Food will be a critical part of Target’s business model, according to top company brass at the Honda Indy race in Toronto. Fresh food is big business for Canadian retailers.
According to Colliers International:
The grocery business in Canada is significant, worth $111.8 billion, or 38 percent of the $294.3 billion of non-automotive retail sales in 2010,
By 2013, Target will be a big presence here following its $1.8-billion deal with Hudson’s Bay Co. earlier this year to buy leases of up to 220 Zellers stores and convert them to the Target name. The U.S. chain expects to ultimately roll out 200-plus outlets in Canada, hitting $6 billion in annual sales by 2017.
According to Colliers:
- Walmart Supercentres (66 stores in 2009) increased total grocery retail sales in Canada from $130 million in 2006 to nearly $1.98 billion in 2009; in the process, it increased its share of the total Canadian grocery retail market from 0.1% to 1.8% in just 3 years.
- Costco (77 stores in 2009) increased total Canadian grocery retail sales from $4.98 billion in 2006 (5.3% market share) to $6.0 billion in 2009 (5.6% share).
