In spite of the fact that working from home has not been optimal for traditional retailers, Canadian Tire (TSX:CTC.A) has employees who have been excellent in ensuring that work continued unabated. Canadian Tire’s associate dealers appear to work tirelessly, often on short notice, to adapt to ever-changing circumstances in a superb effort to continue to serve customers.
Responsibility for all matters that could impact Canadian Tire’s iconic brand
Given the importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) related issues, Canadian Tire announced that it has decided to form a Brand and Corporate Responsibility committee. This committee has been tasked with the responsibility for all matters that could impact Canadian Tire’s iconic brand. An important part of the new committee’s duties will be ESG matters, as Canadian Tire believes these are critical to the health of the company’s brand.
Encouraging public policies that promote business profitability and growth
Further, Canadian Tire’s business success has resulted in it being able to provide the jobs, products and services that Canadians need. Therefore, Canadian Tire’s business has been proactive in finding ways to encourage public policies that promote business profitability and growth. The private sector, including Canadian Tire, has played an important role in working with the public sector to get Canada on the path to economic recovery.
Significant strength of an iconic Canadian company
Indeed, Canadian Tire appears to believe that only a true partnership between the private sector and governments at all levels can overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic. The resilience shown by Canadian Tire during fiscal 2020 is yet another indication of the strength of the iconic Canadian company.
Ramping up the company’s e-commerce business to unprecedented levels
Overall, Canadian Tire appears to be a company that refuses to accept anything less than the best it can be in the service of the company’s customers in spite of very challenging circumstances. In a matter of weeks, Canadian Tire appears to have ramped up its e-commerce business to unprecedented levels, amounting to about a billion dollars in 2020.
Temporary impacts from the new work-from-home culture
The new work-from-home culture appears to have affected Canadian Tire’s profitability. However, based on the experience of many executives, working from home is not sustainable. It is stressful, time consuming, and lacks the value of human interaction. Working virtually has made jobs so much harder. Hence, although this has been a headwind to Canadian Tire’s profitability, returning to the office should be a tailwind for Canadian Tire.
Tradition of going from success to success
Circumstances drove Canadian Tire to do in weeks what, in normal circumstances, the company had planned to do in several years. Canadian Tire’s founder appears to have always counselled employees to strive to always make things better. That counsel appears to have now become the company’s mantra. Overall, Canadian Tire is a company that has a tradition of going from success to success and is now part of the fabric of Canada. It appears that even more impressive of a future lies ahead of it.
