Mar. 27, 2025 "How Canadian businesses with American names are dealing with the trade war": Today I found this article by Stephanie Tsicos on BNN Bloomberg:
“I think a lot of the guests do know that we’re Canadian and we’re really proud to be serving up Canadian barbecue. Our ribs, our steak, and celebrating our 30th anniversary,” said Halifax franchisee Sylvia Corning.
The restaurant is under the Recipe Unlimited Corporation umbrella, which dates back to 1850.
Montana’s is one of several restaurants under the brand,
as is New York Fries
-- another Canadian company with an American name.
It’s a similar story for Boston Pizza, which was founded in Canada more than 60 years ago.
“I think we’ve always, because of our name, made an effort to let people know we’re Canadian
and now we’re just kind of tweaking that a little bit, whether that be locally or nationally,
through advertising within the store and outside our four walls,” said franchisee Rick VanPoelgeest.
He is a franchisee of nine Boston Pizza locations across Atlantic Canada: three in Nova Scotia, three in New Brunswick, and three in Newfoundland.
While there doesn’t seem to be any confusion or impact to these businesses locally when it comes to their names, some new questions have popped up amid the ongoing trade war.
“‘Where are your products coming from?’ That sort of thing. ‘Are you serving any American products -- whether that be alcohol or food?‘” said VanPoelgeest.
“I’m proud to say almost everything we serve comes from Canada.”
The franchisees stress it’s not just the companies that are Canadian -- the people who work there are Canadian too.
“I’ve spent almost all my adult life really nurturing this brand and this wonderful restaurant, and I think it’s really important for people in my community and in my country to know that Montana’s is an authentic Canadian brand and that we really are grateful for your support,” said Corning.
These large brands have been reminding the public of their Canadian roots, which business professor Ed McHugh said is smart, considering Canadians are paying more attention than ever to the brands they support.
“Any company that can right now should step up its Canadian message and step up its Canadian footprint because I’ve never seen Canadian consumers ever like this in my lifetime,” he said.
McHugh also noted there can be confusion when it comes to brands now owned by Americans but were founded in Canada.
“Like anything, like labels on food these days, people have to do their research, and a lot of people don’t do their research. They just make assumptions,” said McHugh.
“On the flip side, people think there’s certain Canadian companies that people think are owned in Canada, Hudson Bay being one that isn’t.”
Apr. 8, 2025 "Boston Pizza, New York Fries: Tariff war tests Canadian companies with U.S. names": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps on BNN Bloomberg:
Despite branding themselves with nods to the U.S.,
Boston Pizza,
New York Fries,
Montana’s,
California Sandwiches
and The Great American Backrub
are all Canadian
and have been working to ensure the public doesn’t forget.
“Not going to lie, we’ve had to do a little bit of pivoting,” said Alyssa Berenstein, senior director of marketing at Vaughan, Ont.-headquartered New York Fries.
“We’ve had to do a little bit of answering questions to consumers who may or may not understand the fact that we are wholeheartedly a Canadian brand owned by a Canadian company.”
That work is being taken on across a slew of Canadian companies with U.S. names, who have found the tariff war U.S. President Donald Trump is waging is putting consumer knowledge of their brands’ ownership and heritage to the test.
While they insist their monikers aren’t in need of changing because they’ve been able to cut through any confusion and aren’t seeing their sales slump, they’re relishing any opportunity they get to share where their allegiances lie.
At The Great American Backrub’s two Toronto locations, patriotism comes in the form of signs advertising that the business is Canadian.
“I thought about ... putting a big red ribbon across American, but I didn’t think the landlords would like that too much,” owner Nazir Lalani said.
His massage parlour business started as a franchise of a U.S. company about 25 years ago but hasn’t had ties to the master franchisor for about 20 years.
The franchisor has folded, but Lalani didn’t change the name because he wanted to hang onto the brand awareness he built under name.
He recently retitled the company’s website The Backrub but insists that was a branding “experiment” that had nothing to do with Trump or customer confusion and won’t extend to stores, even now that the U.S. has become unpalatable.
“I’m reluctant because ... this guy’s a yo-yo,” Lalani said referencing Trump. “This whole thing could disappear in a month.”
By sticking with The Great American Backrub name for the physical stores, Lalani estimates he’s saving thousands.
New, permanent signage for stores would cost him $10,000 and a switch would require new contracts and marketing materials.
Customers don’t seem bothered by the name either. In fact, sales have risen since the Canadian signs went up, Lalani said.
Boston Pizza also hasn’t taken a hit because of its American name.
“The majority of Canadians know that we are Canadian, so it’s not as big of an issue for us, and we haven’t seen a negative impact on business, luckily,” said James Kawalecki, Boston Pizza’s vice-president of marketing.
“But we absolutely do feel for others (because) that wasn’t always the case.”
The pizza chain was founded in Edmonton in 1964 by Greek sailor Gus Agioritis, who wanted to visit Boston but started a restaurant with the city’s name instead.
