CHHMA - EYE ON OUR INDUSTRY
Volume 15, Issue 23, July 2, 2015
Inside This Issue:
• You Could Win a New Car Among Other Prizes by Just Calling In for a Quote on Your Auto and/or Home Insurance
• CHHMA Scholarship Program – Deadline for Applications July 15
• Sears Canada Looking for New CEO Again After Ronald Boire Resigns
• Sears Canada’s Chances of Survival are Slim, Analyst Says: It’s ‘Now or Never’
• Sobeys to Cut 1,300 Jobs as it Streamlines Operations
• Wal-Mart to Begin Imposing New Stocking Fees on Suppliers as Costs Rise
• Canadian Economy Shrinks for Fourth Straight Month
• Some Truths About Canada’s Housing Market: CIBC Report
• Latest U.S. Economic News
Association News
You Could Win a New Car Among Other Prizes by Just Calling In for a Quote on Your Auto and/or Home Insurance
The CHHMA is pleased to offer our members (including spouses and dependent children residing at home or away at school) with a home and automobile insurance program. The program is brought to you by Aaxel Insurance Brokers Ltd. and is underwritten by Economical Select, a subsidiary of Economical Insurance, a wholly owned Canadian company.
One call could put YOU in the DRIVER’S SEAT!
Aaxel Insurance and Economical Select are now offering you the opportunity to be entered into a sweepstakes for a chance to win some great prizes including a new vehicle or a $100 gas card by just calling in to get a quote on your home and/or auto insurance. Read More >>
CHHMA Scholarship Program – Deadline for Applications July 15
The CHHMA is once again pleased to be able to offer the opportunity for children of employees of our member companies to apply for a scholarship to help offset the cost of post-secondary education. The Association recognizes the importance of education and therefore encourages children of our member companies to attend University or College. Five or six scholarships are awarded each year. Successful candidates receive $1,000 CDN per year for the first two years of study leading to a diploma or degree from an accredited community college or university. Read More >>
Industry News
Sears Canada Looking for New CEO Again After Ronald Boire Resigns
Sears Canada Inc. is looking for a chief executive officer again, following its announcement Thursday that Ronald Boire will depart at the end of this summer — less than a year after taking on the job.
Boire, former chief merchandising officer and president of the Sears and Kmart stores in the U.S., stepped in last fall after previous Sears Canada CEO Douglas Campbell left the company in September for personal reasons after only about a year in the position.
Boire is moving over to Barnes & Noble Inc, owner of the largest U.S. bookstore chain, as chief executive of the company after the spin off its college books business. Read More >>
Sears Canada’s Chances of Survival are Slim, Analyst Says: It’s ‘Now or Never’
Time is running out for struggling department store chain Sears Canada to improve its financial results and the chances of survival are slim, says one retail analyst.
Keith Howlett of Desjardins published a report last Friday saying it’s “now or never” for the money-losing company to make headway on a turnaround that has dragged on for several years with little progress.
“The next seven quarters are ’make it or break it’ for Sears Canada,” he wrote. Read More >>
Sobeys to Cut 1,300 Jobs as it Streamlines Operations
The Sobeys grocery business expects to eliminate 1,300 jobs over the next year or two as it moves to open new distribution centres in Ontario and Alberta and continues to integrate Safeway Canada’s operations.
The head of Sobeys parent company told analysts in a quarterly conference call last Thursday that the jobs cuts will be implemented starting in late 2016 and will be primarily back-office functions.
Empire Co. president and CEO Marc Poulin says some of the jobs losses will be from closing of a support centre in Milton west of Toronto after a new automated distribution centre is opened in October 2016 in Vaughan to the north of Toronto. Read More >>
Wal-Mart to Begin Imposing New Stocking Fees on Suppliers as Costs Rise
Reuters has reported that Wal-Mart Stores will begin charging fees to almost all vendors for stocking their items in new stores and for warehousing inventory, raising pressure on suppliers as the world’s largest retailer battles higher costs from wage hikes.
The company said it started informing suppliers about the fees and other changes to supplier agreements two weeks ago. The changes, which also include amended payment terms, will affect 10,000 suppliers to its U.S. stores [not sure about Canadian stores yet]. Read More >>
Economic News
Canadian Economy Shrinks for Fourth Straight Month
Canada extended its economic skid in April, delivering a fourth straight monthly decline that is sure to rekindle concerns that the country may have slipped into a mild recession.
Statistics Canada reported Tuesday that real GDP (i.e. adjusted for inflation) shrank by 0.1% in April from March. The economy was hit hard by a 3.4% drop in oil and gas extraction, as the Alberta oil sands, battered in recent months by sharply lower oil prices, was hit by maintenance shutdowns and other production delays. Manufacturing, retail sales and construction also took a step backward in the month.
The April decline was something of a shock to economists and market watchers, who had anticipated a turnaround from March’s 0.2% decline, and from a dismal first-quarter in which the economy contracted at an annualized rate of 0.6% – its weakest quarter since the Great Recession. Most economists had forecast 0.1% growth in April. The oil price shock, harsh weather and U.S. port strikes weighed down activity in the quarter, but those factors appeared to have eased with the arrival of spring. Read More >>
Some Truths About Canada’s Housing Market: CIBC Report
CIBC World Markets says people frequently ask about Canada’s housing market in client meetings.
The answer: “It is a multi-dimensional market and a blanket statement will not do.”
Economists Benjamin Tal and Andrew Grantham put some meat on those bones in a report last week, noting that much has to do with “truths, lies and averages.”
The report also lashed out at people who compare the Canadian housing market to its American counterpart and is downplaying fears of foreign investment. Read More >>
Latest U.S. Economic News
U.S. job growth slowed in June and Americans left the labour force in droves, according to a government report on Thursday that could tamper expectations for a September interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
U.S. single-family home prices rose in April from a year earlier but at a slower pace than forecast, a closely watched survey said on Tuesday.
Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes rose to their highest level in just over nine years in May, in a further boost to the housing market and the broader economic outlook. Read More >>
Upcoming CHHMA Events
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Industry Memorial Golf Classic
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Blue Springs Golf Club, Acton, Ontario
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CHHMA Industry Calendar
To register for all events visit our website at www.chhma.ca or call Pam Winter at (416) 282-0022 ext.21.
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"Eye On Our Industry" is published by the CHHMA as an information resource for our members. Member input regarding content and format is welcomed. Please contact Michael Jorgenson by email: mjorgenson@chhma.ca, or call at (416) 282-0022, ext. 34. CHHMA is located at 1335 Morningside Ave., Suite 101, Scarborough, ON, M1B 5M4 www.chhma.ca
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