CCentral • 6th May 2024

'We’re in crisis mode'

The Manitoba government’s temporary pause on the approval of some new cannabis retail outlets has left some retailers in peril as they wait in limbo for approval to open their doors.

Manitoba-based c-store and gas retailer, Domo Corporation Ltd., had been working for almost a year to outfit some of its retail locations for the sale of cannabis. The c-store and gas station entered into an agreement in June last year to sell Wowkpow Inc. cannabis products at its stores.

Since then, the retailer

28th March 2024

Queens of the Qing Dynasty casts Cape Breton locals

In making the follow-up to her hit debut feature Werewolf, Canadian filmmaker Ashley McKenzie says she used a gonzo style of casting that felt “scary” but also offered more freedom and authenticity.

Queens of the Qing Dynasty, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on Feb. 15, was shot on Cape Breton Island, N.S., and pays homage to the people, cultures, and ideas that have migrated to the region in the past five years, McKenzie tells Playback Daily.

Written, directed, and produced by McK

CCentral • 22nd September 2023

Delivering change: Marc Goodman of 7-Eleven Canada

7-Eleven is a company built on innovation and changing to meet the needs of its customers. From its earliest days, debuting as an icehouse in Dallas, Texas in 1927, it expanded to 16 locations where customers also could purchase milk, eggs and bread (at the suggestion of an astute employee), eventually evolving into one of the largest retail brands in the world with some 83,000 c-store and gas locations across 19 countries. Recent activity at 7-Eleven Canada reflects the evolution of the company

CCentral • 2nd August 2023

Tips for innovating in the beverage category

When looking for an afternoon pick-me-up, most consumers turn to beverages that give them energy. The same can be said for the beverages people choose early in the morning: consumers tend to turn to coffee to wake up.

Abbott says that while this category is an important factor affecting consumer beverage choice, people look for different types of energy from their drinks at different times of the day.

Distinguishing between instant energy (the energy you might get 20 minutes after drinking you

CCentral • 31st July 2023

Shell profits plunge in second-quarter

Shell PLC reported its second-quarter results last Thursday, with earnings of approximately $5.1 billion for the quarter, down a whopping 56% from $11.6 billion last year.

Earnings were also down from $9.6 billion in the first quarter.

“Our financial results were impacted by lower commodity prices, planned maintenance,” said Wael Sawan, CEO of Shell PLC during the company’s second-quarter results presentation webcast.

The British energy company says that its lower earnings followed lower oil

CCentral • 12th July 2023

Membership has its benefits

As an independent car wash operator, what can be more important to your business than customers? Loyal ones. With national banners spreading across the country and north over the southern border, a loyal customer-base can help you not only maintain, but also grow your car wash business. With new technology emerging often, car wash membership programs are a great way to reward your customers for their loyalty, maintain a steady flow of income to your business and turn one-time customers into regu

CCentral • 7th June 2023

Growing east

The team at Canco Petroleum Ld. is gearing up for June 29. Almost daily, since March 2, the company’s Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram have featured colourful images of its many locations across Canada. From the smiling face of a location manager at 228 Tranquille Rd. in Kamloops, B.C., to a yard of ruby-red tractors behind a clean forecourt in Wynyard, Sask., the photos have one thing in common: the proud blue-and-orange colours and maple leaf of Canco’s logo.

“We’re doing a countdown to site

CCentral • 31st May 2023

A greener wash

Velocity Water—another company under the Sonny’s umbrella–is also producing water reclamation systems that Harkins says can help operators recapture and reuse 50 to 60% of the water their wash uses. The company is steadily working on a new system that can reuse up to 70 to 80% of water, but the system is still under development and testing. Harkins says that one of the biggest challenges in water reclamation is trying to remove the dyes/colours that are used in soap.

Transchem has also stepped

Convenience Store News Canada • 11th April 2023

Alberta Retailers Coalition calls on Minister to address contraband tobacco

The Alberta Retailers Coalition (ARC) is calling on Minister Mike Ellis to address contraband tobacco in Alberta. The advocacy group says that the growing contraband tobacco market has increased crime in the province.

The ARC is now imploring the government to create a Tobacco Prevention Task Force along with adding illegal tobacco tracking into the province’s public safety plan.

"We know this is a big problem and there is no one-size fits all approach, which is why we are asking for the creat

CCentral • 3rd April 2023

Murray Ewing, founder and CEO of Transchem Group, passes away

Murray Ewing, the founder and CEO of Transchem Group passed away on March 26, 2023. Ewing was based in Cambridge, Ont. and was surrounded by his family at the time.

Ewing’s grandson, Mackenzie Ewing, shared the news of his grandfather’s passing in a LinkedIn post on March 28:

Sharing the difficult news that my Gramps and our founder and CEO of Transchem Group, Murray Ewing passed away peacefully on Saturday. I was extremely fortunate to get home from Texas in time for some final words of advic

CCentral • 22nd March 2023

Highlights and photos from the 2023 Convenience U CARWACS Show

The Convenience U CARWACS Show made a big return March 7 and 8: After a three-year hiatus, the event returned to its original March time slot. This years’ show welcomed more than 50 new exhibitors, who joined industry staples in showcasing innovative new products and equipment. This year, Canada’s event for convenience, gas and car wash was at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ont. It offered unique education, a buzzing trade show and the chance to rub shoulders with the people important

Canadian Rental Service • 6th December 2022

Cut the cord on work hazards

Manufacturers are constantly working on improvements to cordless tools with user safety in mind. photo Courtesy of DeWalt

It’s no secret that working in the construction sector comes with its own set of worksite hazards. Since 2006, the construction industry has been sitting at number three on the leaderboard for the most lost-time claims in Canada.