The chain’s history has become more well-known in recent years because of “Dragon’s Den” appearances by Jim Treliving, an RCMP officer who opened his first Boston Pizza franchise in 1968 and charted the company’s modern success.
Kawalecki also credits a recent “This Hour has 22 Minutes” sketch on how to buy Canadian and the move to back local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic with dispelling any misnomers about the brand’s origins.
Sharing a company’s story is always important but has become even more crucial these days as
shoppers look to support domestic brands
and U.S. companies play up their Canadian ties to try to hold onto sales,
said Jo-Ann McArthur, president at Toronto advertising agency Nourish Food Marketing.
“We (in the industry) all assume consumers have the same amount of knowledge as we do, but they don’t,” she said.
“There’s so much confusion right now out there, too. Consumers are really distrustful with this whole maple washing of products of Canada and made in Canada.”
Rather than resorting to a hasty and expensive name change that would erase brand awareness, she said the best strategy for Canadian companies with American names is clever marketing.
That’s what Montana’s BBQ & Bar, which first opened in Oakville, Ont., in 1995, is doing, chief operating officer Mark Sozanski said.
The company is posting on social media that it is comprised of locally owned and operated locations overseen by Recipe Unlimited, a restaurant conglomerate based in Vaughan, Ont.
New York Fries, which became Canadian owned after an Ontario entrepreneur transplanted the chip shop’s concept from New York City’s South Street Seaport in the 1980s, is also under the Recipe Unlimited banner and relying on new marketing to make its history clear.
It’s not considering a name change — so far.
“I don’t think we’re going to reverse course yet, but stranger things have happened, I suppose,” Berenstein said.
The refrain is much the same at California Sandwiches, a chain of quick-serve restaurants that has sold Italian panini to Torontonians since 1967.
“We’ve been around a long time. We can’t just change our name,” president Mary Bernaudo said.
“But I’ll tell you this, we’ve had conversations. If things get really bad, then, we will do whatever is best for our country.”
The family-owned company started by Bernaudo’s parents has cycled through many names. It began as Mama Cristina’s and was once called La Rinacente, but became California Sandwiches after customers started teasing the family when its members came back from vacation tanned.
Across the company’s 16 restaurants, Bernaudo has only heard of one customer who suggested it was time for California Sandwiches to change its name again.
“My customers are very verbal,” said Bernaudo. “Trust me. If they’re not happy with the situation, they’ll let you know.”
So far, the little they’ve said has given her confidence to forge ahead with California Sandwiches but that’s not set in stone.
“We’re open to anything,” she said. “If we had to (change our name) to stand behind our country, after having the same name for all these years, it’s on the table.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2025.
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
The other 2 blog posts of the week:
"Hudson's Bay managers will get up to $3 million in bonuses, but workers get no severance"/ "Owner of three shopping malls in B.C. says she wants to buy Hudson's Bay"
https://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/04/hudsons-bay-managers-will-get-up-to-3.html
"Frank And Oak seeks creditor protection while Ricki's and Cleo shutter stores in retail shakeup"/ "Frank And Oak to close 9 stores across Ontario, Quebec and B.C."
https://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/04/frank-and-oak-seeks-creditor-protection.html
Mon. Apr. 7, 2025 "PC Optimum reward program locks man out of account worth $43K without warning or explanation": Today I found this article by on CBC:
Frank Zhang thought he was winning at the PC Optimum game — stacking up points on groceries, gas and gift cards by chasing bonus offers and swiping his PC Mastercard for extra rewards.
But his seven years of smart shopping didn't pay off. Instead of cashing in on his hard-earned 43 million points — worth about $43,000 — Zhang found himself locked out of his account with no warning, no clear explanation and no way to access his points.
"That's unfair," Zhang told Go Public. "They can control my money. They can control my points, but I can't do anything."
He says he's heard from dozens of PC Optimum members who are frustrated over frozen points and no clear explanation.
"It leaves [people] in limbo," Sojka, who's been running RewardsCanada.ca for more than 25 years, told Go Public. "At any point, your points can be frozen."
Sojka says the problem is in the fine print — PC Optimum terms and conditions include phrases like in the company's "sole discretion" and "reasonable opinion" that give the company broad power to lock accounts while leaving customers with nowhere to turn.
He warns many loyalty programs have terms that give them power to make changes and to freeze or cancel memberships whenever they want.
"It leaves the door open for them to really decide on a case-by-case basis who they want to kick out of the program... it's really very ambiguous," he said.
Tues. Apr. 8, 2025 The Hunting Party:
"Follows a small team of investigators who are assembled to track down and capture the most dangerous killers ever seen, all of whom have just escaped from a top-secret prison that's not supposed to exist."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21906554/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1
I finished watching the first season (10 episodes.) There is good writing and action. I hope this show gets a 2nd season.
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