Imagine a place where you can buy a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s, a reciprocating saw, bath towels, a wok, a gazebo, a gun, and a full tank of gasoline. Sounds violently American, right? What if I told you that this store exists in just about every Canadian town. Welcome to Canadian Tire; what are you looking for today?
Here’s a brief explainer of Canada’s most iconic retailer for non-Canadians and Matt Hardigree, who posted this lovely message in our Slack chat earlier today.
Why certainly, Matt. In 1922, brothers Alfred Jackson Billes and William Billes pooled their savings of $1,800 and bought Hamilton Tire and Garage Ltd., located at the corner of Gerrard and Hamilton streets in Toronto. That’s just east of the Don Valley Parkway before Broadview if you’re semi-local. However, that location and name didn’t last long. The very next year, the Billes brothers moved shop to the corner of Yonge and Gould, and rebranded as Canadian Tire Corporation. Thus, a legend was born.
Through public listing, associate stores, expansions, acquisitions, Canadian Tire developed an unshakable grip on the Canadian public. It became the go-to store for everything that wasn’t food or building materials — a fairly impressive feat. Today, Canadian Tire focuses on four main categories of products: Driving, living, playing, and fixing. Sounds like many of us, come to think of it.
Canadian Tire is the greatest store for a young Canadian gearhead because not only will your parents shop there all the time, but you’ll be surrounded by tires, paint, filters, fluids, you name it. Broke your high school shitbox by “driving gently, mum”? Just tag along with your parents, pick up a tensioner, control arm, or exhaust system, and you’re back in business.
As a bonus, you can also pick up all the tools you need to install your recently-acquired parts on-site. Canadian Tire has its own house brand tools under several lines depending on your budget. There’s Mastercraft if you’re Jesse F. Keeler, and MAXIMUM in all-caps if you’re a fully-fledged ASE-certified master lube tech. I’m kidding, the Mastercraft and MAXIMUM tools are pretty good stuff, often sold for a substantial discount and generally tough enough to last for generations.
Of course, it’s impossible to talk about Canadian Tire without mentioning its fake money that’s sort-of real money. See, Canadian Tire came up with this completely physical, entirely transferable customer reward program consisting of little notes for five cents, ten cents, 25 cents, etc. At one point in time, I swear every Canadian household had a stack of Canadian Tire money in a kitchen drawer. However, because Canadian Tire money was transferable, some small businesses accepted it as payment because they could also buy things from Canadian Tire. No joke, I once legitimately bought poutine using Canadian Tire money. Try doing that with your Kohl’s cash. HuffPost even reports that Moody’s classified Canadian Tire money as “sub-fiat” currency back in 2014. In addition to semi-fake money, Canadian Tire also offers financial services. While store-branded credit cards are quite common in the retail sector, how many big retail stores offer disability insurance and high-interest savings accounts?
Let’s circle back to car stuff for a second. While nowhere near as fully-stocked as certain dedicated automotive retailers, Canadian Tire never forgot where it came from, so the automotive department is pretty well-stocked. There’s normally a whole aisle dedicated to exhaust tubing, with application-specific stuff from brands like Walker and Magnaflow available to order. Perfect for uncorking your GMT900 to become the most attractive person in Welland, Ontario. Somewhat obscure maintenance items are also often on deck, like Mann filters for German cars, Pentosin CHF-11S hydraulic fluid, and certain Motul motorcycle oils. For more regular maintenance items, Canadian Tire even has its own lines of automotive products, Certified for the cheapies, Motomaster for the better stuff, and Simoniz for detailing products.
While many retailers are perfectly content to use lowest-bidder white label bits as their house brands, it seems like Canadian Tire actually gives half a shit. I once had a set of Motomaster AWIIs that rode quietly and had solid wet weather performance for the price. Sure, the sidewalls had a ton of flex, but considering how cheap they were, I can’t really complain. It’s a similar deal with many Simoniz cleaning products, I use the multi-purpose cleaner on everything because it’s cheap and seems nigh-on identical to products like Bocar’s degreaser.
