to check their backpacks weren't big enough to fit my bicycle panier.
Not to mention that the diminished quality of their products and service actually shocked me.
But the final straw was definitely the return policy.
I don't think withdrawing my custom hurt Canadian Tire's bottom line one bit. Neither do I think that the Home Depot across the street noticed an uptick in sales when I started taking my business to them. Click the image to enlarge it.
A Canadian Tire store. Popular with Canadian consumers and Canadian birds.[/caption]Here's a Canadian retail institution in one of it's recent "big-box" incarnations at Cambie Street and 7th Avenue.
Canadian Tire used to sell everything men needed for their cars and their workshop. For decades, when a man needed a hand tool, he turned to Canadian Tire's trusted Mastercraft-branded line of tools.
These days the nation-wide chain has expanded their wares considerably; they now sell everything a man needs for his car, his workshop, his kids, his home and his backyard, and his forays into Nature. And, not to make the Tire's business model sound too sexist -- they also have products aimed at housewives.
Canadian Tire had adapted very successfully to a big-box store model. Ninety-one years after the first location opened in Toronto in 1922, it is estimated that 85 to 90% of all Canadians now live within a 15-minute drive of a Canadian Tire store.
Oh Canadian Tire, our home-wares and automotive land...
The store famously also has it's own money -- high-quality notes dispensed to customers in 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1 & $2 denomination with every purchase.
Officially known as "cash bonus coupons," Canadian Tire money was introduced in 1958. It is the most successful customer loyalty program in Canadian retail history. More than that it is part of Canadian culture, and even more than that, it is seen by Canadians as so nearly like real money that debts have been paid in Tire money (by me at least), and there are businesses across Canada that will accept Canadian Tire money at par.
Here's an Edmonton liquor store, a Fort Erie yarn store, a Toronto bar, and nightclub, and a restaurant in Victoria, BC, that all accept Tire money.
True or not, one serious user of crack cocaine, a self-described "rock star," in the Fairview area has laughingly told me how some some years ago, a few Colombian drug dealers in the Downtown Eastside -- very briefly -- accepted Canadian Tire money before they learned what Canadian money really did and didn't look like.
Familiarity breeds... a nickname
It's contempt actually -- familiarity breeds contempt. Hence the well-known nickname for Canadian Tire: "Crappy Tire."
It was well-known enough that in era of the World Wide Web, someone was quick to tie up the "crappytire.com" domain name.
Mick McFadden used the domain to start a Web site where people could voice their complaints about Canadian Tire's pricing and quality. He took the site down in 2000, after Canadian Tire threatened court action, but kept ownership of the domain name.
In 2001 Canadian Tire lost an attempt through the World Intellectual Property Organization to finally wrest control of the domain from McFadden. The retailer's arguments to WIPO, which are contained in the decision in McFadden's favour, paint a picture of a very sensitive retail giant. The WIPO decision also serves as a useful source of Canadian Tire superlatives.
Google "crappy tire" today and the number one result is the Canadian Tire home page -- hope Mick got a lot of Canadian Tire money.
Have to be honest though -- I won't shop at the Canadian Tire store at 7th Avenue and Cambie Street -- ever since I bought some motor oil there about two years ago, for a friend who worked nearby.
Turned out he asked me to buy the wrong kind. I turned around and took it back, to return it and get the right kind. But even though I had the receipt, the same cashier who sold it to me wouldn't allow me to return it, because I didn't have photo ID.
I already had a problem with their policy against bringing backpacks into the store; the pay lockers set aside for customers to check their backpacks weren't big enough to fit my bicycle panier.
Not to mention that the diminished quality of their products and service actually shocked me.
But the final straw was definitely the return policy.
I don't think withdrawing my custom hurt Canadian Tire's bottom line one bit. Neither do I think that the Home Depot across the street noticed an uptick in sales when I started taking my business to them. Click the image to enlarge it.
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