Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plan to hire tens of thousands of workers in Canada over the next two years, increasing pressure on domestic retailers from Sears Canada Inc. to Canadian Tire Corp Ltd.
Target, the second-largest U.S. discount retailer, will hire as many as 27,000 people in Canada next year for its first stores in the country, while Wal-Mart said it plans to add 4,000 employees this year, about 500 more than it initially forecast.
“We’re in a period of great dislocation,” due to the rising presence of U.S. competitors,” said Keith Howlett, retail analyst at Desjardins Securities Inc. in Toronto. “It’s going to be an extremely challenging time for retailers.”
U.S. retailers are heading north to take advantage of an economy expanding at a 1.9 per cent pace and falling jobless rate. Canadian employment has grown three per cent since 2008 while U.S. employment shrank 3.6 per cent.
Want to publish your own articles on DistilINFO Publications?
Send us an email, we will get in touch with you.
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, dominates market share among the top U.S. grocers such as Kroger Co., Safeway Inc. and Supervalue Inc., with a 46 per cent share, said Kathleen Wong, an equities analyst at Veritas Investment Research.
In Canada, the general merchandisers will feel the most pressure from Target and Wal-Mart, said Wong.
“More of the impact will be on the apparel and in the department stores,” Wong said in a telephone interview. The impact on grocery store chains such as Loblaw Companies Ltd. “will be a lot less,” she said.
via Target’s mass hiring poised to roil domestic retail, corporate Canada says.