Sept. 2, 2026 "Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons join forces to link their loyalty programs": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps on CBC:
Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. and Tim Hortons are hoping to perk up their customer bases by linking their loyalty programs.
Under a partnership launched between the home goods retailer and cafe giant on Wednesday, customers who link their
Triangle
and Tims Rewards accounts
will earn between two and five per cent in Canadian Tire money
in addition to Tims points on select Tims purchases.
The arrangement is meant to draw Tims customers to Canadian Tire and vice versa.
Right now, 53 per cent of Triangle Rewards customers are enrolled in both loyalty programs.
Canadian Tire has about 12 million Triangle Rewards members
and 1,600 locations across its banners.
Tims counts eight million loyalty program users
and 4,000 restaurants in Canada.
By uniting, "both Triangle Rewards will grow and Tim Hortons reward members will grow,"
Darryl Jenkins, Canadian Tire's executive vice-president and chief development officer, said in an interview.
How much Canadian Tire money shoppers earn will depend on whether they use
a Triangle credit card to pay
and what they buy.
Canadian Tire money can be redeemed for savings on purchases at
the retailer
as well as its other banners,
including SportChek,
Mark's
and Party City.
Tims points can be used to purchase food and beverages at the chain.
The arrangement came about organically, said Jenkins and Hope Bagozzi, Tims' chief marketing officer.
Canadian Tire and Tims executives sit on many of the same boards,
often network with one another
and their companies sponsor many of the same events,
so it made sense for them to explore if they could boost the reach of their loyalty programs together.
"Wouldn't it be great to add more value together" was the thinking, Bagozzi recalled.
But Liza Amlani, principal and co-founder of the Retail Strategy Group, suspects
"this is less about customer delight
and more about two legacy brands
scrambling for incremental share
in an oversaturated loyalty market."
"Canadians are already juggling too many programs,
and unless the value proposition is
simple,
transparent
and genuinely rewarding,
this risks becoming just another corporate tie-up that benefits the brands
more than the shoppers,"
she said in an email when the partnership was teased last September.
Canadian Tire first announced the partnership almost a year ago
but waited until Wednesday to launch it
and reveal how it will work.
The year in between both milestones was spent ensuring
the mechanics of the partnership will work on a technical level.
Jenkins said it was by chance that it's launching "at a really interesting time"
— just after the U.S. hit Canada with a fresh round of tariffs
and as Canada prepares to implement its own round of retaliatory levies in September.
"We certainly didn't plan it this way," he said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canadian-tire-tims-loyalty-program-9.7329078
My opinion: I was neutral about this.
They're both Canadian companies working together.
I'm sure there are a lot of people who shop at both places and would like to be in the loyalty programs and redeem their points.
Sept. 15, 2026 "Restaurants are implementing these strategies to survive the trade war as tariffs eat their bottom line": Today I found this article by Paul Hollingsworth on BNN Bloomberg:
HALIFAX - A new report has found that nearly 20 per cent of Canadian restaurant owners point to tariffs as a top threat that is having an impact on how they run their businesses.
EconoLease’s 2026 Hospitality Operator Report also showed
80 per cent of Canadian restaurant operators have raised menu prices in the past 12 months,
while 49 per cent plan to raise prices again.
These increases were implemented mainly because
food and beverage costs went up 64 per cent in the last year,
labour and wages climbed 55 per cent
and rent went up 32 per cent.
Willman’s restaurant in Halifax’s north end has been in operation since 1946.
“It is the oldest fish and chips place in Nova Scotia,”
said Lucien Nehme who bought the restaurant in 2004 after moving to Canada from Lebanon three years earlier.
Over the decades, the building has been
transformed,
renovated
and rebuilt,
but the taste of the seafood served there has stayed the same.
Nehme says he is usually busy,
but his operating overhead is more expensive than ever
and is eating away at his bottom line.
He is concerned tariffs and counter-tariffs could make his current financial situation even worse.
“It is very hard on everybody, especially us as a restaurant.”
At Nehme’s restaurant, his kitchen equipment is more expensive than ever because
U.S. tariffs on machinery that cross the border between the two countries,
have increased the cost of many of these products.
EconoLease’s report showed
28 per cent of Canadian operators said cooking equipment is their biggest operational bottleneck
while 14 per cent said refrigeration has caused financial pressures.
“Yesterday I fixed something,” he said.
“We used to pay $400 and now it’s $900 because parts went up like crazy.”
Tariffs imposed by the U.S. have been placed on
plastic wrapping,
aluminum foil
and cardboard boxes
with costs being passed on to operators like Nehme.
There are also concerns Canadian counter-tariffs could contribute to an increase in overall operating costs in Canada.
“Packaging is going to go up 50 per cent,
labour is going to be up,
and transportation is going to be up too,”
said Nehme, who added Canada’s trade war continues with the U.S.
at a time when energy and shipping costs are already making food more expensive.
Nehme said as the
tariffs
and business pressures
mount,
he is trying to find creative ways to keep this business open.
He already raised his prices earlier this year
and would rather not do it again
knowing many customers can’t afford another increase.
“When you serve a family, that family has to raise the kids, and they have to feed them,” said Nehme.
Gary Gouldon is a customer at Willman’s and says he likes the food and appreciates the character this restaurant brings to the neighbourhood.
“This establishment has been around here for a long time, so it is important,” said Gouldon.
Nehme said his short-term strategy is to
prepare for the worst
and try to survive the trade war as best he can.
“We are going to take some hits,” he said.
For the first time since owning his restaurant, Nehme is afraid
tariffs
and increased operating expenses
could knock him out of business.
No comments:
Post a Comment