Chapters is tops, say shoppers

If you're a trade magazine dealing in retail outlets, or a consumer magazine that's concerned with shopping and retail advertising, the annual Major Market Retail Report (MMRR) study for 2006, carried out by Kubas Consultants is worth paying attention to. It measures the relative performance of over 130 retailers as well as the competitive action in 32 specific product categories by interviewing 1,235 consumers over 18. The report also covers shopper attitudes, store ratings, loyalty programs, e-commerce, advertising, and is used by both retailers and industry suppliers.

The study is based on a major consumer survey of shopping habits and store preferences in Canada's six largest markets - Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau and Montreal CMAs (the VECTOM markets) - which account for nearly half of all retail sales in Canada. The study's results are reported in Centre Magazine, the trade publication for hardware and home retailers. It's published by the Business Information Group.

Consumers told Kubas, among other things that their favourite stores -- based on five performance factors -- were:

- Chapters for Layout & Decor;
- Michaels, The Arts & Crafts Store for Variety & Selection;
- Birks for Customer Service and Merchandise Quality; and,
- Costco for Value for Money.
When taking an average of all performance scores, Chapters comes out on top.

(I realize that, for those of you with a mixed relationship with Canada's largest magazine retailer, this is probably good news/bad news.)

According to MMRR 2006, Canadian Tire is still the most shopped retailer in Canada, attracting 88% of consumers to its stores in the past 12 months. Rounding out the top five most shopped stores are Shoppers Drug Mart, Wal-Mart, Zellers, and Sears.