Number of stores
Gordon Reid opened the first Giant Tiger store, on George Street in Ottawa’s Byward Market, on May 13, 1961, with a $15,000 investment.[13] First year sales of $139,781 were far lower than Reid had anticipated, and by the end of 1962, he decided to close the store. Unexpectedly, the rush of customers attracted by his going out of business sale provided enough cash flow to keep the business afloat.[14]
Although the store survived, expansion was slow. A second location, in the small town of Brockville, was not opened until 1965.[13] By the time, of the company's tenth anniversary, in 1971, it still had only six stores.
As of 2018, there are 230 stores, the most recent three being opened on October 12, 2018, in Saskatoon, Windsor and Hamilton. The 2015, withdrawal of Target Canada from the marketplace presented an expansion opportunity for Giant Tiger.[15] Its first acquisition of a Target store occurred in Fergus, Ontario, where 16500 sqft of an approximately 100000 sqft large Target store was acquired by Giant Tiger. This location opened in the spring of 2016.[16]
Geographic expansion
In 2001, Giant Tiger and The North West Company (NWC) signed a 30-year Master Franchise Agreement that grants NWC the exclusive right to open and operate 72 Giant Tiger stores in western Canada by 2032. In 2013, thirty-one of these stores were open and NWC was eyeing expansion into older city neighbourhoods and rural towns too small to support a Target or Walmart.[17]
The chain has undertaken a major expansion in the Greater Toronto Area since 2005. It has opened seven stores in Bradford, Brampton, Markham (now closed), Newmarket, Scarborough and Etobicoke.
The 200th Giant Tiger store opened in Nova Scotia in October 2010.[7]
In 2004, Giant Tiger opened a single store in Potsdam, New York, its first (and only) in the United States. This store closed during the Great Recession in 2009.[18]
Franchising
In 1968, Giant Tiger opened its first franchise stores, which now account for the majority of locations. The goal was to better serve the customer by having local owners in the stores.
Between 2001 and 2020, The North West Company operated all of Giant Tiger's locations in western Canada[19] under a single master franchise agreement.[3] In March 2020, The North West Company announced that it would sell 34 of its 46 franchises to Giant Tiger, while closing six underperforming locations, maintaining five in northern markets, and converting one (Prince Albert) to a different banner.[20][21]
New brands/trade names
In 1977, Giant Tiger established Chez Tante Marie stores in Hull and Gatineau, Quebec. The Hull store closed in 2015.[22] Another Chez Tante Marie store existed in Lachute, Quebec; this store has since been rebranded as Tigre Géant.[23] In 2017, the last Chez Tante Marie store, in Gatineau, was rebranded as Tigre Géant.[23]
In 1996, the Scott's Discount brand was launched as an alternative format for smaller stores.
In 2008, Giant Tiger opened its first GT Xpress outlet at a former Giant Tiger location in Ottawa's Hintonburg neighbourhood. GT Xpress stores are intended to service less mobile residents of densely populated neighbourhoods, so that residents will not have to leave the neighbourhood to shop at a big-box store. Because larger retail spaces are unavailable in such inner-city neighbourhoods, the merchandise selection at GTXpress stores is more limited than at a full-size Giant Tiger, let alone a big-box store. Traditional lines of Giant Tiger merchandise are further restricted to free up space for an expanded produce, dairy, deli and bakery section. Effectively, a GTXpress store is a discount version of a convenience store
Trucking/warehousing
In 1987, Giant Tiger launched its own trucking fleet (known internally as Tiger Trucking)[25] to make regular shipments from the warehouse to stores.[7] In 1999, it was reported that the company's trucks were making deliveries to each store three times a week.[26] In 2001, Reid reported that deliveries were taking place daily: "We have the most efficient shipping and distribution system in the general merchandise field ... It is equivalent to the grocery stores. We deliver to stores five times per week. There is no one else in the general merchandise industry that does that and we do it with our own trucks."[25]
On May 31, 1996, Giant Tiger purchased and took possession of a 29,000 m2 distribution centre on Walkley Road in Ottawa, previously occupied by Sears Canada. The company's headquarters moved to this location later the same year.
In December 2005, Giant Tiger opened a new 3700 m2 distribution centre for frozen and refrigerated products in Brockville,
Changes in management structure and key personnel
In October 2010, Reid stepped down as chief executive officer of Giant Tiger, in favour of Andy Gross, a 25-year veteran with the chain, who started working as a buyer when there were fewer than thirty stores. Gross had, by this time, already inherited the presidency from Jeff York.[7] Gross decided to retire effective August 1, 2014, and was then replaced as president and COO by Greg Farrell, who in turn was replaced on March 1, 2015, by former Zellers president and COO Thomas Haig.[27] As of 2015, Reid retains the posts of chairman of the board and CEO.[7] A proposal to sell the company was briefly raised in October 2013,[28] but soon abandoned.[15]
