Aug 8 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Canadian Tire Corp. is getting into the party supply business with its $174.4 million purchase of Party City's 65 Canadian stores to diversify its products and customers. "It's a natural extension for us and has a lot of room to grow," said Allan MacDonald, company head of retail, on an analyst conference call Thursday. "We've set […]
Aug 8 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Canadian checkout counters could soon look quite different as a Silicon Valley giant looks to shake up the retail payment space — dominated by the ubiquitous grey terminal —with a new option introduced Thursday. Square Inc., which started about a decade ago with a smartphone-based credit card scanner used mainly by small businesses, has launched a device in Canada aimed at disrupting […]
Aug 2 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Shares in Restaurant Brands International Inc. soared Friday as the company reported strong second-quarter earnings that widely exceeded analysts' expectations. The parent company of Tim Hortons says its rapid adoption of new tastes and technologies is helping drive sales growth across its more than 26,000 restaurants globally. Restaurant Brands International Inc., which is also […]
Aug 1 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Shopify Inc. said Thursday it has had a better-than-expected response for its proposed technology-enabled logistics network as it pushes to offer merchants a more complete alternative to online retail giant Amazon. The Ottawa-based e-commerce logistics company beat earnings expectations in its second quarter, as revenue jumped 48 per cent from the comparable quarter in 2018 to reach US$361.9 million. It said it will accelerate […]
Jul 31 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — This week's massive Capital One data breach is the latest in a string of cyberattacks that experts say are becoming larger and more frequent, as corporations hold more personal data in online repositories that are a treasure trove for hackers. "There's definitely a rise in personal data theft, there's a rise in data breaches," said Claudiu Popa, a cybersecurity expert with Datarisk Canada. The Capital One breach […]
Jul 25 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — North American stock markets have hit record highs as the longest-ever U.S. bull market stretches past a decade, prompting some investors to question when the run will come to its inevitable end and what effect that might have on their portfolios. Timing such a market shift can be little more than guesswork, but investors should remember that a downturn is […]
Jul 18 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — The Ontario Real Estate Association is calling for less stringent mortgage rules in a rebuttal aimed at the head of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. OREA chief executive Tim Hudak says in a letter to federal policy-makers that Ottawa should consider restoring 30-year insured mortgages, ease up on the interest rate stress […]
Jul 18 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — The Ontario Real Estate Association is calling for less stringent mortgage rules in a rebuttal aimed at the head of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. OREA chief executive Tim Hudak says in a letter to federal policy-makers that Ottawa should consider restoring 30-year insured mortgages, ease up on the interest rate stress […]
Jul 17 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A flood of pictures on social media of computer-aged celebrities, including Drake and Stephen Colbert, has boosted the popularity of the "FaceApp Challenge," but also has privacy experts raising concerns about the image-altering service's expansive terms of use. The app, which offers a range of facial image manipulations from adding facial hair to changing genders and age, has terms of use that include granting the rights to reproduce, modify, publish and share photos and […]
Jun 24 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Sidewalk Labs laid out its ambitious vision of the future of cities with its plan for Toronto's eastern waterfront, but has already received fresh criticism for its potential overreach. The plan sets out what Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google parent-company Alphabet Inc., hopes will be a blueprint for urban development that will incorporate the latest concepts in […]
Jun 24 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Sidewalk Labs laid out its ambitious vision of the future of cities with its plan for Toronto's eastern waterfront, but has already received fresh criticism for its potential overreach. The plan sets out what Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google parent-company Alphabet Inc., hopes will be a blueprint for urban development that will incorporate the latest concepts in […]
Jun 19 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — Shopify Inc. has launched a network of fulfilment centres in the United States to expand its suite of offerings for merchants in the competitive world of online retail. The network will allow merchants large and small to gain access to advanced logistics technology and simplified warehousing and shipping, chief product officer Craig Miller said. "We've […]
Jun 17 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — The massive response to the Toronto Raptors NBA championship parade has led numerous major employers to take a more flexible approach to work Monday. Sobeys Inc., an official partner of the Raptors, says it offered about 900 employees in the Greater Toronto Area a paid day off to watch the parade, while also hosting viewing parties for employees across […]
Jun 5 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A prominent technology investor is adding his voice to those calling on Toronto to abandon the proposed Sidewalk Labs development on the city's waterfront. Venture capitalist Roger McNamee, who was an early investor in Facebook and other technology giants, writes in a letter to Toronto's city council executive committee ahead of a Thursday meeting that […]
Jun 5 2019 — Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press — TORONTO — A prominent technology investor is adding his voice to those calling on Toronto to abandon the proposed Sidewalk Labs development on the city's waterfront. Venture capitalist Roger McNamee, who was an early investor in Facebook and other technology giants, writes in a letter to Toronto's city council executive committee ahead of a Thursday meeting that […]