Susan Krashinsky Robertson

With its US$8.9-billion acquisition of Boots, the Weston family will be buying a retailer that has a long-standing presence and brand loyalty in its home market. It is also a retailer in need of attention after years of underinvestment, experts say. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Food industry associations in British Columbia and Manitoba are seeking close to $1B from government and private business to build regional food terminals, as trade tensions with the U.S. continue to expose the risks of relying on north-south trade. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Knix founder Joanna Griffiths plans to step away from the company, four years after selling a majority stake that valued the underwear and apparel maker at more than $500-million. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Limited construction of new retail space in Canada gives landlords an edge, RioCan CEO says www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Sitting in the host chair for a few episodes of The Globe's daily podcast, The Decibel. Always so great to work with this team! Today: why Canadian small and medium-sized businesses have so much trouble securing the funding they need to grow. pod.link/thedecibel/e... w/ @jamesonberkow.bsky.social

Tim Hortons is firing back at Quebec franchisees who sued over their declining profitability – saying the restaurant owners are responsible for their business struggles. The court document also sheds light on how the coffee chain sets prices for customers: www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Tens of thousands of payments totalling $3.7-million in the recent class-action settlement over bread price-fixing in Canada have been flagged by banks as possible fraud, according to court documents. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Cost increases throughout the grocery supply chain are putting pressure on food prices. And they're also stoking concern among small independent retailers, who worry they're disproportionately bearing the burden of added fees from suppliers. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

For years, if you were shopping for something online, you'd Google it. Now, more and more people are asking ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other AI agents for help finding the products they want. Our story on how retailers are coping with this new world: www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Unilever is applying a 9% increase in the price it charges retailers for Hellmann’s mayonnaise – another signal of soaring fuel costs putting pressure on grocery prices. It's among a number of suppliers that recently imposed price hikes to grocers. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

The pressure on consumer prices resulting from the Middle East conflict has been multiplied for communities in Canada’s North www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Food suppliers are beginning to charge retailers across Canada extra fees to offset the soaring cost of fuel, a move that will put pressure on grocery prices. “There is no excess margin we can absorb," one independent grocer told me. www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/pe... #retail

Canada’s billionaire Weston family is funding the launch of a national digital-media startup, according to sources familiar with the venture. The online publication, being developed under the working title Be Giant, is preparing to launch this spring. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Vancouver e-commerce company Article plans store expansion, at a tough time for furniture retailers www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Since the Trump administration eliminated the "de minimis" exemption last year, small Canadian businesses have been scrambling to understand complex trade rules they never had to worry about before. For some, the uncertainty is too much. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Online pharmacy services have boomed, and advertisements for quick access to in-demand drugs are all over social media. But many of these promotions are violating Canadian regulations on prescription-drug advertising, a Globe and Mail analysis has found. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

From a small Toronto liquidator left holding a bill for $200,000, to major toy brands like Mattel, Lego, Spin Master and Hasbro that are owed millions -- the financial collapse of Toys "R" Us Canada has reverberations across the industry. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Ontario’s pharmacy regulator has dismissed a complaint about a specialty-drug pharmacy created for the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan that takes away teachers’ choice of where they fill prescriptions if they want to keep their drug coverage. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Signs of financial distress are mounting at Toys “R” Us Canada, with multiple locations closing in recent weeks and landlords saying they are owed unpaid rent. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

I went inside the vault housing the Hudson's Bay archives, to talk to conservationists about what it will take to care for the oldest item in the collection – the 1670 royal charter. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Two of Canada’s most prominent families, the Thomsons and the Westons, are set to prevail in their $18-million bid to buy the 1670 Hudson’s Bay charter, and will donate it to four cultural institutions to keep it in Canada and accessible to the public. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Brewing giant Molson Coors Canada has uncovered an alleged embezzlement scheme that led to losses totalling at least $9-million. The details were revealed in a lawsuit naming former Molson employees, the president of Firkin Hospitality Group, and others. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Hudson's Bay auctioned off the highlights of its art collection yesterday. Here's what it was like inside the sale room: www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

I spent months following Ruby Liu's contentious bid for 25 former Hudson's Bay stores. This is the story of how the deal fell apart. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Since its founding in 2013, Knix has built its brand by focusing squarely on women. Now, the retailer is branching out with men’s products for the first time. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

The Ontario government will introduce a bill to ban closed preferred pharmacy networks, a kind of exclusivity deal between insurers and pharmacies that restricts where patients can buy medication. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/eco... @hannay.bsky.social

