Posted by Brian Schultz HBC is relaunching five of its Zellers stores across Winnipeg before any other Canadian stores get the same makeover. Special guest appearances are slated for the Polo Park location throughout the week to help kick off the grand reopening. Today from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., kids can meet Nickelodeon stars [...]

Posted by Sarah Klein Manitoba is implementing a new five-year strategy aimed at protecting consumers when they purchase homes, vehicles, perform renovations, or spend money elsewhere in the retail marketplace. The province will introduce legislation under the Let’s Make a Better Deal plan which would ban negative-option billing and triple fines under the Consumer Protection [...]

Posted by Brian Schultz The jewelry store that opened up its first location in Winnipeg’s north end in 1910 is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Ben Moss Jewellers now operates 63 locations across the country and launched seven new stores last year in the middle of the recession. Ben Moss, a 20-year-old Romanian immigrant who came [...]

Posted by Sarah Klein The Manitoba Consumers’ Bureau issued an alert Tuesday warning that the Y.E.P. Youth Employment Program is no longer licensed with the province as a direct seller. Y.E.P. Youth Employment Program hires young people to sell candy products, usually at shopping malls or outside large retailers, but the company is not licensed [...]

View Larger Map The last remaining bookstore in Osborne Village is set to close this spring. Beatnik Village Books & Discs at 220 Osborne Street will write its final chapter in May, and the owners have no plans to relocate. Originally opening up in 2005, the store blames the closure on the owner of the [...]

25 years in the suit business is a milestone for one Winnipeg tailor who started out in Rome. Serafino Falvo would have never imagined at this point he’d be celebrating a clothing line and a reputation as one of the finest tailors in North America. Years of expertise and a meticulous eye for style, Falvo’s [...]

Posted by Brian Schultz Plans for McNally Robinson to open up in the future air terminal building at the James Richardson International Airport are now off. The Winnipeg bookseller entered bankruptcy protection earlier this week and announced the closing of two of its four stores. Back in July, the Winnipeg Airports Authority — along with [...]

Posted by Brian Schultz Winnipeg bookseller McNally Robinson has entered bankruptcy protection and will soon close two of its stores. The local company will close its 22,000 square foot Polo Park location (2008) on Sunday, January 3, and its Toronto location (2009) today. A news release read that 175 staff members will lose their jobs. [...]

Posted by Brian Schultz A new survey finds that three in 10 Canadians (30% of the population) received a re-gifted gift this holiday season. The numbers are part of research from eBay Canada, collected by Leger Marketing. “While Canadians may be reluctant to repurpose holiday gifts, there is nothing wrong with re-gifting or re-selling the [...]

Eager Boxing Day shoppers gather outside the Toronto Yonge-Dundas Future Shop in anticipation of the hundreds of deals that await them inside the store. An annual Canadian tradition, thousands of customers waited for hours at stores across the country in hopes to snag Boxing Day deals on Saturday, December 26, 2009. Image credit: Marjo Wright/CNW

Shoppers at St. Vital Centre were directed to available parking spots by Winnipeg police officers earlier this week. Shoppers in Minneapolis can simply check their cell phone, thanks to Twitter. The Mall of America started tweeting their parking situation on December 19 to help out last-minute shoppers. Tweets will be sent out 9:30 a.m. to [...]

The Downtown Winnipeg BIZ is giving shoppers an incentive to spend their money on Christmas gifts downtown this season. Today, the BIZ will launch their “Pledge to Shop Downtown for the Holidays” campaign. BIZ Watch Ambassadors will hand out Blue Loonies to shoppers for free parking on Portage Avenue from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. [...]