CANADIAN TIRE CORPORATION, LIMITED
The chain, a fixture of
While brick-and-mortar stores saw an increase in foot traffic and an expansion of curbside pickup services, the retailer also saw online sales growth of 178 per cent.
"With ongoing travel restrictions and limited entertainment options in Q3, families came to us to enable their creative summer vacation plans such as backyard staycations, camping and road trips,"
"This drove sales across all the seasonally relevant categories."
He said COVID-19 has also encouraged more one-stop shopping and a larger "basket size" as shoppers stock up to avoid multiple trips to the store.
"We believe that the macro trend with respect to the one-stop shop is here to stay, at least over the winter and while the pandemic is ongoing," Hicks said.
Indeed, he said the retailer is seeing strong momentum heading into its busiest sales period, despite scaling back some of its usual holiday promotions in order to maintain safe levels of traffic at stores.
"Believe it or not, Christmas sales are already quite strong," Hicks said. "And the early snow in the West drove our outerwear business at both Mark's and SportChek."
The company's brands include its
SportChek sales fell 1.7 per cent, which the company in part attributed to the restricted opening hours and lower foot traffic at the malls where more than half its stores are located.
The retailer also recorded softer back-to-school sales and a decline in demand for hockey and sports equipment due to the cancellation of many organized sports and activities. Sales were also negatively impacted by the decision to move bicycle inventory from SportChek to
Still, SportChek saw strong sales in categories related to outdoor recreation, such as hiking, camping, golf and fitness.
Meanwhile, the company said retail sales at Mark's stores rose 4.9 per cent compared with a year ago. Hicks said workwear has emerged as a "highly resilient" retail category during the pandemic.
Helly Hansen, based in
Yet Helly Hansen remains focused on the future, Hicks said, noting that the subsidiary has signed partnerships to be the official apparel supplier for Canadian
"These deals are a testament to Helly's status as the leading apparel brand for ski professionals and dedication to the development of high-performance apparel," he said.
The retailer raised its dividend as it reported higher profit and revenues, saying it will pay a quarterly dividend of
The increased payment to shareholders came as
Revenue totalled
Hicks called the company's third-quarter performance "a true testament to the relevancy of our brand and unique multi-category assortment."
On a normalized basis,
This report by
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