After its $30M deal to acquire the Hudson's Bay intellectual property, Canadian Tire is launching a collection decorated with the HBC stripes for the holidays. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Two of the country’s largest real estate owners are in a showdown over the future of the former Hudson's Bay store in Toronto's Yorkdale mall, the latest in a series of disputes triggered by the retailer's bankruptcy. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

A Popeyes franchisee whose restaurants were shut down last month over unpaid wages is also a major defendant in a lawsuit against the fast-food chain and its restaurant owners, which alleges some franchisees bought "unsafe" meat from an unauthorized supplier. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Canadian Tire will soon begin selling the distinctive Hudson’s Bay point blanket. It will direct all proceeds – at a minimum of $1M/year – to Indigenous-led initiatives, ensuring a program HBC launched with the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund will continue. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

A surprise late-night bid that emerged Sunday for the 355-year-old royal charter that launched the Hudson’s Bay Co. has further delayed a legal process governing the auction of the historic document. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

The son of the late DavidsTea founder Herschel Segal is calling for an overhaul of the retailer’s leadership, accusing the company of “abysmal corporate governance and management,” and saying his half-sister is not fit to continue as chief executive officer. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

On the Globe's podcast today, talking about the competing bids to buy the Hudson's Bay charter -- and who gets to determine the fate of a one-of-a-kind piece of history. www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the...

A deal to sell the 1670 Hudson's Bay charter to the Weston family was scheduled to go before a court hearing for approval tomorrow. But it's been adjourned, after other parties have expressed interest in the historic document. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Manulife is steering patients who take the popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Mounjaro to Shoppers Drug Mart to fill prescriptions, just a year after cancelling a similar “preferred provider” arrangement that triggered public backlash. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/eco...

This week, I get to work with the amazing team that produces The Globe's daily podcast, The Decibel. For my first ep as guest host, I spoke with @jasonkirby.bsky.social about how the Air Canada strike tested Canada's labour laws, and what it could mean for future disputes. pod.link/thedecibel/e...

Groups representing First Nations and cultural institutions are raising questions about the transparency of the process to sell the 1670 Hudson's Bay charter -- a document that played a foundational role in Canada’s history. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

While offering $12.5M for the 1670 royal charter that launched the Hudson’s Bay Co. – a one-of-a-kind document in Canada’s history – the billionaire Weston family urged those overseeing the sale not to allow the artifact to go up for bidding at auction. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Clandestine surveillance, allegations of unsafe chicken and a broken business relationship: the story behind a Canadian lawsuit against Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

The new court documents are also seeking a “super monitor” to take over the operations of the failed retailer, arguing Hudson's Bay has mismanaged the wind-down of the business to the detriment of lenders. Hudson's Bay countered that it has been "responsible and diligent" in managing the process.

Some Hudson’s Bay senior lenders are asking the court to terminate a contentious deal to sell store leases to Ruby Liu, arguing that landlord opposition means the deal is unlikely to succeed and is wasting cash that should be used to repay the company’s debts www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

B.C. mall owner Weihong (Ruby) Liu will move forward with plans to open department stores in 3 former Hudson’s Bay locations, after receiving court approval to take over the leases. But Ms. Liu still faces opposition from landlords for 25 other leases. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Landlords at 25 former Hudson’s Bay stores decided to oppose B.C. mall owner Wiehong Liu’s deal to take over their leases, after recent meetings in which Ms. Liu was unable to provide details about how she will operate the stores, according to sources. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Billionaire B.C. mall owner Weihong Liu has agreed to pay $6-million to take over three leases at former Bay stores located in shopping centres she controls. But an offer to acquire up to 25 additional locations has raised "concerns" among some landlords. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Just weeks after shutting all of its department stores across Canada, Hudson’s Bay Co. is seeking to change its historic name, court documents show -- a requirement of the $30M deal to sell its intellectual property to Canadian Tire. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Former Hudson’s Bay Co. employees who face the loss of long-term disability benefits will have that support extended until July 15, while lawyers continue discussions about further possible financial relief. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

A billionaire B.C. mall owner who is seeking to acquire up to 28 Hudson’s Bay store leases is likely to run into trademark issues if she moves forward with a plan to launch department stores called “New Bay,” experts say. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Canadian clothing retailer Oak + Fort has been granted court protection from its creditors, blaming an ill-conceived store expansion and U.S. tariffs for its financial crisis. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail

Canadian Tire’s $30M deal for Hudson’s Bay’s intellectual property has received court approval, paving the way for the acquisition of the historic retailer’s brand names, logos, and designs, including the iconic stripes and point blanket patterns. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

When Hudson’s Bay closed the doors of all of its department stores for the final time on Sunday, it marked not only the disappearance of a historic retailer, but also a new problem for landlords across Canada: millions of square feet of empty space. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #retail