Loblaws $1.2B Retail Refresh - 5,000 jobs - 50 stores - 'Massive infrastructure & IT Rollout' - LP Jobs & Solution Provider Opportunities  Having put most of its energy into a massive infrastructure and IT rollout over several years, Loblaw Cos. Ltd is once again turning to the business of refreshing its stores, sharpening its food assortment and building new locations as part of a $1.2-billion spending plan in 2015. Loblaw will build 50 new stores, under its own banners and that of Shoppers Drug Mart, to boost its network of 2,300 locations across the country and will also renovate more than 100 stores. Editor's Note: This means LP jobs as well as well as LP investment for solution providers.  financialpost.com

Being aggressive can come back and "bite you in the butt"
As noted by the new Ivey Business Journal, you do not need a business degree to see that the Target Canada rollout was royally botched. This was clear to all concerned from the moment the company first opened its doors and Canadian consumers were greeted with poor selection and higher-than-expected prices. As Ivey Business School marketing professor Kersi Antia points out, "The plan to open so many stores in such a short period resulted from an opportunistic takeover of Zellers, which came back to bite them in the butt because it was too aggressive. And instead of taking time to really understand our market, Target acted like it wasn't even expanding across a border. The company entered Canada as if it was the 51st state. These mistakes cost them dearly."  huffingtonpost.ca

Nordstrom Overstocks Shelves To Prove It's Not Target Canada
"We probably, because of our sensitivity, were a little guilty internally of maybe even having too much inventory," Nordstrom president Blake Nordstrom told the Globe and Mail. huffintgonpost.ca

Rogers Communications breach of "small number" of medium sized businesses through employee email address  Spokeswoman Patricia Trott says a third party gained access last week to the email address of a Rogers employee who managed a "small number" of medium-sized business accounts. The hacker was able to get access to business agreements containing the names, addresses and phone numbers of a number of business clients, as well as pricing details. Trott says "human error" was responsible for the breach. canadiansecuritymag.com

CIBC Visa customers seeing high amount of fraud - scammers find number & expiry date before being issued - 'sequencing fraud'  "It seems somehow the hacking team or the hackers have been able to get a hold of banking 'enigma' code so they're able to generate the exact same sequence of the card that I would be receiving in the mail." The association says they do not have specific figures on sequencing fraud, but do track overall credit card fraud. Their most recent number show in 2013, sequencing fraud scammers made $465,135,009 worth of charges against Canadian credit cards and is a number that continues to climb.  riviera-maya-news.com

Cross-Border online shopping stunts Canadian e-Commerce - Total retail online = 4.8% vs. U.S.'s 12.7%  Canadians who order products online and have them sent to U.S. mailboxes are partly to blame for Canadian e-commerce sales lagging other countries, according to a new study released March 12. Online sales are expected to be 4.8% of all retail sales in Canada in 2015 well below the U.S. 12.7%. "Although cross-border shopping may be detracting from online sales growth as a percentage of total retail spending in Canada, retailers are making improvements to the online shopping experience to capture the 50% of Canadians now purchasing online," said Josh Harding, who is vice-president of global operations at RetailMeNot, Inc. He expects the share of Canadian sales done online to increase more than 13% $28.51 billion in 2015. Generally shipping rates are higher in Canada. He added that Canadians have historically also had less online selection than in other countries.  biv.com

Husband assaults Canadian Tire LP Officer - not knowing his wife just stole from the store  Alan Boyd Pasap said he was sitting in his commonlaw wife's vehicle outside the Canadian Tire in Regina when, upon turning to feed the couple's baby, he spotted something that led him to take action. "I saw two people struggling," he told the court during his aggravated assault trial on Thursday. "Then I noticed it was (my spouse) Crystal (McKenzie) and she was being assaulted." With surveillance video bearing witness, 37-year-old Pasap said he backed up to the pair and got out, retrieving a baseball bat from the trunk. He then approached the other two people and, lifting the bat, asked, "Is it worth it?" Pasap said he brought the bat down when the man didn't release McKenzie. The couple then returned to the car and drove off, leaving the man with a badly broken arm. The problem was that the man was a loss prevention officer (LPO) who told the court he'd just witnessed McKenzie stealing from the store. leaderpost.com

Debate on Social Media over Security Guards at Prince Albert's Gateway Mall
A video posted on Facebook and YouTube that shows two security guards subduing a woman at the Gateway Mall in Prince Albert has been generating a lot of discussion on social media. In the video, the guards were seen pinning the woman on the ground while making a call to the Prince Albert Police Service for an officer to arrive. An angry crowd gathered around and began to heckle the guards to stop hurting the woman and let her go. The guards eventually allowed the woman to stand, and she broke free of their grasp. On Facebook and YouTube, some people were showing support for the security guards, while others were criticizing them for excessive use of force. The issue of racism was also brought into the discussion. The general manager of the Gateway Mall, Sharon Faul, has seen the negative comments towards her security guards. "Unfortunately on social media, when you have something like this happen, there is no footage of what is happening leading up to that point in time and there is no video footage on social media regarding what happened following that time frame." cbc.ca

Jewellers Vigilance Canada: February Theft Recap Report

Sears Canada to sell 3 locations for $140m & lease back

Germany's 'Gerry Weber' plans 6 new stores in Southern Ontario

Quebec's women's jewelry & accessories brand Bizou to go from 120 to 300 stores

Canadian Fraud Statistics from the Canadian Bankers Association:
 

Stores that may disappear from Canada
 

Durham Regional Police lay 58 charges against Scarborough couple in sweeping Identity Fraud investigation  An investigation by Durham police into suspected identity theft has led to dozens of fraud charges against a Scarborough couple. Project Gilmore was launched in January in response to scams that began with suspects obtaining cellphones with stolen identities, Durham police said. Members of Durham's major fraud unit determined the phones were being shipped from Quebec to addresses in the GTA, including Pickering and Mississauga. Suspects used fake ID to pick up the packages from Canada Post or UPS, police said. As the investigation continued, police uncovered evidence of more fraud, including money laundering, cheque fraud and possession of stolen credit card data. On Wednesday, March 11, police stopped suspects as they travelled in a vehicle on Warden Avenue in Toronto. Seized as proceeds of crime were the vehicle and property including electronics, cellphones, high-end designer clothing and purses found during a search of a Toronto home. That search also revealed stolen identity documents, cash and stolen credit card data, police said. Stephen Oruwari, 35, and 26-year-old Tsedey Whitfield, both of Scarborough, face a total of 58 fraud-related charges. durhamregion.com

Serial St. Thomas, On., shoplifter charged again

Langley RCMP investigating Shoplifter with knife goads employee into fight outside store