Canadian Tire expands fishing, hunting pro shops

by Guest Author | March 10, 2014
Canadian Tire Pro Shop

If your local Canadian Tire store is undergoing renovations, it is reason to smile. The Canadian retailer is expanding the hunting and fishing products it carries and creating pro shops within selected stores.

Kemptville overhaul The store in Kemptville will be a “unique experience,” said Stokes. A new hunting and fishing pro shop will replace the existing Mark’s, which is currently a store within the Kemptville Canadian Tire. “It will be a significantly bigger store than what we typically dedicate to fishing and hunting. We aren’t just putting in fishing and hunting, we are really trying to target our outdoor rec customer,” he said.

Come spring, consumers will notice an improved ambiance, more high-end brands, a larger variety of seasonal stock, and even firearms in some locations. For example, anglers will be able to find Lowrance fish finders and hunters will have a larger variety of turkey products to choose from during that season. Other brands and products coming to Canadian Tire include: Yo-Zuri lures, Trokar hooks, Muck boots, and a variety of items from Browning, Redfield, and Nikon.

While not every item in the retailer’s inventory will be in each store, Stokes says everything the company sells will be available through its online store. “We are trying to be more attune to what’s going on in communities and add what’s locally and seasonally relevant to those stores,” said Sean Stokes, associate vice-president of outdoor recreation with Canadian Tire. “We aren’t adding [pro shops] to every store but definitely to markets where hunting and fishing is a part of the fabric of that community.” The retailer plans to amp up on knowledgeable staff as well. “All of the staff will have their PAL,” said Stokes. “We are hiring local experts who have experience hunting or fishing in that market.”

Pro shops will be opening in 27 stores in April and May in the following locations:

Canadian Tire firearm display
  • Amherstburg;
  • Bracebridge;
  • Bradford;
  • Collingwood;
  • Fort Erie;
  • Hawkesbury;
  • Kemptville;
  • Keswick;
  • Kitchener;
  • Listowel;
  • Minden;
  • Morrisburg;
  • Newmarket;
  • Orillia;
  • Orleans;
  • Oshawa;
  • Pembroke;
  • Port Perry;
  • Sarnia;
  • Simcoe;
  • Smiths Falls;
  • St. Catharines;
  • Sturgeon Falls;
  • Waterloo;
  • Welland;
  • Windsor; and
  • Woodstock.

The pro shop expansion started in 2011, with 5 test stores. Canadian Tire currently has 119 of the specialty shops across Canada, with 31 fishing pro shops and 43 hunting pro shops in Ontario.

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Comments

  1. Rob Jeffkins wrote: What about Sudbury O ya we live in the north no hunters or fishing around here joke.I go south and they have way more stuff then we do in the North.Why is that?
  2. yaright wrote: What the heck Nothing in Thunder Bay either.,,..., phhhhh
  3. dom wrote: REALLY CMON WHY ISNT IT COMING TO THUNDER BAY WHAT A JOKE
  4. Eric TheRed wrote: Leamington has Lake Erie (western AND central basins) right on its shoreline, Lake St. Clair 25min North, detroit river 30min west less than an hour to rondeau bay. We have some of the best fishing and waterfowl hunting in ontario and we arnt getting a pro shop?