With everything that's been in the news lately, it seems like it's about time for another Canadian post. After all, they might hate the US, but we still love Canada! And what's more Canadian than Canadian Tire? Not only is it right in the name... there's also no US chain that's really comparable. (The closest thing would probably be Sears of years past, except without the clothing section.) This store was built circa 2005, and had a remodel in 2019, shortly before my 2022 visit.
Ha, I was wondering if you were going to cover Canadian Tire for the blog! You're right that Sears is probably the closest thing to Canadian Tire, minus the clothing, though those farm & fleet type stores, like Tractor Supply or one of the Midwest ones that have larger stores, might be the closest modern equivalent. Granted, those sell clothes and Tractor Supply does not sell car services or tires. Some of the big farm & fleet type stores do though.
ReplyDeleteI'm certainly used to seeing Canadian Tire in suburban form, though I did see one in downtown Toronto. I may have even have gone there, but I can't remember for sure.
I'm not super familiar with those farm stores, but I don't think they sell some of the stuff Canadian Tire has, like toys or home remodeling products. Canadian Tire kind of reminds me of Menards in terms of having a rather strange assortment of products, but the specific assortment is very different between the two.
DeleteCanada (or at least the Vancouver area) has a lot more urban-format big box stores than you see in the US. Right across the street is an apartment building that includes a Save-On-Foods, a Winners/Homesense combo, and a Home Depot! I'm sure it's quite small by Home Depot standards, but that's still pretty crazy. And closer to downtown, there's a Costco with four apartment towers sticking out of its roof! I wish Costco would do something like that around here, since I'm sure a store in the denser residential parts of the city would be incredibly popular.
Those Midwestern farm & fleet stores are super big and they have all kinds of stuff. They're only conceptually similar to a Tractor Supply. Here is a Blain's Farm & Fleet in beautiful Traverse City, Michigan (a city with daily non-stop service on United Express from IAH during the warmer months at least...it seems like an unlikely choice in many ways and I can only assume that TVC is subsidizing the flight in the hopes of getting some tourism travel from Houston and the surrounding areas...the TVC airport is pretty neat for a smaller airport): https://maps.app.goo.gl/DFSsDMPYSUFMr6DK6
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