In case this isn’t Canadian enough for you yet, let’s bring winter into this. Unsurprisingly, it gets arse-freezingly cold in certain parts of Canada. Up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, it’s not uncommon to see average January lows of 20 degrees Celsius below freezing, or minus four in freedom units. So what did Canadian Tire do to showcase its line of AGM batteries? It hired Iceculture to build a truck out of ice. The Exeter Times-Advocate reports that a three-quarter-ton GM truck was stripped down to the frame and drivetrain and had simplified electrics fitted before an ice body was plopped on top and the necessary steering column and pedals were re-fitted. The result was a fully-driveable truck with a body made of ice.
While most of us would make a beeline to either the automotive or tool sections should we pop into a Canadian Tire, there’s so much more on offer than just garage stuff. Want a coffee machine for the office? No problem. Heading out to the bush to hunt deer? Swing by and pick up some .223 rounds. Has your child outgrown their bicycle? BMX, mountain, hybrid, and road bikes are all on offer. For a while, Canadian Tire even carried electric scooters for the daily commute.
Despite its stronghold up north, Canadian Tire never really caught on in the United States. The first attempt at entering the American market relied on buying out Texas-based White Stores, Inc. in 1982. Just four years later, Canadian Tire called it quits after losing a ton of money. However, plucky Canadians aren’t so easy to deter. Just look at the hope Toronto Maple Leafs fans have at the start of every hockey season despite first-round Stanley Cup elimination being almost guaranteed.
Nine years after Canadian Tire’s first foray south started, Auto Source was born. Tire publication Tire Business, affiliated with Rubber Journal (I swear I’m not making this up) reports that each Auto Source store stock 18,000 different parts and featured up to 24 repair bays. Unfortunately, these emporiums of hooptie supplies never really made money, so Canadian Tire shut them down in 1995 to focus on Canadian stores. Still, the Auto Source project didn’t amount to nothing. Canadian Tire now has a chain of stores up north called Partsource that sells such wonderful things as Red Line MTL right off the shelf.
Canadian Tire is, in a way, Canada’s everything store. It’s been around for a century as a place for you to buy two-stroke mix for your sled, snag a fresh set of drill bits, and pick out a new toque while Tragically Hip plays softly over the PA system. That distinctive new tire smell permeates every location, a core memory for anyone who’s eaten maple syrup directly off of snow. Canadian Tire is a national hallmark and I urge anyone visiting Canada to pop in and see the bewildering array of stuff at what is inarguably Canada’s store.
Lead photo credit: Whpq – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
I bet if Tractor Supply in the US Southeast starts building larger stores they could turn into something like this. They cover pretty much the same categories but I think they only have tools and not parts for vehicles and appliances. Aside from universal stuff and maybe parts for things they sell.
The great thing is that whatever item you want will eventually go on a massive sale. I have bought their sets of 200 drill bits for many friends and relatives in the States. THe bits themselves are ok quality but the multiple copies of each bit is what makes the set fantastic.
Living in Detroit, usually about once a year I’d drag my girlfriend across the river with me to Windsor to go do what I only ever called “Canada things” for a day back in the pre-COVID times. Usually our day would start out with Tim Hortons. We have plenty of them in the Detroit area but what if Canadian Tim Hortons is different? (It sort of is).
Then after Tim Hortons and stopping at the mall quick, I’d generally go to Princess Auto next. If you’re planning to talk about more Canadian stores, do that one next. It’s like a Harbor Freight but with way more and way cooler things. After that we usually grab lunch at Harvey’s (love the packets of vinegar they put out to go with fries) then to Canadian tire. I’ve never actually bought anything there but I really like the store. To me, Canadian Tire always seemed like the random stuff section of a Menards combined with the sporting goods section of a Wal-Mart but with three isles of hockey equipment.
Oregon had some similarly comprehensive places. The late and lamented GI Joe’s started as a surplus store and became a chain of combination auto parts hardware and sporting goods stores. While I don’t recall whether Joe’s had a gun department, at its peak you could buy an alternator, a Makita circular saw, a Dutch Harbor rain suit and fishing tackle in one trip.
