By Pamela Eadie
American electronics giant Best Buy will swing open their doors in Ottawa within the next few months.
Consumers seeking a deal might enjoy the store, which is known for low prices and good selection. Future Shop, largely recognized as Canada’s retail electronics giant, will face formidable competition.
Some will recognize Best Buy as an American company. But others might be misled by their Canadian alias, “Best Buy Canada.”
The plot thickens. Many will not realize Future Shop is now a subsidiary of Best Buy after being acquired last year. There goes the notion of healthy competition.
People may be misled into believing Best Buy Canada is a Canadian company. Or, those unaware that Future Shop is no longer Canadian may think they are supporting a Canadian alternative by shopping there, much like when “Walmart Canada” began proliferating the country. There is no comparable Canadian alternative to Best Buy, and most people don’t even realize it.
Even smaller RadioShack, with a Canadian Web site featuring maple leaf insignia and Canadian contact information, is based out of Texas.
The illusion of Canadianism has penetrated more than just electronics.
For example, one might reason that since Chapters bookstores are Canadian, the adjoining Starbucks coffee shops must be. Wrong again.
Starbucks is as American as apple pie, and the coffee shops aren’t even franchised. All profits go straight to head office. By aligning with Chapters, Starbucks has acquired an aura of Canadian-ness, without being based in Canada.
Then there is Tim Hortons, a Canadian household name. Since 1964 when the first Tim Hortons franchise opened in Hamilton, Canadians have viewed it as a Canadian institution.
But people may not have noticed that in 1995, the coffee chain merged with an American company, Wendy’s International Inc.
Maybe they’ve just forgotten. Tim Hortons is still perceived as a Canadian darling, and their advertising emphasizes their long community-based history.
But Timmy’s is no longer ours. While the merger with Wendy’s was well publicized, the reality of American ownership of a Canadian icon has fallen off our collective radar. Most Canadians have become apathetic to the nationalistic element of shopping, because they either simply don’t care, or because they are easily deceived by the little tricks companies play to construct a perception of Canadianism.
Consumers tend to seek the lowest price or the best taste, and national interest doesn’t always rank high among spending priorities. So while little maple leafs that garnish advertisements, the “Canada” added to the “Canadian” branch of a company, and the special .ca websites just for Canadian consumers are not outright lies, they create a suspicious illusion of being Canadian.
Canadian identity often rests on being different from Americans. We deserve to know if a company is an American conglomerate in disguise. These companies should drop the flag waving and smoke screens. Canadians may not care, but they should be able to make that choice, and not have it made by American corporations posturing as Canadian.