Person charged in Salvation Army $2M toy thefts in Toronto The Salvation Army warehouse boss in Toronto recently dismissed after $2 million worth of donated toys and other goods vanished now faces three criminal charges. David Rennie surrendered to police Monday morning - three days after officers there seized 146 pallets of toys, food and other items from a Brampton, Ont., warehouse. Rennie was the executive director of the Railside Rd. facility until fired recently after an internal audit revealed toys went missing over the past two years. Police said the seized skids of items, which required three transport trailers to remove, will be returned to the Salvation Army eventually. (Source wellandtribune.ca)

Black Friday creeps north as Canadians join the four day frenzy The hype surrounding Cyber Monday and Black Friday is spreading north of the border, and some experts predict the weekend-long sales binge could soon surpass Boxing Day as the busiest shopping period of the year in Canada. The largely U.S. phenomenon is creeping north as more U.S. competitors set up shop here, the high Canadian dollar makes cross-border buying more attractive, and Canadian retailers work harder to keep shoppers from pursuing bargains south of the border. Several major Canadian chains advertised Black Friday specials in Canada, even though it was a work day for most Canadians. (Source theglobeandmail.com)

Quebec vows to make hostile bids for companies like Rona more difficult American home renovation retailer Lowe's attempted last summer to acquire Rona through a $1.8-billion proposal but retreated in September in the face of staunch opposition from Rona's board and Quebec politicians. But with Rona's CEO's recent departure and one major shareholder in favor of looking at Lowe's bid Quebec looks like they may be determined to stop it. (Source whistlerquestion.com)

Canadian retailers to lose $5B to U.S. retailers as Canadian head south of the border for holiday shopping While retailers like Hudson's Bay Co., Canada's oldest company, are advertising Black Friday deals of their own, higher duty-free limits, lower U.S. prices and a currency near par with the U.S. dollar will lead to at least a 25 percent increase in lost sales abroad in November and December, said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at the Bank of Montreal. He says the sales drain will total just over $5 billion. (Source sfgate.com)