Fred Meyer was even more comprehensive at times since you could buy groceries, sheet rock, bed sheets and a pistol. Kroger buying out Freddie’s put paid to the building materials and high e d power tools, and political virtue signaling shut down guns sales in 2018.
Coastal Farm and Ranch is probably the closest remaining equivalent with effectively a Sportsman’s Warehouse and a Wilco Farm Store under one roof.
I’d shop Coastal more often but Wilco is 2 miles away and Coastal is 20 miles.
Every Canadian Tire should have a rank of 100 kW DC fast chargers for EVs out in the lot. Canada would have a fast charging network. One and Done.
Cnadian Tire is great, but there are a few things to know:
1) Never pay full price unless in a desperation scenario, like you need a specific tool right the eff now.
2) Most of their mechanic’s tools are decent not great, but are more than good enough for the average DIYer. I have some of their old ratcheting wrenches that are actually GearWrench brand. If I buy a serious project car, chances are that is were I will go.
At the same time I have seen stuff in Harbor Freight ads that were identical in every way except for the brand stamp.
3) For some reason their line of coordless tools is just flat-out not competitive with Ryobi.
4) Every time I have bought tures there, they have inflated to the max pressure on the sidewall. Even when I specified the pressure I wanted.
5) Their bikes are crap. In fact, they sell a lot of overpriced crap. See point 1.
6) They also do tool lending, or at least they did.
7) They also own Paderno, which is top notch cookware
I haven’t gone to the new Carlingwood store yet, but as per the tweets Thomas posted, it is apparently mind blowing. I will go there at some point because…well, because it’s a giant Canadian Tire and one checks out these things. It replaces one they built ON THE SAME STREET about 10 years ago.
1) I agree. Regular Price is twice what it should be, 50% off is reasonable. Fortunately every single item will be on sale several times a year.
7) They also own Mark’s Work Wearhouse, your go-to source for practical clothing, with basically the same pricing strategy.
They also own Sport Experts in Quebec.
Well, Canadian Tire own The Forzani group and Forzani is a sportswear group that own Sport Experts, Sport Check, Athmosphere, etc..
They also own Party City, Helly Hansen, Hockey Life, and Piloti driving shoes.
Basically a B&M Amazon then?
Now if you could get on the phone to Tim Horton’s and get them to open more restaurants in the UK that would be great, eh?
Tim himself lies fairly close to where I live. I’ll see if I can send a wish up to the big guy
I liked the in depth view on them, it sounds like a very interesting store. Two things stood out to me:
1. MasterCraft isn’t just a Canadian Tire house brand, Menards sells them, too.
2. Is a .223 even legal for deer hunting? That’s awful lightweight, and illegally small in the US.
Believe it or not, Ontario doesn’t have a minimum caliber for center-fire rifles when hunting deer. There are definitely pros and cons to using high-grain .223s, but they seem to work for some hunters who are okay with waiting for the right ethical shot.
I haven’t been to one in a while, but I always enjoyed perusing the aisles when I did.
So… how come Canadian Tire is a beloved national institution, while Walmart is an evil megacorp sucking American communities dry? They sound like broadly similar stores, so what’s the key difference that makes one great and the other terrible?
In someways Canadian Tire is like a giant convenience store for everything, the difference between Malwart and Canadian Tire is the people, the employees tend to know their department and what they’re selling and most seem happy to be there.
CT never had a massive push associated with both putting local shops out of business and with sucking the life out of town main streets is the most obvious answer I can think of – they’ve seemingly always been there, and even have a few downtown locations in some cities. Also, I don’t think they’ve had any particular controversies surrounding them, the way Walmart was notorious for some of their employees requiring financial aid because they were so underpaid. Canada’s big evil corporation is Loblaws (one of the biggest grocery chains), on account of fixing the price of bread, some of the pandemic pay issues (front line staff are all heros! But we’re going to claw back any pay increases as soon as possible even as profits are through the roof!), and locally because Galen Weston (heir to the family-run empire) publicly opposed a condo building in his neighborhood (Margaret Atwood too, which got Toronto to turn on her for a bit). Oh, and there’s Irving, but they’re mostly east coast, and because they controlled the local newspapers for years, we just didn’t talk about the Irvings, but they’re a bit evil too.
