Retail Council of Canada honours Rita Estwick of Canada Post with Loss Prevention Lifetime Achievement Award   
TORONTO, ON, September 9, 2015: Retail Council of Canada (RCC) announced today that Rita Estwick, Director of Security Strategy at Canada Post, will be the recipient of the inaugural Loss Prevention Lifetime Achievement Award.

Throughout her career at Canada Post, Rita has established strategic partnerships with both the business and law enforcement communities. She has placed an important focus on information-sharing and preventative strategies to support risk and fraud reduction. Highly regarded for her ground-breaking efforts in the retail LP community, Rita is a frequent speaker at educational conferences. She has been twice recognized on the cover of Canadian Security Magazine.

"We are proud to present our inaugural Retail Loss Prevention Lifetime Achievement Award to Rita Estwick. Rita is not only a true pioneer and mentor within the loss prevention community, she is also a highly engaged member of Retail Council of Canada," said Diane J. Brisebois, President & CEO, Retail Council of Canada. "Throughout her career, Rita has proven to be a visionary leader, dedicated to fighting fraud and educating both the public and the retail industry. I can think of no one more deserving of this special honour."

"I am delighted to recognize my peer Rita Estwick for her commitment to fostering education and innovation in the LP community. Personally, I have long regarded Rita as a trusted advisor," said Rui Rodrigues, National Director of Loss Prevention at Staples Canada and Chair of Retail Council of Canada's Loss Prevention Advisory Committee. "The recipient selection process was completely peer-driven, and I could not be more thrilled with the outcome."

This special presentation will take place at Retail Council of Canada's 2015 Retail Loss Prevention Conference, September 16th at the International Centre in Mississauga. Media are invited to attend the conference. For full agenda information, visit RCCLPconference.ca retailcouncil.org

Low prices, large selection lure Canadian shoppers to American supermarkets
Western New Yorkers are well aware the region's shopping malls and restaurants are filled with Canadian visitors, but a significant segment of Canadian consumers cross the border to visit our grocery stores, too. Just as someone from West Seneca might make the 30-minute trip to Trader Joe's in Amherst to find the prices and varieties of food they like, consumers along the Ontario border make similarly short treks to Buffalo Niagara to do the same.

Cross-border shoppers are attracted by the lower prices and the broader selection of products available south of the border. But as the value of the Canadian dollar has recently fallen to about 76 cents U.S., border-crossing numbers also have declined, a fact that worries American grocers who have enjoyed a built-in consumer buffer at their border stores. Spokespeople from Western New York's two largest supermarkets said Canadian shoppers make up a sizable portion of their clientele at stores near the Canadian border.

Food prices in general are volatile, affected by everything from weather conditions, livestock diseases and gas prices to feed prices, labor costs, taxes and currency fluctuations. But Canada has some very specific other factors at play - particularly government market controls. Since the 1970s, Canada's dairy market has been tightly controlled and regulated by the Canadian Dairy Commission. Under its "supply-management" program, prices are determined by the costs of production rather than by what the market is willing to pay, and supply is determined not by demand but by a regulated quota system that limits how much each farm is allowed to produce. buffalonews.com

Free Half-Day Fraud Seminar in Vancouver on Sept. 22nd.
 - Brought to you by Kount 
The Fraud 360 World Tour will be landing in Vancouver on September 22 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 655 Burrard Street. Kount brings this half-day, free seminar to you with discussions about payments, fraud trends, and best practices standards that you can adapt to your business. In addition, complimentary breakfast and lunch will be provided. Register quickly because seating is limited.  retail-insider.com

Saks Fifth Ave to open first two stores Feb. 18th & Feb. 25th in Toronto
Saks will open up to eight Canadian locations, focusing on Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and possibly Calgary. Saks will feature 'food halls' in its Canadian stores, and it has confirmed that Pusateri's Fine Foods will operate within its first two Toronto locations. Saks recently indicated that it has secured most of its desired flagship brands for its Toronto Eaton Centre location, despite Holt Renfrew's luxury dominance. With Eaton Centre to be their Flagship store in Canada.  retail-insider.com

Starbucks worker sues for $1m after alleged supervisor attack
A former Starbucks employee is suing the franchise in Canada in a $1million lawsuit, after an alleged attack from a colleague. Shannon Mishimagi said she was scheduled to work under a supervisor, prior to complaining about him to her management. Having claimed he had physically assaulted her, she said that Starbucks Canada failed to uphold their duty to make employees feel safe in the workplace. The allegations in the statement of claim state that the 23-year-old was "physically assaulted, verbally abused, and was physically threatened multiple times" by Gurjaspreet Jolly, her supervisor. Despite raising concerns, the Ryerson University student said she was still required to work alongside Jolly.  hrgrapevine.com

Conducting secure business in the Cloud
With so many businesses moving part or all of their operations to the Cloud, there can sometimes be more questions than answers. Whether it's third-party solutions for surveillance, access control or storage through Security as a Service (SaaS), or an organization's desire to maintain its own data in the Cloud, there are important issues that need to be addressed. Cory Freed, senior corporate counsel with Microsoft Canada, is part of a team of lawyers who negotiate Cloud computing agreements with Microsoft Canada's largest public sector and enterprise customers. canadiansecuritymag.com

Bitcoin Exchange Coinbase Steps into Canada

Shop.ca to Test Drone Delivery Service

Sears to close in two Ottawa Valley towns

Retail Fast Facts: August 2015

Highlights: 
Total monthly retail sales changed by 3.7 per cent over the comparable month last year.
Total sales excluding food, automotive and gasoline changed by 4.5 per cent over the comparable month last year. Read more