Canadian Retailer - Winter 2016 - 4

PUBLISHER'S DESK

THE YEAR AHEAD
#RetailMatters in 2016!
WE'RE kicking off the new retail

year with our Human Resources
edition-a fitting way to tie together a key element of the retail brand
experience-our people. Retail is
the largest private sector employer
in the nation, with over 2.1 million
Canadians employed in our industry from coast to coast to coast.
Regardless of the format, from
traditional bricks & mortar (whatever that means anymore!) to omnichannel to click & collect, the one consistent theme is the skilled
and dedicated people that it takes to conceive, operate and innovate
retail brands. It is now perhaps more true than ever before, the customer brand experience is driven by the customer experience-and
people are a key component.
This issue of Canadian Retailer is focused on a wide range of HR
issues, starting with our feature article (Pg. 20) on legal and ethical
issues surrounding transgender employees, finding the right employee culture (Pg. 26) and winning the "war of fit" (Pg. 30). Finally,
be sure and check out our "Under the Banner" feature this month
with Kamy Scarlett from Best Buy Canada, who is also one of our
fantastic keynote speakers at our upcoming Retail HR conference
(www.rcchrconference.ca) on April 5.
It was an action-packed fall for Retail Council of Canada (RCC), as
we hosted several retail thought leadership events including DTLQC
and our Leaders In Retail breakfast series, both of which are reviewed
in this edition. Importantly, we prepared for the future with the merger of Retail Advertising Canada (see Pg. 9 ), creating for RCC and our
members a retail marketing division that will help craft and lead this
all important function for the retail community. Keep an eye out for
our next edition of Canadian Retailer focused on retail marketing.
It's going to be a busy year ahead with a new federal government and elections in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan. RCC will
be there-in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Saskatoon, advocating on your
behalf and being the Voice of Retail! And watch for RCC's ShopIn
campaigns promoting independent retailers, as well as our #retailmatters initiative bringing to light the importance of retail to our
economy and workforce.
Until next month,

Diane J. Brisebois
President and CEO
Retail Council of Canada

CANADIAN RETAILER | WINTER 2016

WINTER 2016 | VOLUME 26 ISSUE 1

publisher

Diane J. Brisebois
a s s o c i at e p u b l i s h e r

Michael LeBlanc

editor-in- chief

Sean C. Tarry
(416) 922-6678, ext. 286
starry@retailcouncil.org
art direction

Scope Media
www.scopemedia.ca
contributors

Stuart Foxman, Andrew Hind, David
McPherson, Robert Price, Randy Scotland,
Bruce Winder
d i r e c t o r o f p u b l i c at i o n s

Angela Caroyannis
acaroyannis@naylor.com
project manager

Kim Davies
kdavies@naylor.com
sales manager

Bill McDougall
bmcdougall@naylor.com
editorial office

1881 Yonge Street, Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario M4S 3C4
Phone: (416) 922-6678 | Fax: (416) 922-8011
www.retailcouncil.org
a d v e r t i s i n g/ p r o d u c t i o n o f f i c e

Naylor Canada Inc.
300 - 1630 Ness Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 3X1
Phone: (800) 665-2456 | Fax: (800) 709-5551
www.naylor.com
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Retailer do not necessarily reflect those of Retail
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Winter 2016