I will say though, a lot of Canadian Tire’s stuff is getting to be cheap junk now, and Princess Auto (Canadian Harbor Freight, roughly) is better cheap junk, I just have a CT 5 min away instead of 30.
That sums it up nicely. I used to call Princess Auto the Happiest Place on Earth semi-jokingly. They’re a little more “hard core” than Canadian Tire, with their own line of hydraulics et al, but their surplus section is awesome, as are the sales.
Both of the chains are growing, and with that, some of their charm is lost. And CT’s stuff is not as good as it once was. But I grew up in a small, small town. The closest thing we had to Pneus Crappé was a MacLeods. Crappy Tire is still a little bit of a thrill for me, even if I have been living near one for most of my adult life now.
Because Canadian Tire doesn’t come into a small town and plant a mega store to try to wipe out all the local stores (and they don’t have everything like a Walmart).
Small towns get small Canadian Tires.
Canadian Tire’s reaction to Walmart was to compete with them, not copy them. Their reaction to Walmart’s entry was excellent and actually helped them become the giant they are today.
A extra tidbit: my local Canadian Tire growing up was one of the first to try the big store look. Before then, most of their stores were like an Ace Hardware attached to a garage.
Canadian Tire (at least for the most part) are franchised and owned by locals in the community (for the most part) so they end up sponsoring things like hockey teams and donate to charities, etc. Also, they’ve just been there forever so it isn’t seen as an invasive species killing off local businesses. It is seen for the most part, as a local business.
Partly because they seem to treat their employees decently.
“Tragically Hip plays softly over the PA system.”
One of the reasons I’m always wearing my Jabra 65es into stores. To some of us Gord’s, voice is akin to fingernails on a chalkboard.
No offense, but you are what’s wrong with this world!
I’m kidding, but god dang do I love me some Tragically Hip.
They ALWAYS have oil on sale, I’ll happily drive the extra half hour to save $30 a jug. Thank you Canadian Tire!
Once, my local Canadian Tire had an a massive overstock of Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and it had a red tag at 20$ for a 5 Liter jug. A complete steal right? Add to that fact that there were 10$ mail in rebates coupons for the purchase of a jug of Pennzoil Ultra Platinum oil and you can figure that i’ve built a massive motor oil overstock both in 0w20 and 5w30 flavors… Right now everything runs off it. Lawnmower, Snowthrower, cars….
Things around my house from CT in the last year or so:
Tires on my corolla, drum brake tools, big closet organizer, shower curtain rod, pretty much any hand tool I own, pb blaster, lithium grease, new car battery, paint brushes, grass seed, snacks, tent, sleeping bag, swimming pool… I could go on.
I’m a sucker for a sale and those little red shelf tags are beacons for my wallet.
I rely on the weekly flier to tell me what to buy. Resistance is futile.
And don’t forget the 10X to 50X CT money bonus.
When I was a kid, I would go door to door in my neighbourhood during the day when the husbands were at work and solicit Canadian Tire money from the housewives (different time, different time). They were always happy to get rid of the little nest in their key drawers. I used it to buy bicycle parts to spruce up my ride.
Eventually I had to work out a strategy to deal with the husbands so I could get access to the even bigger stashes in their glove boxes. The guys were always more possessive hoarding that stuff.
The Canadian Tire at Yonge and Davenport seemed so big back in the day. Playmates and I would go there and play tag and other adventure games inside on bad weather days. The staff didn’t seem to mind, but then again we were never caught.
I definitely have at least twenty “bucks” lying around but would feel like a jerk making some teenager count it all out at the cash. Just sort of happens over the years…
Imho Mastercraft = Mastercrap, but Maximum is ok.
Canadian Tire rules and is comforting and familiar in the best way.
I always take my CT money in on a day off. I do NOT want to be that guy with $30 in 10 cent increments holding up the line forever.
Canadian Tire is sort of like the Canadian version of COSTCO, but without the food. It has everything under the sun, and I mean everything. It’s the go to place for sports equipment, like hockey! Alos every Canadian has used Canadian Tire at least once to get a part for their car.
