'Perfect storm' ahead for some independent stores, but niche retailers will shine, analysts say
CTV
Turmoil could lay ahead for some Canadian retailers in the new year, with independent businesses in particular facing possible bankruptcy should the busy holiday shopping season prove to be a bust.
Retailers will be taking stock of how they did during the most important sales period of the year to gauge their chances of survival amid supply chain woes that are unlikely to resolve anytime soon, analysts say. But whether 2022 will be better or worse than 2021 may be up for debate.
“Our view is, a perfect second storm is coming post-holiday...we will see a number of bankruptcies in the new year, disproportionately independents,” said David Ian Gray, retail strategist and founder of retail consultancy firm, DIG360.
The year 2020 was ugly for Canadian retail, as a relentless string of bankruptcies and closures -- accelerated by the pandemic -- marked the demise of dozens of chains. Traditional fashion and apparel businesses such as Le Chateau, Ann Taylor, Thyme Maternity, and Addition Elle, were especially decimated.
“What the pandemic did was it revealed all the problems all at once,” Gray said in a phone interview with CTVNews.ca. Band-Aid solutions no longer worked.
A developing low pressure skirting colder air in place across eastern parts of the country will bring snow, rain, and wind to the Maritimes on Thursday.
Toronto could see the first taste of winter weather this morning as a low-pressure system brings snow to the city on Wednesday morning.
Montreal's transit authority failed to properly consult with the public over its 'indefensible' plan to force an elderly couple out of their home to build a new ventilation station in Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie, a commission was told Tuesday evening.
In the oldest Chinatown in the entire country sits Loy Sing, a business that holds the title of longest continually run Chinese business in North America. It has now been in operation for 136 years and counting.
The Provincial Auditor of Saskatchewan is recommending that the province improve its system of monitoring sales of farmland to foreign entities.
With seven months under their belt, Gather Local Market at River Landing continues to try new ideas to move their concept forward. The latest addition is helping small businesses get off the ground.
A Quebec man has been sentenced to prison after attempting to smuggle more than 1,000 forged documents into the country, including Canadian permanent resident cards and driver's licences.
An outspoken former Calgary bishop who was outspoken on several issues such as LGBTQ policy and school HPV vaccinations has died.
Revelations about a cheeky comment during a dinner meeting at president-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort between Trump and Prime Justin Minister Trudeau last week are creating waves.
The Waterloo Regional Police Service has issued a public plea after three youths fell through the ice at a Cambridge pond.
A man was severely injured Tuesday morning when he leaped onto a polar bear to protect his wife from being mauled in the Far North community of Fort Severn.