Is Retail in Canada Failing? - with Bruce Winders

Hosts Mike Wixson and Paul Micucci break down the latest retail trends in Canada, asking a big question: if stores are closing and malls have empty anchor spaces, why are retail sales still holding up?

Joined by Canadian retail expert Bruce Winder, this episode explores the gap between what Canadians are seeing in shopping malls and what the data says about consumer spending, inflation, e-commerce, grocery prices, auto sales, and the future of retail space in Canada.

What This Episode Covers

• Why Canadian retail sales appear flat to slightly up
• What empty mall spaces really mean for the industry
• How inflation and grocery prices are changing shopping habits
• Why consumers are shifting toward used cars, repairs, and discount stores
• The role of Amazon, e-commerce, and online shopping in Canada
• How a K-shaped economy is affecting different income groups
• Why some categories like tech are down while others like sporting goods and hobbies are up

Key Takeaways

• Retail in Canada is not broken, but it is changing
• Rising sales do not necessarily mean the economy is strong
• Grocery and essential goods are driving much of the increase in spending
• Many former department store spaces are being split, repurposed, or left struggling
• Canadians are becoming more price-conscious and shopping across multiple stores again

Timestamps

• 0:00 Introduction: Is retail in Canada in trouble?
• 1:41 Bruce Winder joins the conversation
• 3:09 Is Canadian retail flat, growing, or declining?
• 3:43 Empty malls, Nordstrom, Saks, and Hudson’s Bay
• 5:01 What happens to abandoned big-box retail spaces?
• 6:30 The future of mall real estate in Canada
• 10:00 January 2026 vs January 2025 retail numbers
• 11:31 Grocery prices, margins, and inflation pressure
• 13:48 Retail spending vs the real economy
• 14:07 The K-shaped economy in Canada
• 15:02 How shopping habits are changing
• 17:43 Gas prices, driving, and consumer behavior
• 21:04 Why tech sales are falling
• 21:57 Alcohol down, cannabis up
• 23:49 E-commerce trends in Canada
• 25:17 Sporting goods, books, hobbies, and discretionary spending
• 27:28 Final thoughts and wrap-up

Keywords

Canadian retail, retail trends Canada, shopping malls Canada, retail sales Canada, e-commerce Canada, grocery inflation Canada, consumer spending Canada, mall vacancies, Bruce Winder, Mike Wixson, Paul Micucci

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