They sold food for a while! You could run in, grab bacon, a pan to fry it in, an induction ringto cook it on, and forks, knives and plates. Then go and buy auto parts and plumbing supplies.
I want to go to there.
To Welland? Have fun. The residents are……..unique.
It’s probably no better or worse than USAian residents in similar demographic circumstances. Upstate NY isn’t anything to write home about, either.
Source: USAian with family in the GTA who has dated someone from Welland.
I grew up between Rochester and Buffalo NY. I live in Southern Ontario now and there are a lot of similarities.
Can confirm, I’m amazed my Autech wheels weren’t nicked on delivery when I was living in Welland. Still, the shorthills over in Pelham are really nice and East Izakaya in St. Catharines is phenomenal.
I moved to Canada in 2003. Canadian Tire blew my mind. I didn’t go to it for a month because I thought it was just a massive tire warehouse.
Not gonna lie, I will make the trek to Welland to see the new one when its finished.
I did a year and a half at the Canadian Tire at Blair and Ogilvie in Ottawa. Both my vehicles have Motomaster air compressors, one has a Canadian Tire first aid kit, and I’m looking at putting a Motomaster AGM battery in my Alltrack.
And yes, everyone home likely still has a stack of Canadian Tire money somewhere, even though they stopped the paper money years ago.
The agm batteries are a mistake. They are very heavy and can’t be boosted, as they cannot withstand a high charge rate.
As someone who used to sell Canadian Tire batteries, go to Costco.
I’ve jumped a car with an AGM battery in it, and it was completely uneventful. No problems with the battery, even years later. I’m not sure why jumping a car would involve a higher charge rate than normal, since at the end of the day it’s just connected to an alternator, same as always. AGMs can actually take higher charge currents than flooded lead acid, due to their lower internal resistance. They also have lower rates of self-discharge, handle deep cycling better, are spill-proof, and perform better in cold weather. They do tend to be a bit heavier, but not to the extent that it matters in any but the most weight-sensitive of automotive applications. If weight really matters that much you should be looking at Lithium anyway.
The main disadvantages are that they are more expensive, and that if you’re going to put them on a charger it needs to be one with an AGM-specific charging algorithm, since they’re more sensitive to overcharging than flooded. Note that I don’t mean they can’t handle as much current, just that if you try to charge them past 100% they’ll get damaged more easily than flooded lead acid batteries do. However, my AGM charger cost about $20 and also has settings for 6V flooded, 12V flooded, 12V lithium, and desulfation.
AGMs are worth it, if you ask me. Flooded lead acid is perfectly fine for most applications, but AGM does have advantages that make them worth the extra cost for some applications.
I have jumped AGM batteries and they were fine, and I have had just as many situations where the battery was FULLY discharged, think lights left on or dead fuel pump and someone cranked all the magic pixies away, and no amount of jumper boxes and battery chargers will let the car crank. The solution is to disconnect the battery completely and run off a jump box, or trickle charge for hours with someone sitting in the waiting room, or just go straight to replacing the battery. That being said, that is inherent to all of them not just canadian ones, and if the car requires AGM definitely stay with an AGM.
Of course my opinion of AGM batteries is based on a decade of real world use in a commercial environment.
The few advantages vs. The shortcomings are enough to convince me that I should skip this tech and go straight to lithium once they are cheaper and more widely available.
I go to Costco for batteries purely because they are cheaper and the warranty is better.
There’s also the fact that one time I bought one of their Eliminator batteries for my departed Thunderbird Super Coupe. That was a massive battery and it had no handle, and the battery opening was juuuuust big enough for the battery. So I had to hold it over the opening and….drop it in. That heavens it worked.
My Civic is notoriously hard on it’s batteries. OEM, Interstate, name it.. You’ll get 1 and a half, maybe 2 years put of them. The 3rd battery i put in there was a Exide AGM sold as a Motomaster and i changed it last thursday after 7ish years of good services served. But i agree that a lot of stuff sold there sucks nowadays, we call the place China Tires as it seems like 95% of what’s sold there is Chinese crap..
