Canadian Retailers Honoured at National Excellence in Retailing Awards Event
Toronto, June 3, 2008 – Retail Council of Canada (RCC) awarded 18 prestigious industry awards at the annual Excellence in Retailing Awards Dinner last night. These awards recognize the retail industry's top achievers and were presented as part of STORE 2008 — Canada's Retail Conference.
"These impressive initiatives being honoured at Retail Council of Canada's Excellence in Retailing Awards are a true testament to the creativity and ingenuity taking place in the Canadian retail industry," says Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO, Retail Council of Canada. "In a business where loyalty is a valued commodity, these winning retailers and their industry partners have demonstrated that loyalty to our customers is the true source of innovation."
AWARDS OF DISTINCTION
Laurence Lewin, Co-Founder and President, La Senza Corp., accepted the 2008 Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year award. This award recognizes a retailer regarded as a leader and an innovator in the retail community.
Dr. William (Bill) H. Comrie, O.C., LLD., Founder of The Brick Warehouse Corp. was honoured with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to retailers who dedicate their lives to the betterment of retail in Canada. Nominees have no less than 25 years of consecutive service at an executive position in the retail sector.
The Visa Ambassador Award went to two independent, family-run retailers: United Cycle of Edmonton, for its longtime support of sports and recreation in Alberta; and Dayle's Dept. Store of Amherst, N.S., a department store known for its support of many worthy charities in northern Nova Scotia.
EXCELLENCE IN RETAILING AWARDS
In addition to these Awards of Distinction, retailers take part by submitting entries for other awards, which are chosen by an industry panel of judges. Here is a list of the other award recipients:
Retail Employee Development Award: Presented to a retailer that exhibits a comprehensive recognition and training program for sales and customer service staff.
The Mid-size Category winner is Black Photo Corp. for its successful efforts in transitioning its sales staff into a new age of digital photography.
The Large-size Category winner is Wal-Mart Canada Corp. for its innovative use of podcasting technology to educate store associates about products sold in its stores.
Retail Marketing/Advertising Award: Presented to a retailer that has developed a creative and successful marketing campaign by integrating two or more tactics.
The Mid-size Category winner is Tabi International Ltd., for its successful "Fall Into Classics" campaign, proving the importance and relevance of a catalogue campaign in a digital age.
The Large-size Category winner is Holt, Renfrew & Co. Ltd., for its Twenty8Twelve campaign, held in conjunction with the Toronto International Film Festival and leveraging the festival's glamour to promote a new line of designer wear.
Retail Loss Prevention Award: Honours a retailer that has successfully implemented a loss prevention strategy in order to combat loss.
The winner is Montreal-based Birks & Mayors Inc. for its successful loss prevention program, which focused on decreasing the total amount of shrink and providing a safe working environment through a number of different initiatives.
Retail Store Design Award: Presented to a retailer that has demonstrated innovation in creating a visually enticing layout and design.
The Mid-size Category winner is Umbra Ltd., for the design of its striking flagship store on Toronto's trendy Queen West strip, which successfully showcases the company's line of housewares while allowing customers to interact with in-house designers.
The Large-size Category winners are Holt, Renfrew & Co. Ltd., for its newly opened Holt Renfrew store in Vancouver, and Hbc, for its Waterdown, Ont., Zellers location that incorporates the latest in green technology.
Online Retailing Award: Presented to a retailer that offers the consumer an outstanding e-retailing experience.
The winner is Sears Canada Inc., for leveraging its strength as a multi-channel retailer to enhance merchandise selection at its www.sears.ca Web site.
Retail Corporate Social Responsibility Award: Presented to a retailer that develops a new or advances its current corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, demonstrating innovative and proactive solutions to societal and environmental challenges.
The Mid-size Category winner is Vancouver-based Please Mum Inc., for partnering with The Tides Canada Foundation to create the Please Mum Foundation Fund, which contributes to fun and healthy extra-curricular activities for children in communities across Canada.
The Large-size Category winner is The Home Depot Canada, for its financial support and its associates' volunteer support of Habitat for Humanity's home ownership program.
Retail Health & Safety Award: Presented to a retailer that successfully implements an innovative approach to ensuring the health and safety of its employees.
This year's winner is Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC), for developing and implementing an innovative Occupational Health and Safety Management System that meets the requirements of the new best practices standard established by the Canadian Standards Association.
Canada Post Multi-Channel Retailing Award: Presented to a retailer that successfully satisfies the ever-increasing consumer appetite for retail channel choice.
The winner is The Shopping Channel, for using its 20th Anniversary Birthday Week Celebration to reach out to customers in every retail channel possible.
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 2008 — Canada's Retail Conference. For more information, contact: Meredith Roberts, Account Manager, Pipeline Communications, (416) 694-2777, ext. 223; e-mail: meredith@pipelinecommunications.ca.