15 new Concept 20/20 stores now open in the Montreal area

    Total investment of $59.6 million and creation of more than 315 jobs


    MONTREAL, May 3 /CNW/ - Canadian Tire is celebrating the grand opening of
fifteen of its new Concept 20/20 stores in the Montreal area, including the
largest Canadian Tire store in the province of Quebec. The largest single
conversion of stores in the company's history, the new stores feature a
completely new design and layout, new product categories and significantly
expanded space dedicated to showing core product assortments, creating an
exciting shopping experience for Montreal-area customers.
    For the Associate Dealers of these fifteen stores and Canadian Tire
Corporation, these projects represent a total investment of $59.6 million in
the Montreal North and South Shores and the creation of approximately 315 new
retail positions.
    "Canadian Tire enjoys a long, successful history in the Montreal area.
This significant investment enables us to renew our store network so we can
deliver a completely new and exciting shopping experience for our customers,"
said Mike Arnett, president, Canadian Tire Retail.The new Canadian Tire Stores are located in:
    Carrefour Laval          Saint-Jerome         Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
    Laval (Ste-Dorothée)     Terrebonne           Boucherville
    Laval (Fabreville)       Rosemere             Delson
    Repentigny               Blainville           Saint-Bruno
    Greenfield Park          Longueuil            Saint-EustacheDesigned to increase retail sales by 20 per cent on average, the new
format stores are a key component of Canadian Tire Retail's growth strategy.
    "The response from our customers continues to be exceptionally positive
and has led to the acceleration of the rollout of our new format stores
leading to the most successful store transformation in our history," Arnett
added.
    The new store format features a significant redesign to the external
façade, as well as major retail design changes making it a more inspirational
environment that is easier to shop, with wider aisles and enhanced
navigational signage. The store layout has been anchored with 'Driving',
'Playing', 'Fixing' and 'Living' areas representing Canadian Tire's unique
product mix in cornerstone categories - automotive, leisure and sporting
goods, hardware & tools, home décor, home maintenance and repair, outdoor
living and lawn and garden products.
    Featuring new presentations of its market-leading automotive, home décor
and leisure assortments, Canadian Tire Retail has significantly enhanced its
offering in key categories such as home décor, camping, cycling, storage and
organization, ready-to-assemble furniture, as well as home office supplies,
household cleaning products and power sports.Summary of major features of the new concept Canadian Tire store:
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    -   Starting Place - Located at the front and centre of the store, this
        is where customers can shop from interactive product displays with
        promotions that change regularly. The focus of this area is on
        seasonal and event-related products, as well as innovative new
        products exclusive to Canadian Tire.

    Living/Fixing

    -   Outdoor Living/Seasonal - The first customer vantage point upon
        entering the store is one of its most exciting areas featuring
        products that change with the seasons to offer customers the latest
        in outdoor living and seasonal merchandise from patio furniture and
        barbecues to Back-to-School, Christmas décor and storage and
        organization.

    -   Home Décor - Paint, lighting, ready-to-assemble furniture, bath
        accessories, window coverings, carpets and even accessories such as
        pillows and throws are together in one convenient area of the store
        for "360-degree inspiration." 'Touch and feel' displays and lower,
        tiered shelves, make it easier for customers to find the home décor
        items they are looking for. The paint department features the latest
        in Canadian Tire's paint offering including the Debbie Travis Paint
        Collection. The expanded light cloud, with lighting separated by
        function, makes viewing and choosing portable lamps, vanity lights,
        ceiling fans and outdoor lighting simple. Numerous lifestyle
        vignettes help inspire customers and help them create an overall
        coordinated look simply and affordably. The Debbie Travis Collection,
        with hundreds of home décor ideas, makes it easy for customers to
        create a beautiful, stylish space.

    -   Dining/Cooking - Kitchen Place is a specialty boutique offering a
        wide selection of glassware, dinnerware, cutlery and other products
        for entertaining, as well as products required for food preparation
        such as kitchen gadgets and utensils, small appliances, bakeware and
        cookware. New tabletop items and table linens offer customers
        coordinated, affordable products, while lower 'touch and feel'
        product displays allow them to feel confident about their choices.

    -   Household Cleaning - Always a great customer convenience, the new
        concept store features a household cleaning product display expansion
        of 45 percent, and the introduction of more national brands.

    -   Storage and Organization - One of Canadian Tire's fastest growing
        product categories, Storage and Organization products will feature
        more display space and a broadened assortment to help customers get
        organized.

    -   Ready-to-Assemble Furniture - This new store allocates more display
        space to ready-to-assemble furniture, another high growth category
        within Canadian Tire's home décor offering. This category includes
        the new line of stylish and affordable Debbie Travis branded
        furniture, introduced in late 2005.

    -   Lawn and Garden - The outdoor Garden Centre showcases Canadian Tire's
        expanded seasonal assortments including lawn and garden products.

    -   Tools - Tools and hardware items are prominently located adjacent to
        the store's centre power aisle overlooking the Starting Place, making
        Canadian Tire's core hardware assortment easily visible and
        accessible for customers.

    Driving

    -   Automotive - With the largest selection of automotive hard parts,
        accessories, tires, batteries and car care products, the new store
        design offers customers a unique store-within-a-store focused on
        'Driving'. Another feature of this area is a redesigned tire wall
        organized to help customers select tires according to vehicle and
        type. The tire wall can be designed to be market specific, with
        expanded assortments in truck tires versus custom or standard tires
        as it relates to the vehicle demographics of the area.

    Playing

    -   Sports & Leisure, Footwear and Apparel - This boutique features new
        products and brands such as Terra, Sorel, and Columbia, and a shoe
        wall that showcases the entire footwear assortment. This boutique
        also features current summer men's and women's fashions. From golf
        shirts to outdoor gear, all men's and women's clothing are now
        merchandised in one area of the store that includes mirrors and a
        change room.

    -   Easy to Shop/Customer-friendly - The new concept store includes an
        improved store layout, wider aisles and check out lanes, a
        conveniently-located Customer Care desk, easy-to-follow store pylon
        signage, and even redesigned shopping.

    -   Design and Concept Changes - The new store features a number of
        design innovations. These changes include warmer colours on the
        building exterior, improved sightlines, lifestyle vignettes on high
        walls, and wood finishes on interior fixtures.Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX: CTC, CTC.a) operates more than
1,100 general merchandise and apparel retail stores, gas stations and car
washes in an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retail, financial
services and petroleum. More than 50,000 Canadians work across the Canadian
Tire organization from coast-to- coast. Canadian Tire Retail and its Associate
Dealers together form one of Canada's best-known and most successful retailers
with 468 stores in communities nationwide. Canadian Tire stores offer a unique
mix of products and services through the leadership of three specialty stores
under one roof - Automotive, Sports and Leisure, and Home Products. Canadian
Tire also offers shopping and home delivery through www.canadiantire.ca and by
phone order at 1-866-746-7287.