I used to sell those motomaster batteries. I came very close to getting punched in the face by customers several times. People expected to get more than 1 to 2 years out of a battery, but that’s pretty much all that junk would give you.
I’m glad to hear you got 7 years from the AGM. I guess if your buying at CT it’s the way to go, but I think the Costco battery would give you 7 years as well.
If a lead-acid battery is 40 lbs, the AGM variant is probably 44 lbs. If that 4 lbs is crucial, you should be looking at lithium.
And who says you can’t jump an AGM?
Tricky thing is you should have a charger that can specifically handle AGM batteries, but that’s not very uncommon.
Additional cost plus additional weight sounds like a lose-lose to me.
Some say that you can boost agm but many manufacturers don’t recommend it as it can damage the battery and shorten it’s life considerably. Special agm chargers are basically like trickle chargers, as high amperage charging is not an option.
The stories I could tell being a floor supervisor (auto parts no less!) for years at CTC. And Yay for mentioning Welland! Will be one of the largest stores in the country once the remodel is done!
It sounds alot like what Sears used to be, at least a Sears with an attached auto center, I miss Sears.
If anyone with more brains and awareness than greed had been running Sears in the 80s-00s, they could have exploded into being Costco, Amazon, and Pep Boys all at once. Order delivery to your home? “The Sears & Roebuck catalog” was an American meme for a century – whatever you need, it’s in there, and they can send one to your doorstep. Auto repair, whether at home or at the store – you’re kidding, right? Who doesn’t use trusted brands like Die Hard and Craftsman?
But no, instead I get the mental image of Richard Sears looking down from Retail Heaven and weeping, while Sam Walton puts a hand on his shoulder and says, “It’s just a damn shame what they did to your company.”
Agreed too many great stores stopped when they thought they had the perfect or good enough store. Sears even back pedaled and through away the catalog business, which would be amazon today.
It’s not that the stores stopped when they thought “good enough”, it’s that often the vulture capitalists became owners. Then they wanted a quick payback and more, laid off staff (staff costs money), cheaped the products, and stripped the carcass and sold the real estate. The vultures made out like bandits, everyone else suffered. That’s what happened to Sears. We need laws that penalize this sort of abuse, but ‘Murica.
Sears was spiraling long before the venture capitalist took over.
Even though I am a dyed-in-the-wool free marketeer, I will never understand these corporate vultures who acquire a respected, successful company and see it as a carcass to be picked clean, and not a going concern to be grown and strengthened.
Sears was more comprehensive. Cajun Tar doesn’t sell clothing, mattresses or major appliances.
The best description I ever heard is “Canadian Tire is a sporting goods store that sells tools and small appliances. And tires.”
Sounds a lot like Farm & Fleet, actually. One of the things I miss most about the midwest.
https://www.farmandfleet.com/
A fellow Pacific Northwesterner and Midwestern refugee here… Farm & Fleet was the first thing that came to mind. And don’t forget Fleet Farm up in Wisconsin/Minnesota! I’ll never forget the smell of a Farm & Fleet.
F
Lol, one-letter accidental post and it’s an F. Anyways, what I was intending to say is Farm and Fleet seems closer to Peavey Mart https://www.peaveymart.com/
I’ve never heard of this place before. It says the closest one to me is in Kamloops. But yeah, that does look a lot like a Farm & Fleet.
Sounds like an Agway (https://www.agway.com) with a dusting of Tractor Supply. I dig it.
Peavey Mart: For when you need to buy underwear, a coffee maker and a box of live chickens.
The closest thing I’ve found out here is Coastal Farm & Ranch, but they’re about half the size, and don’t do tires.
I haven’t been to one of those. I think the closest one to me is in Gresham, and I generally avoid Gresham when possible.
But they still sell refrigerant for air conditioning, thank heavens. Stupid Washington state.
I was going to say the same thing, seems like a few of us agree!
It would seem their mistake on entering the US market was trying to do different format from what’s made them successful in Canada – smaller footprint, more narrowly focused stores. We didn’t need a slightly better AutoZone or Advance Auto, but Canadian Tire itself might just have been compellingly unique. Too bad they never tried that
Yeah. File a DBA as “American Tire,” change the maple leafs to Old Glory, job done. Seems like the obvious play.
