Retail Council of Canada Announces 24 Retail as a Career Scholarship Winners From Across Canada

Toronto, May 31, 2007 – Twenty-four post-secondary students from across the country will each receive a $1,000 scholarship to assist in their continuing education and kick-start their retail career at Retail Council of Canada's (RCC) upcoming STORE conference, in Toronto, June 4-5. RCC, along with leading Canadian retailers, award these scholarships annually and developed this initiative to recognize outstanding post-secondary students who are pursuing retail and retail-related careers.

"There are so many exciting career opportunities for students in the Canadian retail industry today, whether it's full-time, seasonal, head-office or in-store," says Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO, Retail Council of Canada. "It's imperative that the retail industry support the education of our young people and help students across the country realize their career goals by granting these annual scholarships."

RCC's 2007 Retail as a Career Scholarship Program is growing every year, both in the number of applicants and the number of retailers who provide the additional funding needed to increase the number of scholarships available.

The scholarship winners are pursuing an education in retail or a business-related post-secondary program, such as fashion merchandising/marketing, retail management, commerce, advertising, communications, and human resources management.

In addition, the scholarship winners will receive expenses-paid travel to STORE and will have the opportunity to network with industry executives with a full conference pass.

Applicants were judged by an independent panel and are rated on their academic record, references and an application essay. The 2007 Retail as a Career Scholarship winners are (in alphabetical order):

Leading Canadian retailers — including Aritzia, Best Buy Canada, The Bombay Company, Canadian Tire, Comark, Costco Wholesale Canada, Future Shop, Hbc, Home Depot Canada, Home Hardware, Sears Canada, STAPLES Business Depot, Starbucks, Talbots, Toys 'R' Us, Urban Barn, Vivah Jewellry, Wal-Mart Canada, and Winners — have sponsored 19 of the scholarships, while RCC has sponsored five in honour of Canadian Retail Hall of Fame inductees.

The 2007 scholarships will be presented to the 24 winners at the Canadian Retail Hall of Fame Luncheon with their presenting sponsors on Tuesday, June 5, from 1:30 – 3 p.m. EST.

> For more information about STORE 2007, Canada's Retail Conference, log on to www.storeconference.ca.

About the Canadian Retail Institute
Canadian Retail Institute (CRI), the education arm of RCC, is dedicated to promoting retail as a rewarding career by developing professional designation programs, establishing scholarships, and creating partnerships with educational institutions that provide retail programs across Canada.

About Retail Council of Canada
Retail Council of Canada (www.retailcouncil.org) is the Voice of Retail. It is a not-for-profit association representing more than 40,000 stores of all retail formats, including independent merchants, regional and national mass and specialty chains, and online merchants.

Media are invited to attend STORE 2007. For more information and to RSVP, contact: Stephanie Petroff, Manager, National Public Affairs, (416) 922-0553, ext. 228; e-mail: spetroff@retailcouncil.org; or Meredith Smith, Account Manager, Pipeline Communications, (416) 694-2777, ext. 223; e-mail: meredith@pipelinecommunications.ca.