Online sales have offset their store closures

Article Excerpt

Two of Canada’s oldest retailers—Canadian Tire and Leon’s—continue to thrive even though many of their stores remain closed due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Their success reflects their strong online sales, which will likely remain strong even after bricks-and-mortar stores re-open. CANADIAN TIRE CORP. (class A) is a buy. The retailer (Toronto symbols CTC $257 and CTC.A $203; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 60.8 million; Market cap: $12.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 2.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.canadiantire.ca) operates 504 Canadian Tire stores. They sell automotive parts and services, and household and sporting goods. Franchisees run most locations. The company also operates other retail chains: PartSource (auto parts), Party City (party supplies), Mark’s (casual and work clothing); and Sport Chek and Sports Experts (sporting goods and athletic wear). Despite the closure of stores in Ontario and other provinces due to COVID-19 lockdowns, Canadian Tire’s sales in the quarter ended April 3, 2021, rose 16.7%, to $3.32 billion from $2.85 billion…