So this US vs. CAD dollar is really starting to annoy me

[Coker Rat]

Re: So this US vs. CAD dollar is really starting to annoy me

aluminum falcon
http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product...9&cn=416&d=322



YESSSS

Jabba's sand skipper thingy!! complete with sex slave Princess Leah, awww man i wish i was a kid again... with rich ass parents this time around.


I should build all the construction equipment like this...

kickass basterd and then build an Oilsand plant! Then go actually work there! OH JOY! I'll need some fire pieces for the plant though... OOO AND FIRETRUCKS!

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: So this US vs. CAD dollar is really starting to annoy me

From this mornings Globe and Mail

Many Canadian retailers still have no plans to trim prices for the holiday season even though the industry is sitting on the highest profit margins in years thanks to a soaring Canadian dollar.

Apparel retailers said they're already competitively priced with U.S. merchants in many cases, while merchants selling appliances and other products said they face a higher cost of doing business in Canada, which results in higher prices.

“We've benefited from the dollar over the past three years,” said Jeremy Reitman, president of Reitmans, the country's largest specialty merchant. “Our prices have overall at least stabilized or decreased somewhat … but we're not doing anything particular now” to cut prices for the holiday period.

Added Robert Meers, CEO at yoga-wear chain Lululemon, in an e-mail: “No price action is planned for [the] holiday.”

Cases of stand-pat pricing fly in the face of a report from National Bank Financial which says that Canadian retailers, under fire for not cutting prices while the loonie is strong, now have room to start snipping prices and luring people away from cross-border shopping during the crucial holiday period. Merchants are enjoying record margins, and can pass along savings to consumers, it says.

The Canadian dollar has been trading around parity for a month now, at a 31-year high against the U.S. greenback. It makes for easy price comparisons by consumers. And a runup in the currency should make imported goods cheaper because most products are priced in U.S. dollars on the international market. Yet most Canadian prices haven't fallen, the report found.

“The consumer should be concerned about it – they have every right to be,” said retail consultant John Williams at J. C. Williams Group. “I think there will be some adjustments for the holidays as retailers put more pressure on their suppliers to bring prices in line. But it will probably have a small effect.”

Sears Canada shoppers won't see any big breaks this holiday season, spokesman Vincent Power said. “There's no strategy to do that across the board.” But he said Sears' apparel prices have dipped in the past year or so, and “we believe we have as good value here at Sears as anything you can get in the United States.”

Along with other retailers, Sears is pressing its suppliers for better rates to pass on savings to consumers.

But appliance prices can be higher than those in U.S. stores because suppliers charge Canadian retailers more to cover such costs as transportation and safety-standard adjustments, he said.

Sears, which has enjoyed stronger margins over the past year or so, is the single largest seller of apparel and appliances in Canada.

Lululemon Athletica has profited from the stronger loonie, but also won't be dropping prices in the coming months, Mr. Meers said. “We do not price based on currency strength or weakness – we price based on quality/value.”

On Tuesday, the chain boosted its third-quarter forecast, partly because of the loonie's appreciation. Because it reports its financial results in U.S. dollars, the loonie's rise makes the company's Canadian sales – the vast majority of its business – worth more when converted to greenbacks.

Reitmans, which has posted some record margins over the past few years, has kept its prices stable or even lowered some of them over that period, Mr. Reitman said. But consumers can't count on lower prices for their holiday shopping.

Still, while prices for some merchandise – such as clothes and computers – have fallen over the past year, it has not been enough to stem waves of people from crossing the border, industry officials say. Wal-Mart Canada said it will drop prices in the coming months.Leon's Furniture has reduced its prices by between 20 and 30 per cent over the past four or five years, said the company's CEO, Terrence Leon.

But despite lower prices in categories such as electronics and computers, cross-border shopping “is definitely a problem,” said Kevin Layden, president of Best Buy Canada, whose margins have slipped over the past two years.

But Mr. Layden, who is also chairman of the Retail Council of Canada, said merchants here grapple with higher duties and expenses for shipping and bilingual packaging and call centres.