written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . july 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message giant tiger stores limited type private industry retail founded 1961 founder gordon reid headquarters ottawa ontario canada key people gordon reid ceo chairman thomas haig president coo number of employees 8 000 website www.gianttiger.com a giant tiger store in stratford ontario . giant tiger stores limited is a canadian discount store chain which operates over 200 stores across canada . 1 the company s stores operate under the giant tiger gtexpress and scott s discount banners in ontario ; under the tigre g ant and chez tante marie banners in quebec ; and under the giant tiger banner in alberta british columbia manitoba new brunswick nova scotia prince edward island and saskatchewan . the chain employs over 7 000 people . 2 the headquarters and main distribution centre are located on walkley road in ottawa ontario . contents 1 business model 1.1 inspiration 1.1.1 ownership structure 1.1.2 franchise system 2 history 2.1 sales volume and number of stores 2.2 geographic expansion 2.3 franchising 2.4 new brands trade names 2.5 trucking warehousing 2.6 changes in management structure and key personnel 3 see also 4 external links 5 references business model edit inspiration edit in the mid and late 1950s giant tiger founder gordon reid who was then in his early twenties was a travelling salesman for an importer in the united states . 3 in the american midwest reid first saw discount stores . discount stores were a new concept at the time . he was particularly impressed by uncle bill s a chain headquartered in columbus ohio . 4 which was one of his clients . 5 the discount store concept did not yet exist in canada and it therefore represented a business opportunity . reid reports that he was also inspired by frank woolworth s continent wide success half a century earlier in creating hundreds of profitable five and dime stores . reid s own retail experience dating back to his first job as a teenager had been in department stores rather than in discount 6 but his mother had worked behind the luncheon counter at a woolworth s in downtown montreal . 2 reid stated four decades later that he had believed even at this early stage that it would be possible to build a canada wide chain based on this model . asked by a reporter whether he had ever imagined that giant tiger would eventually have the success it was then enjoying reid stated yes . that was the original intention . the idea for the business came when i was a travelling salesman . i saw the discounters growing . my original inspiration was the f.w. woolworth co. obviously that was a big chain . so this was always the plan . 7 ownership structure edit key head office personnel are co owners of giant tiger stores ltd. initially giant tiger s head office was quite small ; and ownership was therefore shared among a small number of people . by 1980 ownership had been shared between reid and ten key employees . 8 gordon reid has stated that canada s agricultural cooperative movement was his inspiration for this innovation . 8 making his employees into part owners of the company ensured that as in the coop movement all employees would share a common interest in maximizing profits . franchise system edit giant tiger 1 opened in ottawa s historic byward market in 1961 was company owned . the first franchised giant tiger was opened by jean guy desjardins in maniwaki in 1968 . the benefit of this new way of operating was felt immediately . up to this point gordon reid and his small head office staff had been trying to make all key decisions with the result that despite its small size the chain was slow moving and inflexible . but as reid would explain it forty years later from the moment the change was made the maniwaki store made money and i didn t have to do anything . jean guy desjardins did the advertising he found the location he merchandised it to suit his customers he did everything . and i thought by golly that s a good system . 9 because the chain most often has been shoehorned into existing spaces now too small for the major big box store or hypermarket chains individual store managers are given wide leeway in ordering decisions and are free to devote their limited floor space to items which sell well in their local market . this flexibility and a distribution system in which stores are restocked daily allows stores to pull only the inventory they immediately need and facilitates greater turnover per square foot of scarce retail space . 10 in 2010 reid reported that the issuing of no cost franchises to experienced retailers was a great way to get experienced people . over the years we had a lot come from woolworth kresge kmart and later zellers . in the same interview reid stated that over twenty giant tiger franchises are now run by former walmart employees most of whom had been attracted by the same franchise system that he had introduced decades earlier . 5 history edit sales volume and number of stores edit gordon reid opened the first giant tiger store on george street in ottawa s byward market on may 13 1961 with a 15 000 investment . 2 first year sales of 139 781 were far lower than reid had anticipated and by the end of 1962 he decided to close the store . unexpectedly the rush of customers attracted by his going out of business sale provided enough cash flow to keep the business afloat . 