Jul. 9, 2025 "‘Buy Canadian’ movement pushes Purdys to sell outside own stores for first time in 118-year-old history": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps on BNN Bloomberg:
Purdys Chocolatier says the buy Canadian movement has generated so much demand for its products that it decided to sell them outside its own stores for the first time in its 118-year-old history.
Kriston Dean, the Vancouver-based confectionary company’s vice-president of marketing and sales, says as soon as tariff tensions emerged, shoppers’ interest in the brand was piqued.
The brand’s website traffic jumped more than 200 per cent
and searches about whether it is Canadian popped by a whopping 300 per cent.
When Easter rolled around, the spiking interest translated into a 25 per cent increase in new customers compared with the year before.
Such numbers gave the company the confidence to forge a deal with Pattison Food Group to put four varieties of Purdys chocolates on the shelves of western Canadian grocer Save-On-Foods.
Dean says Purdys is watching to see how its chocolates perform at Save-On-Foods to help determine whether it should expand its brand even further outside its own stores.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2025.
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
Jul. 10, 2025 "The U.S. boycott remains strong. Why many Canadians are digging in their heels": Today I found this article by Sophia Harris on CBC:
It's shaping up to be a record sales year at Maker House, an Ottawa gift shop where almost everything in the store — from furniture to food to greeting cards — is entirely made in Canada.
Hot sellers these days include a T-shirt with the newly iconic "elbows up" slogan, and chocolate bars wrapped in quintessential Canadian expressions such as "eh."
Founder Gareth Davies says year-over-year sales surged by 150 per cent in February, when U.S. President Donald Trump first announced plans to impose tariffs on Canadian goods, and ramped up his threats to make Canada the 51st state.
At the time, many Canadians pledged to boycott U.S. travel and goods,
and support the Buy Canadian movement as a way to express their anger.
Davies says sales since then have remained robust:
they're currently up by 80 per cent,
and almost doubled during the week leading up to Canada Day.
"It's like a big hug from your neighbours across the country saying, 'You know, we're in this together and we're going to protect our country and our economy,'" he said.
"I, in my gut, believe it will last as long as the vitriol lasts from the south."
Boycotts often wane over time as people lose interest and return to old habits. But many Canadians' resolve to boycott the U.S. and focus on Canadian products has remained strong, and shows no signs of dissipating.
A majority of Canadians polled in a new survey said they're actively supporting the Buy Canadian movement, and support stores removing U.S. products. Plus, Canadian travel to the U.S. has steadily declined since Trump took office in January.
Trump can take much of the credit, as he continues to muse about Canada becoming the 51st state and threaten new tariffs; just this week he announced plans to impose a 50 per cent tariff on copper.
"He's actually keeping it top of mind. He's keeping the boycott going," said June Cotte, a professor of marketing at Western University's Ivey Business School in London.
She added the media helps fuel the boycott by giving Trump airtime every time he takes pot shots at Canada.
The travel boycott
Rather than wane, the Canadian boycott of U.S. travel continues to hold.
In June, the number of return trips among Canadians travelling to the U.S. dropped by 22.1 per cent for air travel and by a third (33.1 per cent) for land travel — marking the sixth month of year-over-year declines. The decreases for both types of travel were not as pronounced as in May, but the numbers remain jarringly low.
Cotte says another reason for the boycott's staying power is it's not a big challenge for many Canadians, because
they can often find domestic replacements for American products like food,
and they can travel to other countries or explore their own.
However, boycotting U.S. travel is problematic for Ottawa resident Emily Olmstead, who has family in the U.S. Fortunately, her parents, Diane and Don, who live in Ohio, are happy to trek to Canada.
"They're here visiting me, and not the other way around," said Olmstead, while browsing Maker House with her parents.
Like many Canadians, Olmstead says she's shopping local as much as she can, and avoiding U.S. travel for political reasons.
"I am pretty displeased with the turn in American politics and the status of the relationship between Canada and the United States," she said. "I think I've just got to do the best that I can to support Canada right now."
Buy Canadian continues
It's harder to pinpoint the success of the Buy Canadian movement, as no hard data exists.
But an online survey conducted last month on behalf of Lightspeed, an e-commerce software provider, found that of the 1,000 Canadians polled from June 5 to 10, more than three-quarters said they support Canadian retailers removing U.S. goods from store shelves.
On top of that, two-thirds said they're currently shopping for, or focusing on buying Canadian goods, according to the survey conducted by Censuswide.
"It's a pretty high priority," said Aaron Clark of Ottawa who came to Maker House to buy a birthday present. "I'm very much a supporter of keeping things Canadian, supporting our economy."
And rather than losing interest, Clark said he plans to ramp up his commitment.
"I'd say it's going to become more of a habit, at least for the next few years."
A Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) survey also suggests the future is bright for the Canadian-made industry.
Of the 2,190 businesses the CFIB polled in May, 40 per cent reported increased sales of Canadian made products since the start of the trade war.
"It's been a very pleasant surprise to see it keep going," said Ryan Mallough, CFIB's vice-president of legislative affairs and communications.
"And there doesn't seem to be, at least so far, much of an appetite to return to the U.S. products."
The survey also found that many businesses noted a decline in sales of American goods.
Will it last?
Even if Trump continues to treat Canada as an adversary rather than an ally, the rationale for the boycott would logically expire when he completes his four-year term.
"Most boycotts eventually start to peter out, so that will happen," said Cotte.
But Mallough suggests that, for some Canadians, the U.S. boycott may become habit.
He compares it to the recent postal strike where many small businesses switched to private carriers out of necessity,
and chose not to return to Canada Post after the strike ended.
"One of the things that the trade war has done is afforded a lot of us as consumers … the opportunity to look at Canadian products in a new light," said Mallough.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/boycott-u-s-trump-1.7580885
The other 2 blog posts of the week:
"Hudson's Bay landlords don't want Ruby Liu to move in, but retailer still has a shot"/ "Ruby Liu wants to get young people back in malls — and hopes to use Hudson's Bay sites to do it"
https://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/07/hudsons-bay-landlords-dont-want-ruby.html
"Grocers stocking up on Canadian, international suppliers as shoppers avoid American"/ "‘Buy Canada, bye America’: Trump’s taunts spur fury in the north"
https://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/07/grocers-stocking-up-on-canadian.html
Diana S, Stoney Creek, Ontario, would like to know:
Would you like to see more festivals in your community?
Yes 50.66% (2228)
No 49.34% (2170)
Jenny J, Fort Mcmurray, Alberta, would like to know:
Would you like to see more multicultural markets in your city?
Yes
54.66% (2380)
No
45.34% (1974)
Ni A, Regina, Saskatchewan, would like to know:
Would you consider owning a manufactured home?
No
51.60% (2116)
Yes
48.40% (1985)
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