Retail

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Sector Highlights
Capabilities
Competitive Strengths
Key Players
Related Links
Contacts

Sector Structure

Size: The value of Manitoba's retail trade in 2006 was $13 billion. Retail trade contributes approximately $2.3 billion (6.8%) to Manitoba's GDP annually. Over 73,500 persons are directly employed in the industry in Manitoba.

Dominant Activities: Sale of merchandise to consumers, not for subsequent resale.

Structure & Concentration:

There are approximately 7,000 retail establishments throughout Manitoba. The industry is comprised largely of small to medium-sized operations, with two-thirds of establishments having annual revenues of less than $500,000, and 96% of establishments employing fewer than 50 persons.
Establishments are a mix of independent merchants, chain stores, department stores and franchise operations.
The principal industry organization is the Retail Council of Canada – Manitoba division.

Highlights

Since 2002, annual capital investment in the industry has averaged about $239 million.
The 1.2 million-square-foot Polo Park Shopping Centre in Winnipeg is undergoing a $30 million expansion, and a new $30 million retail/commercial development is being planned on the adjacent property, which had been the location of the former Winnipeg Arena. Several other retail properties in the vicinity are also planning significant expansions.
Nygård International, with administrative, finance and IT headquarters in Winnipeg, plans to build 100 big-box-style Nygård Fashion Park outlets across Canada over the next three years, and will open its six-storey world headquarters in New York's Times Square this fall. Nygärd is the largest Canadian-based seller of women's clothing, with $1 billion of annual North American sales, about two-thirds of which are in the United States.
In March 2007, Standard & Poor's Canadian Index Operations added The North West Company Fund -- which holds 100% of the common shares of Winnipeg-based retailer, The North West Company -- to the S&P/TSX Composite Index on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Winnipeg-based Ben Moss Jewellers has opened two to four new stores per year across Canada since the mid-1990s. It recently opened two new stores in New Brunswick, increasing the size of the chain to 56 stores across seven provinces.

Sector Capabilities

Principal categories of retail activity in Manitoba include:

Food and beverage sales ( 25%)
Apparel ( 4%)
Household furnishings & appliances (14 %)
Pharmacies & Personal care (5%)
Gasoline (11 %)
Motor & Recreational Vehicle Dealers ( 22%)
General Merchandise (14%)
Other (5%)

Competitive Strengths

Factor advantages -- Manitoba offers retailers affordable land costs, and commercial leasing rates for prime storefront space are among the most affordable in Canada. Labour costs are competitive and retailers can draw from a productive, skilled and multilingual workforce. The industry is supported by a distribution and warehousing sector that can provide seamless and cost-effective delivery of goods from anywhere in North America and the world.

Key Players

Key retailers with corporate head offices in Manitoba:

Contact Info

Manitoba Competitiveness, Training and Trade
Phone: 204-945-2475
Fax: 204-945-3977

Mr. Lanny McInnes,
Director, Government Relations & Member Services (Manitoba)
Retail Council of Canada
Phone: 204-253-1654
Fax: 204-253-2413
E-mail: lmcinnes@retailcouncil.org
Web: www.retailcouncil.org