Remarkably Local: Our Interview with Canadian Tire CEO Greg Hicks

I'm doing great. How are you guys doing?

I have a fantastic wife and two great children, two sporty teenage boys, so a pretty active household. From a career perspective, retail and Canadian Tire has always been in my blood. My father was an officer of Canadian Tire in the 70s through mid-80s, heading up real estate. He left to become a Canadian Tire associate dealer. His first store was a 5,000-square-foot store with a six-bay auto service garage. That was my first retail job as a teenager. I loved almost every aspect of it. Two uncles were dealers, my brother owns his own store today. It's in my blood. I joined the home office after university, worked 10+ years in buying, supply chain, store design. Then I left for about eight years to run Tractor Supply in Canada, then did consulting for Lowe's in Canada, and came back to Canadian Tire in 2013. I looked after automotive, own brands, global sourcing, operations, e-commerce, and was president of the core Canadian Tire retail banner before becoming CEO the day after the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. It's been a crazy three-plus years but a master class in leadership.

I'm biased but it's a remarkable story. The company was founded by two brothers, A.J. and J.W. Billes, in 1922. Last year was our 100th anniversary. A.J.'s daughter Martha and her son Owen are the controlling shareholders to this day. It started as an automotive tire repair garage, as per the name, and evolved with the needs of Canadians. Auto service led to cash-and-carry parts, mail-order catalog, then tools, sporting goods. It kept evolving to be relevant for life in Canada. For those unfamiliar, think of the Canadian Tire business as similar to Pep Boys or AutoZone with service bays, also an Ace Hardware, a city Target with no food, and a Dick's Sporting Goods all under one roof. Stores range from 10,000 to 140,000 square feet, 500 stores run by associate dealers, within a 10-minute drive of 90% of the population. The corporation also includes a bank, Marks Work Wearhouse, Sport Chek, over $17 billion in revenue, 11 retail banners, hundreds of gas stations, a real estate investment trust, the Helly Hansen brand globally, and a $6 billion own brands portfolio. All bound together with the Triangle Rewards loyalty program, which has household penetration similar to Amazon Prime in the U.S. It's a brand deeply woven into Canadian culture. We even printed our own money until recently, considered Canada's second currency.

One critical thing is focusing on being more relevant for life in Canada. We talk about relevance as a management team. Pre-digital, the eclectic assortments under one roof were questioned, but now with competition around relevance, it's not as crazy. No single category brings customers back as frequently as food, but the amalgamation of 300 categories brings the same customer back frequently. The mix works well in the search for relevance. With digital and Amazon, our strategy may have been ahead of its time.

It's a model like no other, started in 1934. Associate dealers own all fixed assets and inventory, manage day-to-day operations, and curate assortments locally. It's a pull model from inventory - we don't push merchandise. We find real estate, run national marketing, set retail prices, and work to be the best wholesaler. It's a closed distribution system. Dealers buy most product from us, including own brands. We recruit dealers and manage their movement through stores. Larger stores are more profitable, so dealers work their way up. We buy the store when they move or retire. The model's success comes from true local capabilities - dealers are known in their communities, so retail strategy is highly localized. For example, a store in Northern Ontario would have thousands of fishing lures for local species, while a downtown Toronto store might have no auto service because of fewer car owners. Another huge component is economic congruence - we invest and grow together, making it hard for the corporation to profit at the expense of dealers. As CEO, I partner with 500 local CEOs, which keeps us focused on the customer.

You're right, the famous quote was that we were a deer stuck in headlights when Walmart entered Canada in the mid-90s. The criticism was fair - we were complacent. It made us reinvent, doubling down on the dealer model as a point of difference and co-investing to build better experiences. It feels different when an international retailer launches here. Some commit to understand the market and build local talent, like Walmart and Home Depot. Others follow a playbook of not committing enough to understand the differences. You can't use standard U.S. operating procedures. Executives can't fly home on weekends. You need to attack the micro-seasons that make Canada Canada, be guided by Canadian customer research. For example, Canadians call a snow mover a 'snow blower' not 'snow thrower'; the thing in the middle of a tire is a 'rim' not a 'wheel'. Those silly examples add up to curated execution. We use the analysis of big entrants as a rallying cry to pivot for category opportunity. But most importantly, we trust our unrivaled understanding of Canadians. We have over 200,000 Canadians in our consumer research panel, the largest in the country, guiding marketing and loyalty. We co-develop products with customers through our 'Tested for Life in Canada' process. We manage on a seven-season planning process targeting hundreds of micro-seasons. Before Canada Day, stores go from a 12-foot mosquito repellent aisle to portable power products to s'mores packages at checkout - all for a long weekend at the cottage. While other retailers have pulled out of Canada, we believe it's rich with opportunity for those who truly know the Canadian customer. For us, it's about continuing to develop an even stronger emotional connection and reinforcing trust.

Balancing short and long term requires tremendous balance. As CEO, prioritizing my time is a constant work in progress. Retail comes at you every day. I try to allocate time to create 10x impact, focusing on a few areas. One is continued focus on execution - we are a well-disciplined executing retailer, like the hedgehog in Good to Great. We have processes for seasons, dealer relations, technology, advertising, visual merchandising. In softer demand environments, we ensure we don't lose sight of strategy through a tight RPP. We have a well-articulated multi-year strategy with five strategic pillars, 16 initiatives, and shared language down to the lowest levels. We work it every day from resource allocation to course correction. Also, I leave time to discuss Horizon 2 strategy, which I find extremely helpful. That led to the new concept stores. We came to terms that we aren't pure-play or physical; we're focused on customer experiences integrating physical and digital - we call it 'connected retail'. The Remarkable Retail stores in Ottawa and Welland represent the next generation of large-format stores. They change the role of the store: we have 40 million square feet of same-day micro-fulfillment space within a 10-minute drive of 90% of the population with free parking that happen to have storefronts. It's a gathering place, shopping destination, media opportunity, logistics operation, automated warehouse, and a place to advance a career. We are connecting digital and physical to complement each other. We can't build monster stores everywhere, but the 'Concept Connect' format takes the best elements and can be rolled out in hundreds of communities across Canada.

Well, thank you guys. It was my pleasure.