Founder of Indigo Books and Music, Heather Reisman, outside their locations at Sherway Gardens, in Toronto, on Sept., 10, 2020.Christopher Katsarov/(Christopher Katsarov/The Globe
Heather Reisman, who built Canada’s largest book seller even as Amazon reshaped the business around her, is stepping away from her role as chief executive of Indigo Books & Music Inc., with the promotion of Peter Ruis to the top job.
Mr. Ruis joined Indigo as president in February of last year before being appointed to the CEO role on Monday.
But the announcement is not a retirement for the company’s founder. Ms. Reisman, 74, will take on the role of executive chair and “will continue to drive Indigo’s vision and growth strategy while also remaining deeply involved in the business,” according to a statement the company released on Tuesday.
“Heather’s role will be around the future vision for the business, the long-term point of view,” Mr. Ruis said in an interview. “My role is the day-to-day, running the business, the operational strategy, and really executing against that broader vision.”
That vision includes international expansion, Mr. Ruis said, noting that Indigo’s sole U.S. store, in New Jersey, is currently its best-performing location. The company plans to build more stores in the United States, and possibly in Europe over time, he said, as well as expanding its global e-commerce sales.
“We hope to double this business over the next five to 10 years and make it truly international,” Mr. Ruis said.
But in the near term, the Toronto-based retailer is still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, which decimated retail sales. And the company was struggling before the global shock of COVID-19, recording a net loss in the fiscal year ended March 30, 2019. It continued to lose money through fiscal 2020 and 2021, before reporting a profit of $3.3-million on revenues of $1.1-billion in its most recent fiscal year ended April 2.
Indigo is also grappling with shifting consumer habits and macroeconomic pressures, including supply chain snags, higher fuel costs and inflation. These factors contributed to a wider net loss in its first quarter this year compared to last. The company is preparing for the crucial holiday period, which is typically when Indigo makes most of its money for the year.
Indigo also announced on Tuesday that its chief customer and digital officer, Andrea Limbardi, has been appointed president.
Ms. Reisman opened the first big-box Indigo bookstore in Burlington, Ont., 25 years ago, on Sept. 4, 1997. In 2001, the company merged with Chapters, becoming the largest book retailer in the country.
Like other bookstore chains, Indigo faced increasing competitive pressure from the explosive growth of Amazon. For many years, Indigo has coped with those changes by expanding its focus, selling general merchandise such as housewares, children’s toys, candles, pens and accessories including wallets and scarves. In the past two years, this strategy has accelerated with the launch of more private-label brands – such as a homeware line called OUI, paper and stationery brand Nota, apparel and accessories collection Love & Lore, and kids’ furniture and decor line Mini Maison.
General merchandise now makes up nearly half of Indigo’s sales, and Mr. Ruis said he believes such products help to draw customers into stores more frequently than books, which are easier to buy online.
“COVID accelerated a lot of changes across the industry,” retail industry consultant George Minakakis said. “If I were in their shoes, I’d say you’re going to have to scale back the number of stores. There are just too many of them. And how are you going to enhance the experience so people really, really want to come back and shop?”
Drawing people into stores is a priority: While retail traffic has improved over the past year, it is still 20 per cent to 30 per cent lower than it was three years ago, Mr. Ruis said, but he expects further recovery as people return to offices more frequently.
In the early days of the pandemic, Indigo closed 15 of its smaller-format stores, and has since pared back another 10 locations: As of the first quarter, the retailer had 172 stores across Canada.
“I’m still a great believer in stores,” Mr. Ruis said. “It’s obviously going to be, still, a digital revolution, but we’ve got 170-odd stores, and I think we’re going to build some more over the next five years.”
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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.
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