Retail Council of Canada recognizes success through 2009 Excellence in
    Retailing AwardsTORONTO, June 3 /CNW/ - At the retail industry's largest annual award
presentations earlier this week, Canadian Tire was awarded the Retail Council
of Canada's 2009 Excellence in Retailing Award for 'Retail Store Design for a
Large Chain'. Canadian Tire won for its Smart Store format, beating out 12
other high profile submissions. The Smart Store is designed to improve
operating productivity while creating an even better shopping experience for
customers.
    "Canadian Tire customers are our inspiration for consistently delivering
innovative designs and an exciting in-store shopping experience," says Mike
Arnett, president, Canadian Tire Retail. "I congratulate Canadian Tire's store
design team, our business partners and our Dealers who passionately bring this
store concept to life for our customers. For well over a decade, Canadian Tire
has continued to invest in new and innovative store formats, which means that
today, Canadian Tire has one of the youngest store networks in the country."
    Canadian Tire's Smart Store concept features new presentations and a
combination of improved category adjacencies, with additional space devoted to
Canadian Tire's cornerstone businesses - automotive, sporting goods and tools.
In addition, these stores feature inspiring boutiques within the store,
offering customers additional customer service desks and information kiosks,
as well as a deep assortment of innovative products.
    In line with Canadian Tire's focus on reducing energy consumption and
overall impact on the environment, the Smart Stores are built with a focus on
energy-efficiency, including state-of-the-art heating and cooling systems, T8
lighting, significant glazing to harvest daylight, motion sensors to control
lighting, among others.

    Canadian Tire currently has five Smart Stores operating in Gravenhurst,
Hamilton, Orleans, Sarnia and Welland, Ontario. The Company has plans to open
up to 30 new or retrofitted Smart Stores by the end of 2009. Canadian Tire
Corporation, Limited, operates more than 1,200 general merchandise and apparel
retail stores and gas stations in an inter-related network of businesses
engaged in retail, financial services and petroleum. Canadian Tire Retail,
Canada's most shopped general merchandise retailer, with 476 stores operated
by dealers across Canada offers a unique mix of products and services through
three specialty categories in which the organization is the market leader -
Automotive, Sports and Leisure, and Home Products. www.canadiantire.ca offers
Canadians the opportunity to research more than 25,000 products online.
PartSource is an automotive parts specialty chain with 87 stores designed to
meet the needs of purchasers of automotive parts - professional automotive
installers and serious do-it-yourselfers. Canadian Tire Petroleum is one of
the country's largest and most productive independent retailers of gasoline,
operating 274 gas bars, 267 convenience stores and kiosks, and 74 car washes.
Mark's Work Wearhouse is one of the country's leading apparel retailers
operating 374 stores in Canada. Under the Clothes that WorkTM marketing
strategy, Mark's sells apparel and footwear in work, work-related, casual and
active-wear categories, as well as health-care and business-to-business
apparel. www.marks.com offers Canadians the opportunity to shop for Mark's
products online. Canadian Tire Financial Services has issued over 5 million
Canadian Tire MasterCard credit cards and also markets related financial
products and services for retail and petroleum customers. Canadians can also
access Financial Services online at www.ctfs.com. More than 57,000 Canadians
work across Canadian Tire's organization from coast-to-coast in the
enterprise's retail, financial services, and petroleum businesses.