As the extent of the COVID-19 catastrophe became clear last spring, Toronto entrepreneur Marcus Fraser thought first of his family, then he thought of his friends, worried what this would mean for all of them.
“My third thought was, ‘Oh crap, I’m out of business,'” he said.
Fraser makes high-end clothing. He imports material from China and sells to retailers across North America.
In that instant, he knew retail sales were about to be decimated, international shipping would grind to a halt. But then, he imagined a path forward.
“I know how to do stuff; I know how to import things,” he said. “I know how to make things. And guess what, we need things.”
Fraser initially thought ‘oh crap, I’m out of business,’ then realized that his expertise in imports and garments could be of use. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
So, Fraser started hustling. Within days, he was scrambling to get a whole new line of products made and ready for what he assumed would be a wave of demand. He says there’s notthat muchdifference between hooded sweatshirts and surgical gowns.
“We just picked up and started making materials,” he said. “Gown contracts started to come in. Mask contracts started to come in and we just forged ahead.”
Today, his company has sold more than 300,000 gowns for use in hospitals across Ontario. He’s sold another 100,000 masks. He’s expanded too — landing a contract to put a series of vending machines in Toronto transit hubs to supply masks, PPE and what the machine bills as other “stay safe essentials.”
“This is probably the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever been part of,” said Flavio Volpe, head of the Automotive Parts Manufacturing Association.
“I call it the largest peace-time mobilization of Canada’s industrial capacity.”
I just went to pick up mask prototypes from @WoodbridgeGroup in Vaughan. <br><br>They’re working around the clock to get PPEs in production for front line staff.<br><br>I’m driving them to <a href=”https://twitter.com/McMasterU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@McMasterU</a> in Hamilton who stepped up to evaluate them ASAP.<br><br>This is us. No wasted hours. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/StepUp?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#StepUp</a> <a href=”https://t.co/rVJMslUUAK”>pic.twitter.com/rVJMslUUAK</a>
He put out a call to his members in March. Plants had been shut down to prevent the spread of the virus. Volpe asked who would be willing to retool their assembly lines to make medical equipment. He called on people in his industry to “do our part and step up“.
He was overwhelmed by the response. Dozens of companies answered the call, which he says they should be immensely proud of.
Volpe says the great retooling of industrial capacity is a shining example of just how creative and how flexible Canadian companies really are.
“Canadians understand now better than they used to that there’s dignity in making things,” he said.
WATCH | How automakers retooled to respond to pandemic needs:
Flavio Volpe, of the Automotive Parts Manufacturing Association says dozens of companies retooled their entire production lines to build life saving equipment. He calls it the biggest peacetime industrial mobilization in Canadian history. 0:59
Flexibility on display
Economists agree. The health of any economy can be measured in terms of productivity gains, in entrepreneurship and technological innovation. In report after report, Canada has lagged behind.
Bloomberg ranked Canada 22nd on its innovation index. Productivity rankings of G7 countries places Canada below the G7 average.
So, experts like Pedro Antunes, chief economist at the conference board of Canada, see the pivots companies made last spring as a hopeful example of what’s possible.
Workers at Mitchell Plastics, an auto parts company with a factory in Kitchener, Ont., have retooled their production line to make face shields for health care workers. The company can make about 18,000 a day. (Nick Purdon/CBC)
“For a lot of Canadians, myself included, I never would have thought we could see such a transition in manufacturing,” he said. Volpe says he always knew these companies could be responsive — and it was never just about keeping the businesses afloat.
“I think at their core, they want it to show everybody how committed they were to their workforce and the families that work for them and to their own families,” he said.
That’s not to say it’s all been smooth. Distillers, who had pivoted their operations to produce hand sanitizer and donated tens of thousands of litres, were disappointed when the federal government later signed agreements to buy it from larger suppliers — and not them.
Like other distillers, Tyler Dyck, president Craft Distiller’s Guild of B.C., pivoted from whiskey making to hand sanitizer in March, and donated thousands of litres. Then, the federal government signed agreements to buy sanitizer from larger suppliers. (Curtis Allen/CBC)
Fraser says he’s never worked this hard. He’s entered into a sector he once knew nothing about, selling an entirely new product line to an entirely new clientele. And after all that new business, he says he’s still just filling a giant COVID-sized hole in his books.
“As much as I’ll take the business,” he said, “all it’s doing is replacing business that isn’t there.”
And now, as the crisis drags into its tenth month, Fraser’s filled some of the bigger contracts. Work is starting to slow down again. That existential dread that comes with running a company is creeping back into his thoughts.
“Will we make it?” he asked. “I don’t know.”
But he does know he bought himself time, and maybe helped some people along the way. He used to joke that no one was curing cancer in the fashion industry. Nowadays, he’s not so sure.
“I don’t know if it saved somebody, but it certainly helped somebody.”
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
