Giant Tiger Stores Limited

GIANT TIGER STORES LIMITED

www.gianttiger.com

CBJ GIANT TIGER STORES LIMITED Providing Canadians with Low Priced, Fun Shopping for 55 Years RETAIL

GIANT TIGER STORES LIMITED Providing Canadians with Low Priced, Fun Shopping for 55 Years 4 RETAIL » Giant Tiger Stores Limited

In a challenging economic DISCOUNT RETAIL CHAINS that offer simi- landscape, retailers must be lar products, such as Zellers and Target, have innovative, in touch with customer recently closed stores in Canada, but Giant needs, and provide niche value Tiger, on average, is opening 15 to 20 a year to the marketplace in order to across the country. Giant Tiger is a Canadian- succeed. For over 50 years, the owned, “save on everything store.” It offers Canadian discount store chain extremely low prices every day on a broad Giant Tiger Stores Limited has assortment of products, including clothing done just this and its business is and accessories for women, men and children, booming. housewares and groceries. 5 APRIL 2016 « The Canadian Business Journal

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In a recent interview with The Canadian A Thriving Market for Business Journal, President and COO Thomas Discount Stores in Haig says the key to Giant Tiger’s success has Canada been its customer focus, franchise model, and Established in 1961 in Ottawa, Giant Tiger has long-term store owners who are in touch with more than 7,000 employees at over 200 locally the communities in which they operate. owned and operated stores across Canada. In “Our franchise owners live and breathe the the mid and late 1950s, Giant Tiger founder community,” explains Haig, a former execu- Gordon Reid was a travelling salesman for a tive with Zellers and Danier Leather. “Unlike, retailer in the United States. During this time, let’s say other retail organizations that might he encountered discount stores, which were, change store managers every few years, we back then, a new concept. Discount stores did don’t. We have store managers who have not yet exist in Canada, and Reid jumped on been in that community for 25 or 30 years, the opportunity to import the idea. and understand the needs of their neighbour- “Fifty-five years ago, (Mr. Reid) felt like hoods.” there was a niche in the marketplace for 6 RETAIL » Giant Tiger Stores Limited 7 APRIL 2016 « The Canadian Business Journal

A GIANT MILESTONE! BORDEN LADNER GERVAIS LLP CONGRATULATES GIANT TIGER ON THEIR 55TH ANNIVERSARY.

volume discounted merchandise, and that’s Stores That Serve how we started,” Haig says. “He felt that the Individual Communities franchise model benefitted, not only what he Since the 1960s, Giant Tiger has primarily used a was trying to do, but also the store manager, franchise model that involves recruiting experi- because local store managers understood the enced managers, and allowing them to operate a community they were in because they were corporate store and then financing them to turn part of that community.” the store into a franchise which the manager When Wal-Mart entered the Canadian retail would own. It is a model that is used in a majority market in 1994, Giant Tiger had approximately of its stores. $220 million in annual sales and 63 stores. Giant Tiger learned early on that its strat- Since then, it has almost tripled its stores and egy of setting up stores in small communities increased sales to $1.3 billion. Much of Giant or neighbourhood stores in bigger cities was Tiger’s growth has resulted from a deal in 2000 the most profitable approach. This is because, with the North West Co., which allowed the as Haig explains, the store owners have a close Winnipeg company exclusive rights to open connection with their communities and under- franchised Giant Tiger stores in western Canada. stand the customer demand in that area. The 8 RETAIL » Giant Tiger Stores Limited

chain store in touch with what’s happening on the local level from an economic perspective. “If you are a franchise model and you know your customer’s need and wants,” he says. “Then we are definitely in tune with what’s happening locally from an economic point of view, as well as nationally.”

Easy to Find, Customer- Focused Products at Low Prices Matching its product offering to customer demand is one of Giant Tiger’s core values. It is currently launching a women’s line that is directed at its main customer—the busy mom. Thomas Haig, President and COO “We’re listening to the customer and she has identified how she likes to shop,” Haig says. In discount chain allows its local managers lots doing so, the company has launched three new of leeway. A store manager can decide which “occasion-based” clothing lines. “We believe that merchandise goes on the shelf based on his or these brands really and truly meet that need for her knowledge of the market. that busy mom—ones that want to feel great, but Haig adds, “From listening to our custom- don’t want to spend a lot of time or money.” ers we’ve created an environment where the “We’re very customer centric,” he adds. “We customer can shop quickly and with ease. On listen to the customer on a constant basis. We average, our stores are 16,000 to 20,000 square definitely want to ensure that we are focused, feet of floor space, so it’s easy for the consumer not only on products, but also that we are giv- to get in and out, especially when they are on a ing the consumer great value for that product.” busy time schedule. We’ve laid out our store to make it easy for the consumer and continue to listen to their needs and wants.” Growth from Coast-to- Giant Tiger’s franchise strategy is also what Coast has helped it weather the economic down- Giant Tiger is expanding so rapidly that it town. Haig explains that it has put the discount recently moved its main distribution centre in 9 APRIL 2016 « The Canadian Business Journal 10 RETAIL » Giant Tiger Stores Limited 11 APRIL 2016 « The Canadian Business Journal

Ottawa to Highway 401. The new location is Over the years, Giant Tiger has proved itself larger and better positioned as the company as unique company that has withstood the continues to grow its 214 outlets, up from 206 likes of Wal-Mart by focusing on product offer- since January 2015. ings that doesn’t put it in direct competition “Based on what’s happening in the Canadian with the U.S. conglomerate. “This is a success retail environment with a lot of retailers exiting, story of a Canadian retailer being 100 percent there is some real estate available that we have owned by Canadians, thriving in a challenging been looking at. And we are very conservative; retail environment in Canada. Hopefully, we’ll we want to make sure that it meets our financial be here for another 55 years.” CBJ model. We slowly look at each site to make sure that it would work. And so far, over the last two www.gianttiger.com or three years, there have been at least 10 or 15 stores that we’ve been able to open.” GEORGE MEDIA NETWORK

AS SEEN IN THE APRIL 2016 ISSUE OF THE CANADIAN BUSINESS JOURNAL