According to the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, 2019 lost-time claims in Canada totalled 271,806. Of those, 28,111 claims

Canadian Rental Service • 6th December 2022

Faith in Rental

Don (centre) is proud of the young talent he has involved at Pat’s Rent-All. His son, Joel, (right) is already taking over many of the day-to-day tasks. Micah Tudhope works at the store full-time, as well. All Photos: Courtesy of Pat’s Rent-All staff.

There are many beginnings to the story of Pat’s Rent-All. The first takes place in fall, 1969, when Pat’s Rent-All was established. At the time, the rental company called 800 square feet on Harwood Ave. in Ajax, Ont., home.

Nearly a decade later,

Glass Canada • 25th August 2022

Under The Glass: Winning Manitoba

Anatoli Schneider and Martin Kania. The wunderteam says they’ve found success in Manitoba through their relationships with their customers. Photo by: MarkAnthony Photography.
• Products and services: Commercial sealed-units, residential sealed-units, custom tempered glass, water-jet cutting, glass distribution and more.

In 2005, a retailer and his client seized an opportunity in Winnipeg. Martin Kania started his career selling glass with Guardian Industries in Toronto about 20 years ago. In 20

Glass Canada • 24th August 2022

Canada’s Top 10 Under 40

They come from all walks of life and all levels of education. Someway, somehow, these 10 young professionals found themselves in the architectural glass industry. Many were raised in it – running around window-and-door shops as children, or working at their parents’ fabrication plants as a part-time job – but others stumbled upon the world of glazing by chance and discovered a unique quality and a compelling passion in the glazing community. Hailing from the plains of Manitoba to the chilly foot

Canadian Rental Service • 16th August 2022

Rental Mart refreshed

It’s a whole new Rental Mart. The return of Canada’s trade expo for the equipment and event rental industry brings with it a refreshed and revised approach featuring many “firsts” never before done in the show’s 30-year history.

“Because of the biennial schedule for the Rental Mart, two years of COVID restrictions meant four years without a live show,” explains Robert Elias, show manager. “We saw that as an opportunity to really take a hard look at what we do and make some changes that we think

Fenestration Review • 5th July 2022

Frank, the new Ostaco

A lot of Frank’s operation has stayed the same despite innovations and new machinery. The company still prides itself on the traditional bench-build process. Photos: Daniel Real-Chin

Frank stands proud at 248 Bowes Rd. For the last 40 years the company was known as Ostaco. Ostaco entered the market as a small patio door manufacturer based in Markham. The addition of windows and entry doors brought growth and expansion.

Currently operating out of Concord, Ont., CEO Marco Greco comments, “This f

Canadian Rental Service • 20th June 2022

Compliant chipping: recommending the right concrete removal tools starts with knowing the regulations

Highway bridge repair is a multi-billion-dollar industry. This year alone, the government of Ontario committed $3 billion to repair and expand provincial highways and bridges between April 2022 to March 2023.

And that’s just Ontario. With over 51,717 publicly owned bridges in Canada and more than a quarter of urban and rural highway bridges built over 50 years ago, big-ticket bridge rehabilitation projects are inevitable; along with the big-bucks need for rented equipment.

By offering customer

Investment Executive • 20th September 2021

Freedom of product choice still ranks high

One related category, “Quality of product offering,” also remained one of the top-10 best-performing and most important. That category was rated 8.8 and 9.3, for performance and importance, respectively, compared with 8.7 and 9.4 two years ago.

In both areas, the ratings of the managing general agencies (MGAs) outpaced those of the three dedicated sales agencies (DSAs). The four MGAs each received near-perfect product freedom results, with both IDC Worldsource Insurance Network Inc. (IDC WIN) a

Investment Executive • 30th August 2021

Flexible work policies paid off for banks

TD, which received a pandemic support rating of 8.5., was already focused on technological innovation when the pandemic struck, said David Terry, vice-president and head, TD Wealth Financial Planning.

“By March 2020, we had actually enabled all of our financial planners and advisors across the wealth advice channel to work off of [Cisco] WebEx using e-signatures,” Terry said.

Prior to the pandemic, only 20% of TD Wealth Financial Planning’s advisors were able to work remotely. But from March t

Investment Executive • 14th June 2021

Firms get mixed reviews for business development

The average performance rating for the “business development support” category was 7.6 this year, up from 7.4 in 2020. While the category’s importance rating dropped to 7.7 from 8.2 a year ago, advisors who were satisfied praised their dealers for offering a variety of resources, particularly marketing materials. (The category was previously called “firm’s marketing support,” but was expanded this year to include other forms of business development support, such as coaching.)

Carte Wealth Manag

Investment Executive • 17th May 2021

Succession planning remains on backburner for advisors

This year, respondents’ average book value rose by nearly $10 million to $209 million. As book sizes matured, so did advisors. This year’s respondents were 50.6 years old on average, slightly older than last year’s 50.4.

Despite being older and having larger books of business, the majority (62.7%) of advisors in this year’s Report Card said they didn’t have a documented succession plan. This finding represents a step back from last year, when 59.5% of respondents said they hadn’t crafted a plan