Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2015 - 38

RETAIL INDUSTRY STUDY

CSCA
RETAIL
100
CANADA'S BIGGEST SELLERS
BY CHRISTOPHER DANIEL AND TONY HERNANDEZ , CENTRE FOR THE STUDY
OF COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY, RYERSON UNIVERSITY

THE CSCA Retail 100, created by the Centre for the
Study of Commercial Activity at Ryerson University,
brings you the top 100 retail conglomerates operating in Canada as ranked by total estimated annual
retail sales in fiscal 2014. Some might ask-why
focus solely on the top 100 conglomerates ranked
by sales? The answer is simple-within the top 100
retailers in Canada there are organizations whose
economies of scale enable them to exert a significant influence on Canada's retail economy. These
top 100 retail conglomerates account for more than
75 per cent of non-automotive retail sales in Canada.
Considering the control they exert, understanding
the marketing strategies and positioning that these
top 100 retail players adopt provides insight into the
ongoing processes that are continuously shaping
Canada's retail economy.

CSCA RETAIL 100 CONGLOMERATES

Color shows details about 3 Digit NAICS categories
while size shows total sales.

CSCA Retail 100 Profiles: Fiscal 2014

The top 100 retail conglomerates in Canada collectively operated 373 retail chains, controlled $242
billion in total retail sales, and accounted for almost
76 per cent of non-automotive retail sales in Canada
in 2014. The CSCA Retail 100 clearly illustrates that
the top conglomerates account for the large majority of Canada's retail economy. For example, the
top three conglomerates (Weston Group, Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc., and Empire Company Limited) account
for 30 per cent of total non-automotive retail sales
in Canada. Over 2013 their collective share of the
market increased by five percentage points. This
increase was due to acquisitions by Weston Group and Empire
Company Limited, and illustrates that a significant share of Canada's retail buying power is concentrated in the hands of a small
number of very large retail organizations.
In addition to these top three conglomerates, there were a total
of 30 organizations with at least $1 billion in total sales. And this
'Billion Dollar Club' accounted for 66 per cent, or $213 billion,
of non-automotive retail sales in Canada for 2014, controlling
a network of approximately 18,322 stores and almost 420,000
square-feet of retail store space. This prestigious group of retailers also accounts for 87 per cent of total CSCA Retail 100 sales
and 42 per cent of total Canadian retail sales in 2014.
On a sales per square-foot basis, we can see that some retailers such as Apple Inc., Lululemon Athletica Inc., and Costco
Wholesale Corp. produce a significantly higher volume of sales
from their square-footage than others. Additionally, the sales per
38 |

CANADIAN RETAILER | HOLIDAY 2015

Furniture & Home
Furnishings

Health & Personal
Care

Electronics &
Appliances

Clothing & Footwear

Home
Improvement
Grocery

Hobby Stores
General Merchandise
Miscellaneous

store metric shows that there is marked variation
amongst the conglomerates, with major big-box retailers such as Costco Wholesale Corp., IKEA, WalMart Stores, Inc., and Lowe's Companies Inc. producing the greatest sales per store overall, despite
not being at the top of the Retail 100 ranking.
2014 Conglomerate Rank Changes

There were several important changes in the
2014 rankings of the CSCA Retail 100. Some of the
largest gains and losses in rank were primarily
due to structural changes such as mergers and acquisitions, though many were due to actual gains
or losses in reported or estimated performance.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2015