I’m not so sure. The biggest problem I have with my great mechanics shop and Walmart is occupying my time during the work period. Think Canadian Tire, Tim Hortons, and malls. Plenty of malls need tenants. Bring in a Walmart like tenant that is better than Walmart because they aren’t Walmart. Bring in a Tim Hortons, which in Canada like IHOP but new to every American who lives 10 miles south of the border. The introduction of Tim Hortons well known to Americans on TV but never been there plus getting stuff done while you eat is a score. Frankly Walmarts desire to separate from all other stores is their weakness. And with Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons needing huge space every secondary city mall in the country would be spreading their legs to get in on this
Exactly we are successful wanting to expand so let’s dip our toe in. Of course they were just Canadian Walmart before Walmart existed. They may have been the original model for Walmart. But remember there used to be drive up burger places and sit down burger places way before McDonald’s. But Ray Kroc just franchised the idea made it more convenient reduced the quality alot and charged a little less. Then followed the franchise scheme to increase expansion and shove risk of on people.
McDonald’s really is a pyramid scheme done right. Early franchisers successful buying one now just send me half your money, I’ll come to your house and kick you in the nuts, bang your wife and shoot your dog. You will hate it but 10 years down the line you’re going to thank me.
Canadian Tire is great. I and many of my family members have worked there in auto parts and as mechanics over the years.
One thing I would probably disagree on is Canadian Tire vendor quality. As a mechanic who has used these tools for many decades, Maximum is currently the worst overall tool brand. It seems that since Princess Auto came in, Mastercraft and Maximum tools plummeted in quality. I purchased a huge Maximum ratchet set from them, and all the ratchets would lock up when used. I took them back and they were all replaced hassle free. The new ones were exactly like ones I returned. I came to the realization that Canadian Tire did not have a working ratchet for sale. Their screwdrivers are significantly worse than the dollar store, and I recently bought an assorted set of Mastercraft pliers which were all seized right out of the package due to build quality.
Everything they sell in the store is meant to go to landfill eventually, but for the many situations in life where disposable products are the wisest choice, Canadian Tire is usually your best bet.
They recently sold me a set of tires with a huge knife slash across a sidewall, but they turned the sidewall in so I couldn’t see it. After a year of driving around with my family I had the car at my mechanic for a brake job and he found the slashed tire.
The tires are cheap, but you will be dealing with situations like that.
It is known in some circles as Crappy Tire, almost always better or cheaper stuff can be found.
As you say tools have definitely gone downhill, Amazon cheap seem less hit or miss and that’s a sad statement.
However on a late Saturday afternoon and you need something like a water pump, they probably have it or will get it by 7pm. (-;
My Dad loved Princess Auto! There were so many tools in the garage it took ages to sort them out after he died. Princess Auto has the weirdest stuff in their surplus section; Dad was always bringing home strange little toys and tools.
Yup, it’s as national an institution as Tim Horton’s, and much more useful. (I hate Tim Horton’s. The coffee is burnt and the donuts are cakes.)
If you’ve never been in one, think of it as a Walmart without the groceries and clothes, but cleaner and not tacky. (Canadian Tire owns ‘Mark’s Work Warehouse’, a clothing outlet that sells causal and work clothes and footwear. Some Mark’s are attached to Canadian Tire stores.)
Canadian Tire also has a number of in-house brands that are pretty decent, like their tires, and Motomaster parts and tools.
They also own helly hansen which is kind of weird.
Yep, Helly Hansen and Piloti shoes
And Sport Check.
Probably DairyQanaon too, if you’re really paranoid. 😉
Party City has little sections in some as well, so you can load up on balloons, streamers and pinatas.
I live in the home town of Helly Hansen in Norway (Moss) so to me, its rely weird.
In Scandinavia we have Biltema. More or less the same as CDC except the tires
Cool! Maybe you can tell me, is Helly a real person or just another spam bot? I was recently burned on that and just want to be careful.
In Finland there’s also Motonet, just bought a frying pan and some Toblerone from there.