5 although the store survived expansion was slow . a second location in the small town of brockville was not opened until 1965 . 2 by the time of the company s tenth anniversary in 1971 it still had only six stores . because giant tiger has always been privately held information on profits is usually not available and information on sales is available only through media reports . based on these sources it is possible to trace a somewhat sporadic history of the company s growing sales figures number of stores and where possible the number of employees 1962 139 000 1 store 1965 444 000 2 stores 2 1980 20 million 22 stores 8 1984 60 million 29 stores 4 1985 75 million 34 stores 500 employees 4 1986 90 million 37 stores 4 1990 163 million 54 stores 11 1991 200 million 60 stores 5 1 200 employees 12 1994 220 million 63 stores 9 1996 300 million 79 stores 2 000 employees 12 1999 450 million 90 stores 2 600 employees 13 2000 600 million 102 stores 14 3 500 employees 15 2006 1 billion 164 stores 16 2007 1.3 billion 182 stores 9 2013 80 million profit 200 stores 17 as of 2015 there are 206 stores and an expansion plan calling for 13 additional stores . the 2015 withdrawal of target canada from the marketplace presented an expansion opportunity for giant tiger . 18 its first acquisition of a target store occurred in fergus ontario where 16 500 square feet 1 530 m2 of an approximately 100 000 square feet 9 300 m2 large target store was acquired by giant tiger . this location is expected to open in the spring of 2016 . 19 geographic expansion edit in 2001 giant tiger and the north west company nwc signed a 30 year master franchise agreement that grants nwc the exclusive right to open and operate 72 giant tiger stores in western canada by 2032 . in 2013 thirty one of these stores were open and nwc was eyeing expansion into older city neighbourhoods and rural towns too small to support a target or walmart . 20 the chain has undertaken a major expansion in the greater toronto area since 2005 . it has opened seven stores in bradford brampton markham now closed newmarket scarborough and etobicoke . the 200th giant tiger store opened in nova scotia in october 2010 . 2 in 2004 giant tiger opened a single store in potsdam new york its first and only in the united states . this store closed during the great recession in 2009 . 21 franchising edit in 1968 giant tiger opened its first franchise stores which now account for the majority of locations . the goal was to better serve the customer by having local owners in the stores . the north west company operates 32 franchise locations in western canada . 22 new brands trade names edit in 1977 giant tiger established chez tante marie stores in hull and gatineau quebec . these two stores continue to trade under this name . in 1996 the scott s discount brand was launched as an alternative format for smaller stores . in 2008 giant tiger opened its first gt xpress outlet at a former giant tiger location in ottawa s working class hintonburg neighbourhood . gt xpress stores are intended to service less mobile residents of densely populated neighbourhoods so that residents will not have to leave the neighbourhood to shop at a big box store . because larger retail spaces are unavailable in such inner city neighbourhoods the merchandise selection at gtxpress stores is more limited than at a full size giant tiger let alone a big box store . traditional lines of giant tiger merchandise are further restricted to free up space for an expanded produce dairy deli and bakery section . effectively a gtxpress store is a discount version of a convenience store characterized by a focus on what the customer needs today as opposed to carrying a full assortment of what the customer wants . in view of the fact that the ethnic makeup of individual inner city neighbourhoods is likely to differ substantially franchise owner at each gtxpress outlet will have the authority to tailor product lines to cater to ethnic diversity in the area . 23 trucking warehousing edit in 1987 giant tiger launched its own trucking fleet known internally as tiger trucking 4 to make regular shipments from the warehouse to stores . 2 in 1999 it was reported that the company s trucks were making deliveries to each store three times a week . 24 in 2001 reid reported that deliveries were taking place daily we have the most efficient shipping and distribution system in the general merchandise field ... . it is equivalent to the grocery stores . we deliver to stores five times per week . there is no one else in the general merchandise industry that does that and we do it with our own trucks . 4 on may 31 1996 giant tiger purchased and took possession of a 29 000 m2 315 000 sq ft. distribution centre on walkley road in ottawa previously occupied by sears canada . the company s headquarters moved to this location later the same year . in december 2005 giant tiger opened a new 3700 m2 40 000 sq ft. distribution centre for frozen and refrigerated products in brockville ontario . changes in management structure and key personnel edit in october 2010 reid stepped down as chief executive officer of giant tiger in favour of andy gross a 25 year veteran with the chain who started working as a buyer when there were fewer than thirty stores . gross had by this time already inherited the presidency from jeff york . 2 gross decided to retire effective august 1 2014 and was then replaced as president and coo by greg farrell who in turn was replaced on march 1 2015 by former zellers president and coo thomas haig