http://thinkblink.ca/blog/?p=393 Ideas that fuel brands Thu, 24 Sep 2015 20:05:55 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.41 http://thinkblink.ca/blog/?p=393&cpage=1#comment-2170 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 21:44:02 +0000 http://thinkblink.ca/blog/?p=393#comment-2170 Timing is perfect considering that from today’s newspaper:
“Those cornerstones of what it meant to be middle class were pretty universally held. People felt if they worked hard they could get there. It was achievable. But I don’t think people went around saying to themselves, ‘I need to have a 10,000-square-foot house.’
“If you look back on your childhood, or if I talk to my friends, all of us have that same impression when we go back home and we realize that the place where we were living was pretty small. These days people would say, ‘How did you live in a place that small?’ Well it didn’t feel that small at the time. It was secure. It was stable. We had a car. It wasn’t a fancy car, but it got you around.” ~ Barack Obama (“U.S. infatuation with celebrity lifestyle killing the American dream”, National Post)
The strategy by Canadian Tire is a good one but the devil is in the details of the execution. Traditionally, Canadian Retailers have lagged in terms of the touch points necessary for a memorable reatil experience but this concept of a downsized neighbourhood store may be a step in the right direction. Time will tell!

]]> http://thinkblink.ca/blog/?p=393&cpage=1#comment-2167 Thu, 01 Aug 2013 12:58:16 +0000 http://thinkblink.ca/blog/?p=393#comment-2167 Good article and a good idea by the company. Many “boomers” who grew up in smaller communities remember a small, neighbourhood Canadian Tire store in the downtown area, and this is a return to that concept.

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