Target tried to enter the Canadian market and lost $5.4 billion. Yes it's not a grocer but the idea is similar: Canada is a hard country for foreign companies to enter. The countries is filled with failed foreign entrances: cellular, grocer, clothing brands.
On the other hand, there are plenty of success stories of foreign chains entering Canada. Target's rival Walmart has been reasonably successful in Canada, having over 400 stores. Target made a lot of mistakes entering the Canadian market, starting with leasing locations of dying Canadian chain Zellers and even still running them as Zellers for years, which didn't help building up the Target brand in Canada.
Target's approach was quite similar to what Walmart did in 1994, when Walmart entered the Canadian market.
Walmart took over around a hundred or so of the long-established Woolco stores, and converted them to Walmart stores. The Woolco stores I'm aware of were then replaced with new larger Walmart-built store in the same area within a few years.
I think Target's main problem was more timing rather than execution. In 1994, Canada still had a relatively strong middle class with money to spend, although that would eventually be harmed thanks to NAFTA, excessive government interference in the economy, and excessive immigration. By 2011 when Target showed up, Canada's middle class was already suffering, and it has only gotten much worse since then.
All of the Target stores I ever visited in Canada were decent. The pricing typically wasn't as competitive as Walmart's was, but the Target stores were generally a nicer experience.
They also messed up with their computer system. I forget the details from the account I read, but it had to do with trying to import the entire system from the US, database included, and spending more time fixing errors than actually selling anything. That database (if I recall right) included the sales data they used to predict demand and allocate stock, and it was completely wrong for the new market.
It might have worked if they started with a few stores to work out the kinks and incorporate the data into their planning systems, but they went for a huge launch instead and couldn't keep shelves stocked because nothing was where it needed to be.
Not just foreigners. A few years ago many Canadian restaurants tried to pivot to being grocery stores, but the customers never came in any meaningful way. Canadians are exceptionally brand loyal.
Cell carriage is, indeed, another great example. Many of the home-grown independent telcos in Canada started operating cell networks in the mid-2000s, but they were never able to win over the customers loyal to Bell and Rogers. The CEO of one of those telcos, which remains a strong player in the wired market in my local area, states that venturing into mobile was his biggest mistake.
> Many of the home-grown independent telcos in Canada started operating cell networks in the mid-2000s, but they were never able to win over the customers loyal to Bell and Rogers.
It has nothing to do with loyalty, the coverage of these networks is just bad. I'm on one right now. Canada is a huge sprawling country and many people venture far for camping, to cottages and so on, and they won't go with a cell provider where they lose service 10 mins outside of Toronto.
It's even worse sometimes, coverage in cities adjacent to Toronto, like Oakville, is also sometimes bad. Canada's problem with mobile is sprawl and a largely ineffective regulator.
> It has nothing to do with loyalty, the coverage of these networks is just bad.
They had nationwide agreements. They still do, technically, but no longer operate any cell sites, now essentially being a Bell reseller. Even as a reseller, their customer base hasn't grown in any meaningful way, certainly not beyond the wired customer audience. In fact, I bet you don't even know their names. Nobody in Canada cares to look beyond their loyalty.
What typically happens is that they are just bought up by one of the big 3. I had a great plan with Fido, very reasonable prices and good service, and because they were growing, Rogers bought them up and then all the prices shot up to match Rogers.
> What typically happens is that they are just bought up by one of the big 3.
Perhaps, but as they are owned by the customer (or government in a few cases), that would ultimately be on the customer to decide. If future service, price, or quality was of concern, they could easily reject the deal.
Agreed. If we (Canada) want to make a serious effort at reducing the inflationary expense of groceries, we should start looking at things like the protection racket surrounding our domestic dairy product industry.
But I don't see that happening because that'll lose votes in areas where the Liberal party is weak.
The farm and farm-adjacent population make up such a small segment of the population these days, even in farming areas, that nobody has to appeal to them. However, the government is legally obligated to buy back the quota, which would be a devastating cost. Ain't no politician (outside of those going to crazy town, like Bernier) would ever touch that even with a ten foot pole.
It was done for tobacco in 2009, but the tobacco industry in Canada was already essentially nothing. The cost to get out was still massive, but only a tiny, tiny fraction of what it would cost to get out of dairy, poultry, and eggs.
I don't know how this misconception persists, but Target's Canada failure was entirely Target's fault. They made huge errors in distribution/inventory and the shelves were empty from grand opening. They resolved their inventory issues after their fate had been sealed.
Canadians are risk averse, too afraid to stand out and too eager to put down America and claim to be better than them for any significant change to happen.
Maybe the worst out of the developed countries across all metrics.
Maybe, but it’s also remarkable Canada hasn’t had a bank failure in >100 years. It’s a safe, peaceful and prosperous developed country. Hard to argue that Canada hasn’t done fairly well. I still agree it’s perhaps too risk averse, but I disagree it’s the worst performing of all developed countries in that regard.
