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Northern Light said:
I can confirm there are major Canadian retail groups having a look at buying MEC.

I believe one actually has a tentative deal, but I have yet to see that confirmed, certainly a bid was made.
Click to expand...
I know you can't confirm, but my guess is Canadian Tire.
 
christiesplits said:
MEC is in trouble.

www.theglobeandmail.com

MEC seeks cash infusion as inventory clearout batters bottom line

Confidential summary details the outdoor retailer’s falling revenue
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com
Click to expand...

Not surprised. MEC's in-house branded clothing and gear has been on a sharp decline in the past decade or so. I remember back in my high school days in the mid to late 2000's, MEC still had a refreshing appeal when it was still a co-op. A decade later when I was shopping for raincoats for my Iceland trip in 2018, MEC felt like such an after thought. And it's really no different than other outerwear stores.

I think Sporting Life has gone leaps and bounds above MEC now for active clothing and lifestyle merchandise. While other brands like Arc'teryx and stores like Sail and Decathlon have either emerged or entered the Canadian market. There's also other dominant brands like Uniqlo that indirectly act as a strong competitor for the casual outerwear market.
 
I don't know about concepts of 'activewear' or 'lifestyle', but MEC did have a reputation of quality clothing that keep you warm and dry. If I need outerwear that does those two things, I really don't care what it looks like.

If Canadian Tire did acquire it, then it would bump up against brands like Woods and Helly Hansen that they either own outright or have exclusive marketing. Like many other things, former stand-alone brands like Woods and Noma are not what they used to be. I have a Wood 'Northslope' (or 'Oil King', I can't remember and the label is gone) parka from the 1970s that is toasty down to -40 and I refuse to get rid of it.
 
"a glut of inventory the stores have been unable to sell at full price."

So sell at a discount to move excess stock that is just pegwarming... 🤷‍♀️
 
just east of the creek said:
Add Peavy’s to the list. And a major loss to those with rural agriculture businesses. Hard to blame Amazon for this but….?
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I can't speak to Peavy's.............but on MEC..........the company has been run by successions of people that didn't know what they were doing and had a business plan that made no sense.

In fairness, the pandemic also created some real problems in that it created weird sales anomalies. ie. Can't do anything indoors, lets all start riding our bikes as a family on weekends, or lets get back to camping etc etc.

The problem w/that is the pandemic ends.........and aside from that trend waning, because people can now do indoor stuff again..........and having tried outdoor stuff, remember why they stopped (older, out of shape, bugs, cold, wet etc.) (said as someone who enjoys hiking and camping)......... but then also, MEC gear has a good sized lifespan, so if people advanced purchases by a couple of years due to the pandemic, you now have people with gear that's good for the next decade or more.

Here's a really good piece on the situation at MEC, I recommend it:

happiestoutdoors.ca

MEC is For Sale Again: What Happened?

Canadian outdoor retailer MEC is for sale again. As a former employee and outdoor retail insider, here's my opinion on what's happening.
happiestoutdoors.ca happiestoutdoors.ca
 
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Northern Light said:
I can't speak to Peavy's.............but on MEC..........the company has been run by successions of people that didn't know they were doing and had a business plan that made no sense.

In fairness, the pandemic also created some real problems in that it created weird sales anomalies. ie. Can't do anything indoors, lets all start riding our bikes as a family on weekends, or lets get back to camping etc etc.

The problem w/that is the pandemic ends.........and aside from that trend waning, because people can now do indoor stuff again..........and having tried outdoor stuff, remember why they stopped (older, out of shape, bugs, cold, wet etc.) (said as someone who enjoys hiking and camping)......... but then also, MEC gear has a good sized lifespan, so if people advanced purchases by a couple of years due to the pandemic, you now have people with gear that's good for the next decade or more.

Here's a really good piece on the situation at MEC, I recommend it:

happiestoutdoors.ca

MEC is For Sale Again: What Happened?

Canadian outdoor retailer MEC is for sale again. As a former employee and outdoor retail insider, here's my opinion on what's happening.
happiestoutdoors.ca happiestoutdoors.ca
Click to expand...
I have read this article and do not disagree with its findings or your observations. There is certainly a large core of hikers, trippers, adventurers that will research, purchase and use higher spec, more ethical, and quite technical gear to outfit their ambitions, be it on foot, in a canoe or towing an off-road airstream, whatever floats your boat so to speak. And I think there is a lot of competition for that $ and MEC has struggled in those waters. There is an MEC in Burlington, a downhill ride from the escarpment, but it competes with SAIL in Burlington, local Marks, CDN Tire, Eddie B and LLBean in Oakville. Not to mention Amazon which will sell you almost any brand - search Gortex Trail Jackets and see what comes up. I think you need a lot of ‘destination shopping’ and is the MEC name strong enough? I am not sure it is.

A link with CDN Tire might not be so bad. Kinda fits into their empire a bit, more upscale and technical than both Marks and the Tire. That would be an interesting merge to be a part of.
 
The Canadian office has been shedding staff for two years now, at the instruction of the US (allegedly).
It's a skeleton crew at this point, that have no freedom to make changes that would help stall the decline, even if they did have the manpower or the expertise.

Ultimately it's a Blockbuster in waiting, and everyone is panicking to find a new job.
 
SubHuman said:
www.newmarkettoday.ca

After 57 years in business, Cosmo Music Store announces closure

Owners of Canada's largest music store say the decision follows significant challenges since the pandemic, despite investments and efforts to adapt to changing market
www.newmarkettoday.ca www.newmarkettoday.ca
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At first I found this to be utterly depressing since it's routine for me to stop by this store whenever I head up to Unionville for schnitzel with the family, but thankfully Long and McQuade will be taking over the space, so it will at least remain an epic musical instrument store.
 
I was at The Well earlier today and noticed the Frank and Oak store had a sign saying it was closing in mid May and I was like "I thought they were keeping the Toronto stores?" and it turns out that as of today, it was announced that all their physical stores are closing and the IP has been sold to a pair of Montreal-based companies. E-commerce will continue apparently.

https://retail-insider.com/retail-i...ing-all-stores-brand-sold-amid-restructuring/
 
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