Great Canadian Dollar Store adds two stores
Discount store is opening new franchises next year in Crapaud and O’Leary
With a population of about 319 people, opening a discount store in Crapaud may seem like an odd choice.
But Kevin Kane, owner of the new Great Canadian Dollar Store franchise, thinks the new location along the Trans-Canada Highway could be an ideal spot, especially for people visiting the Island.
“It’s low population but high visibility,” said Kane. “My hopes are that vacationers, maybe, headed to Charlottetown or Cavendish may haul off the road and buy their camping and summer supplies there before they get into a busy spot.”
The store is scheduled to open in the spring of 2018. Kane is also planning to open a store in O’Leary in June of 2018. With the new stores, Kane will have seven on the Island, including stores in Cornwall, Charlottetown, Alberton, Summerside and Bloomfield.
But he’s not looking to stop there. Kane said he wants 10 stores on P.E.I. He suggested that one area being considered is West Royalty in Charlottetown. Other possible locations are “wherever we don’t have a spot and it makes sense.”
Kane explained that a suitable location needs “enough population and a building with a fair rent.” But being situation next to a store with similar customers, such as the Charlottetown store near Value Village in the Spring Park Plaza, is also an advantage.
“Definitely. That worked out so well for us in Charlottetown. Extremely busy store,” he said.
“We would sooner be beside someone else. Restaurants do it. Antique shops do it. Everyone does it. It just makes sense to be where the traffic is.”
By November, the company expects to have 114 stores across Canada. Kane is set to own 43 of those. But Kane is more than a franchise owner. Kane’s company bought the Great Canadian Dollar Store two-and-a-half years ago.
He bought his first franchise in Quispamsis about 20 years ago. At the time, Kane was a Sobeys store manager looking for a business to pursue. He would often see his wife come home from work carrying bags from a discount store. And then it hit him one day that the discount store business might be what he wanted to pursue.
“That’s what set the light off in my head,” he said.
Kane explained the company is imports directly about 75 per cent of its products from China while the remaining 25 per cent is from Canada and the U.S.
Kane said a key to the business is to have products that appeal to a wide range of customers regardless of their income level.
“If you were paying $4 or $5 dollars for a birthday card and all of a sudden you get one for $1 – why would you go back?,” he said. “I think that people are more price conscious. I think they realize there is no need to pay more when you can get something of similar quality for fair bit less.”
But Kane admits that competition in the discount retail business is stiff. His main competitor is Dollarama. But anyone carrying the same items is a competitor, although some, like Giant Tiger, may focus more on clothing while the Great Canadian Dollar Store is more about crafts, party supplies, seasonal items, linens and even curtains.
“We sell so many curtains. Curtains are very expensive to buy in department stores, but department stores are disappearing. So, we’ve picked up a lot of business with the sale of curtains.”
Kane added that the stores try to set themselves apart from the competition by providing family-friendly service and competitive prices.
“We do what we can to bring our best game forward.”
Another key to the company’s success is a change in attitude about admitting an item was bought from a discount store, Kane said.
“It’s almost a cool thing now to brag to your friends about how little you paid for an item at the Great Canadian Dollar Store ... It’s cool to save.”