Category: Retail & Ecommerce

Canadian retail sales up 0.4 per cent in July, first increase in three months

CanadianInvestor
Canadian retail sales up 0.4 per cent in July, first increase in three months
OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says retail sales rose 0.4 per cent in July to $51.5 billion, the first increase in three months. Economists had expected an increase of 0.6 per cent, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv. Statistics Canada says sales were up in six of the 11 subsectors it tracks representing 71 per cent of retail trade. Motor vehicle and... Read More

Hudson’s Bay Co. closing its 15 Hudson’s Bay stores in the Netherlands

CanadianInvestor
Hudson’s Bay Co. closing its 15 Hudson’s Bay stores in the Netherlands
TORONTO — Hudson’s Bay Co. is closings its 15 Hudson’s Bay stores in the Netherlands, according to the union representing workers at the stores. The union says there are 1,424 employees, although it’s not clear how many are full-time and how many are part-time. The company was not immediately available for comment. HBC opened its first Hudson’s Bay store in... Read More

Choice Properties REIT selling portfolio of 30 properties for $426 million

CanadianInvestor
Choice Properties REIT selling portfolio of 30 properties for $426 million
TORONTO — Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust has signed a deal to sell 30 properties in mostly smaller communities across Canada for $426 million. The buyer was not immediately identified. The portfolio includes 27 stand-alone retail properties and three distribution centres. They have an average lease term of approximately 12 years with Loblaw Companies Ltd., an affiliated company. The buyer also has... Read More

CannTrust says goods returned by Alberta government cannabis firm worth $1.3M

CanadianInvestor
CannTrust says goods returned by Alberta government cannabis firm worth $1.3M
VAUGHAN, Ont. — CannTrust Holdings Inc. said Thursday that about $1.3 million worth of its products will be returned by the Alberta government’s cannabis wholesaler and online retailer. The Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis agency announced the returns on Wednesday after Health Canada suspended CannTrust’s licences to produce and sell pot. CannTrust noted Thursday that Health Canada has not ordered a... Read More

Couche-Tard wants to be a player in the sale of cannabis

CanadianInvestor
Couche-Tard wants to be a player in the sale of cannabis
LAVAL, Que. — Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. wants to be one of the “key players” in the North American cannabis market by using its position in Canada — where use of the substance for recreational purposes is legal — to achieve this goal. But the expertise to be developed by the operator of convenience stores and gas stations in selling the drug will have to... Read More

Alberta to return all CannTrust products after Health Canada suspensions

CanadianInvestor
Alberta to return all CannTrust products after Health Canada suspensions
VAUGHAN, Ont. — The Alberta government’s cannabis wholesaler and online retailer is returning all products from CannTrust Holdings Inc. after Health Canada suspended the company’s licences to produce and sell pot. A spokeswoman for the Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission says it intends to return its remaining supply of on-hold CannTrust products to the Vaughan, Ont.-based company, but would not confirm the... Read More

Canadian e-commerce company Shopify updates platform for CBD sellers in U.S.

CanadianInvestor
Canadian e-commerce company Shopify updates platform for CBD sellers in U.S.
NEW YORK — Shopify Inc. says its e-commerce and retail platform has been given new features to help U.S. merchants sell hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol products where permitted by law. The announcement follows last year’s passage of U.S. federal legislation that removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, which still covers cannabis products. Hemp may contain CBD, a compound with potential medicinal qualities, but without... Read More

Ontario’s pot Crown corporation lost $42 million in latest fiscal year

CanadianInvestor
Ontario’s pot Crown corporation lost $42 million in latest fiscal year
TORONTO — Ontario Cannabis Retail Corp. lost $42 million in the latest fiscal year, according to newly released public documents. The provincial Crown corporation tasked with online sales and wholesale distribution of recreational pot reported revenues of $64 million for the year ended March 31, 2019. However, Ontario’s consolidated financial statements show the OCRC, which operates as the Ontario Cannabis Store, racked up expenses totalling $106 million during the period. Canada legalized... Read More

Supreme Court of Canada will not hear bread price fixing witness case

CanadianInvestor
Supreme Court of Canada will not hear bread price fixing witness case
OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear an appeal of a lower court decision that kept the identities of a pair of key witnesses in the Competition Bureau’s bread price-fixing investigation confidential. As is usual, the Supreme Court gave no detailed reasons for its decision. Sobeys Inc. and Metro Inc. had sought the disclosure of the identities of... Read More

Aurora Cannabis shares down after it misses own Q4 revenue guidance

CanadianInvestor
Aurora Cannabis shares down after it misses own Q4 revenue guidance
EDMONTON — Shares of Aurora Cannabis were down about nine per cent after the pot producer’s fourth-quarter revenues fell short of its own guidance and it reported a $2.2-million loss. The Edmonton-based company’s stock was at $7.75 in late morning trading, down 8.9 per cent from its previous close of $8.51. Aurora reported $98.9 million in net revenues for the quarter ended June... Read More