This is proving to be a big year on the drawing board for Walmart.

The plans call for them to remodel 73 Canadian Stores this year, and that includes the 39 Zellers stores they bought from Target. They will have a chain of 375 stores and they will be ready for the Target onslaught in 2013.

Walmart Canada now produces an annual profit for the American giant of $11 billion.

Canada’s Loblaw Cos. (Superstore and Extra Foods) is still the number one grocer in Canada with $38 billion in sales, followed by Walmart, Costco, Sobeys and Shoppers Drug Mart.

The figures are from Kantar Retail.

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Lots of moves by Shoppers Drug Mart in the B.C. market.

They announced last week that the deal has to been made to purchase Paragon Pharmacies for $75 million and that is an all cash deal. It is expected to be completed by the third quarter.

Meanwhile back here in the Okanagan, Shoppers continue their building spree with the opening of their new large store on the Westside. Construction is underway on their Glenmore site.

It already has stores in Orchard Park and in downtown Kelowna, and plans for a large store on the Lakeshore just North of the Mission Shopping Centre.

When we came to town, Shoppers was located in the old Blockbuster store in the Mission.

Paragon came from the dreams of the founder Craig Cameron when he made the move to expand from his Black Mountain Pharmacies to a bigger thing. Interesting guy. Had some good conversations with him and wife one evening on Okanagan Lake.

There are 1206 Shoppers Drug Mart stores in Canada.

Not that many years ago, Imperial Tobacco owned Shoppers.

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We are becoming a horse racing hot spot as people talk about the upcoming Belmont Stakes and their favorite horse - I’ll Have Another - and their absolute hero, Mario Gutierrez, the 25 year old jockey for Hastings Park in Vancouver. 

The young Mexican rider is on the top of the world with two wins in the Triple Crown sweepstakes. Hastings was jammed for the Preakness with their biggest crowd of the year and the public was betting heavily. They were excited, and the manager of the track said the facilities would have to be ready for the Belmont Stakes on June because they could sell out.

I’ll Have Another will be forced to change some equipment used at The Belmont because the Stewards won’t let the trainers use. In both the Kentucky Derby and The Preakness, the horse raced with a Flair Equine strip across his nose, not unlike the strip used by athletes in other sports.

Now you can place a bet locally by going to the Off Track Betting up stairs in Chances on Springfield Rd. The betting will be open in the morning June 9, or go and watch the race and have one of their steak sandwiches.
 

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I always wondered what professional soccer players were paid in Canada, like the Whitecaps. The Major League Soccer Player’s Union released the number and I must admit I was a little surprised.

The total for the Whitecaps payroll is $4,368,683. Their highest paid player is captain Eric Hassli at $979,000. There are 29 players on the roster and that works out to $150,000 a man.

While Toronto FC have three men on their roster that earn $5 M between them, in New York one player’s contract calls for over $5M.

Good grief….

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The Province of BC has set out transitional rules for newly built residential housing that it says provide clarity about the application of tax for buyers and the residential construction industry, and ensures buyers are treated fairly during the transition from the HST back to the PST.

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So far Target Stores Canada have confirmed eighteen locations for new Target stores in British Columbia. They still have not confirmed any stores for Vancouver. According to the latest press report the eighteen stores will be open in the March/April dates on the calendar.

This also includes both Target stores in Vernon and Kelowna…

There are major changes about to take place in the Zellers store in Orchard Plaza to change it into a Target format. The contractors will expand the building south and tear out the entire inner structure to create this new concept store.

All eighteen of these stores are to be completed by Ledcor Construction within days of each other.  This is a massive construction project across the province, with approximately $11.5 million being spent on each remodeled store.

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Received a note from two readers who believe that the present Zellers in Penticton and in West Kelowna will remain open and stay under the Zellers label. We do know that there are over 80 stores that have not been purchased by Target.  There has always been that rumour in the retail industry that Zellers’ owner, The Bay, would operate some if not all of these stores under the Zellers banner.

It is very difficult to get The Bay to comment at all on this story from their headquarters in the East. They actually don’t have a lot to say these days.

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Here is a new scam that companies are receiving from the scammers working the email. What they are trying to do is get you to send them a bill and they in turn will send you a cheque to cover the costs.

Here is the catch: and it’s an old scheme with a twist. The cheque will come. And it will look very business like and official. But, the scammer will send you too much money and will ask you to send back the overage back after all bills are paid by Western Union.

Don’t get caught up in this one.

Here is the email:

Hello, I will like to order for some items in your company and for the shipping our freight forwarder will been handle the shipment to japan,so the mode payment is by wire transfer. Kindly get back to me with the website and company information.

COMPANY CONTACT DETAILS. CATHY INC LIMITED Al-Nasr Plaza Office Building 10, Oud Metha Dubai, United Arab Emirates P.O.Box: 61445 Tel#:00971-4-0573412 (sales.rep0011@gmail.com) Many Regards, Cathy.