13 Canadian Tire stores across Canada awarded Best Marketing and
    Merchandising Awards

TORONTO, Oct. 1 /CNW/ - At an event held earlier today, 13 Canadian Tire stores across Canada were awarded Marketing and Merchandising Awards for high achievements important to successful retailing. The award categories included Most Impactful Merchandising, Best Auto Centre, Best Summer and Seasonal Merchandising, Best Store Opening, Best Traditional Small Store, Best Local Event Marketing and Best Christmas Set-Up.

"The Marketing and Merchandising Awards demonstrate Canadian Tire's commitment to strive to always be the best, not only for ourselves but also for our customers," says Glenn Butt, senior vice president, Store Support and Operations. "The awards are a way to share best practices and for the opportunity to be recognized amongst peers."

2009 Canadian Tire Marketing and Merchandising Awards:

Most Impactful Merchandising

Peter Oliver: Toronto, Ontario

Peter and his team demonstrate a strong commitment to having products in-stock, along with innovative displays and boutique areas, such as a bike and pet boutique, to meet the needs of his customer demographic.

Daniel Legare: St. Leonard, Quebec

Achieving customer satisfaction based on customer demand is the secret to Daniel's success, as well as providing customers with a clean and clutter-fee environment to make their shopping experience as convenient as possible.

Best Auto Centre

Ross Saito: Cambie, British Columbia

In addition to a focus on having state-of-the-art equipment and training to provide his customers with best-in-class service, walking into Ross's auto centre is like no other. With granite countertops, plasma televisions and comfortable furniture, the waiting room is designed to make the customer waiting experience pleasant and relaxing.

Brian Stefan: Williams Lake, British Columbia

Strong leadership and a fully-staffed Auto Centre are ingredients that Brian and his staff believe continue to bring customers back time and time again.

Best Summer Seasonal Merchandising

Stephan Laurion: Leduc, Alberta

The spacious and well-cared for garden centre at Stephan's store provides customers with a wide breadth of plants and flowers that customers can feel proud about displaying in their homes and gardens.

Patrick Higgins: Uxbridge, Ontario

Customers at this garden centre have said they continually revisit to add-on to their existing garden because of the selection, quality and the great group of hardworking staff.

Best Store Opening

Kevin Smith: Cochrane, Ontario

To celebrate the grand opening of his store Kevin and his staff used local advertising to invite the entire community to experience the new store. To add to the celebration, customers were invited to enter into two dream contests - a chance to win a dream garage or a dream kitchen - and had the opportunity to win other prizes on a daily basis.

Pierre Lauzon: Dolbeau, Quebec

Visitors to Pierre's store opening were treated to a four day celebration of different themed days, such as an automotive and a fire safety day, as well prizes and entertainment all week long.

Best Traditional Small Store

Jason Hayes: Ingersoll, Ontario

A small store is not a challenge if you use it to your advantage by providing all of the touches of home. Upon entering Jason's store, customers are greeted by friendly and knowledgeable staff in an inviting environment that makes it fun and enjoyable to browse and shop.

Best Local Event Marketing

Dom Fox: Lindsay, Ontario

Twice a year, this store closes down for a Ladies Night event that is full of excitement and includes a fashion show of clothing and products available in-store, demonstrations, entertainment, refreshments and much more.

Best Christmas Set-Up

Ralph Moulton: Cobourg, Ontario

To ring in the holiday season with style, Ralph and his staff help customers to imagine Christmas in their own homes. Christmas product is merchandised in-store by décor theme and a part-time visual merchandiser is brought in to add a special finishing touch.

Patrick Higgins: Uxbridge, Ontario

To ensure that customers can visualize everything Canadian Tire has to offer at Christmas, Patrick and his team ensures that every Christmas tree is not only set up, but is decorated and on display in a fun and innovative manner.

Jean-Pierre Cronier: Hearst, Ontario

Jean-Pierre and his staff make Christmas shopping a treat for their customers by offering as many salespeople as possible as well as providing a creative mix of inspiring decorations, lights and trees.

Canadian Tire prides itself on innovative store designs and merchandising methods and is proud of the ingenuity and passion demonstrated by this year's recipients of the Marketing and Merchandising Awards.

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX: CTC, CTC.a), operates an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retail, financial services and petroleum. The Company operates more than 1,200 stores, gas bars and car washes, including the country's most-shopped general merchandise retailer. Canadian Tire Financial Services Limited manages approximately 5.0 million Canadian Tire branded credit cards on behalf of Canadian Tire Bank and markets related financial products and services for retail and petroleum customers. 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.