Canadian Tire is on the rebound — and its ‘True North’ strategy now includes a Canadian icon with its purchase of Hudson’s Bay-branded goods, David Olive writes.
Opinion | Canadian Tire has never been more Canadian — and it’s working
It was called “crappy” because prices were so high and for awhile they rebranded some serious poor Chinese products. This was more in the 90’s and 2000’s, so if you are young you wouldn’t have experienced.
I used to buy all sorts of stuff at Canadian Tire in the 90s, and while it was affordable, it almost all broke within 2 years, from CCM bicycles that had their frame welds crack to Hunter kitchen appliances that had power supplies that overheated and failed, to even bouncy balls that would harden and crack. Air pumps where the plastic would crack or the pump rod (which was held in by glue) would disconnect, foldable chairs where the stitching would unravel, knives where the blade would snap.
The list goes on and on. Never had that volume of problems with any other store I’ve ever shopped at.
Also, I had relatives that worked in CT in the 90s. They’ve got even worse stories to tell.
They did actually sue someone for the exclusive right to call themselves “crappy tire”:
IIRC someone was hosting a Canadian Tire complaint website “crappytire.com” and in trying to get it shut down Canadian Tire used the legal argument that this person was infringing Canadian Tire’s identity (“We are the legitimate Crappy Tire, and this person is an imposter”) and the domain should be surrendered to them. They won. edit: They lost.
Never had am issue, still have all my Mastercraft and Mastercraft Prodessional series tools, although I bought the majority of them in the 90s and early 2000s. Maybe quality was better back then?
Mastercraft has stepped up their game too, especially the maximum. They are rebranding Wiha screwdrivers and gearwrench stuff for example, really nice quality for a good price.
I agree, there is some crap, but overall for most home use the tools are fine. If it’s something you use every day, I would buy a better brand, but for occasional use they are decent for the price in my opinion.
I use Mastercraft sockets ratchets and wrenches daily on heavy equipment and industrial. In the past 10 years I have broken one socket and zero wrenches. Couple of ratchets. But those were well abused with a 4ft pipe on em.
Allen keys and torx bits/ sockets I’d stay away from though.
Err, I bought a SuperCycle in 2005 which ended up unusable within two seasons worth of riding due to brake and rim deformations. I’ve also bought numerous spare bike parts, cables, tools prior to 2010. They were invariably of very poor quality. Cables rusted, tools ruined other parts due to poor tolerances and weak materials. Once you handle parts and tools made by the typical bike industry, the differences in quality and durability becomes obvious. I don’t know how they are today but this was a conscious choice to reduce costs and pad profits. It’s not like there were no better bikes on the low end of the spectrum. The first cheap non-CT bike I bought in 2011 second hand (Iron Horse made in 2006) and serviced with non-CT tools and parts is still in use today by a friend.
It’s never been “crappy”. People who say that are just smug.
It was called “crappy” because prices were so high and for awhile they rebranded some serious poor Chinese products. This was more in the 90’s and 2000’s, so if you are young you wouldn’t have experienced.
I’m 46 and never experienced the bullshit you’re spouting.
Then you lucked out.
I used to buy all sorts of stuff at Canadian Tire in the 90s, and while it was affordable, it almost all broke within 2 years, from CCM bicycles that had their frame welds crack to Hunter kitchen appliances that had power supplies that overheated and failed, to even bouncy balls that would harden and crack. Air pumps where the plastic would crack or the pump rod (which was held in by glue) would disconnect, foldable chairs where the stitching would unravel, knives where the blade would snap.
The list goes on and on. Never had that volume of problems with any other store I’ve ever shopped at.
Also, I had relatives that worked in CT in the 90s. They’ve got even worse stories to tell.
They did actually sue someone for the exclusive right to call themselves “crappy tire”:
IIRC someone was hosting a Canadian Tire complaint website “crappytire.com” and in trying to get it shut down Canadian Tire used the legal argument that this person was infringing Canadian Tire’s identity (“We are the legitimate Crappy Tire, and this person is an imposter”) and the domain should be surrendered to them.
They won.edit: They lost.As long as you stay away from their Mastercraft tools. They’re terrible, good thing they give refunds without a fight.
Never had am issue, still have all my Mastercraft and Mastercraft Prodessional series tools, although I bought the majority of them in the 90s and early 2000s. Maybe quality was better back then?
Mastercraft has stepped up their game too, especially the maximum. They are rebranding Wiha screwdrivers and gearwrench stuff for example, really nice quality for a good price.
I agree, there is some crap, but overall for most home use the tools are fine. If it’s something you use every day, I would buy a better brand, but for occasional use they are decent for the price in my opinion.
I use Mastercraft sockets ratchets and wrenches daily on heavy equipment and industrial. In the past 10 years I have broken one socket and zero wrenches. Couple of ratchets. But those were well abused with a 4ft pipe on em.
Allen keys and torx bits/ sockets I’d stay away from though.
Err, I bought a SuperCycle in 2005 which ended up unusable within two seasons worth of riding due to brake and rim deformations. I’ve also bought numerous spare bike parts, cables, tools prior to 2010. They were invariably of very poor quality. Cables rusted, tools ruined other parts due to poor tolerances and weak materials. Once you handle parts and tools made by the typical bike industry, the differences in quality and durability becomes obvious. I don’t know how they are today but this was a conscious choice to reduce costs and pad profits. It’s not like there were no better bikes on the low end of the spectrum. The first cheap non-CT bike I bought in 2011 second hand (Iron Horse made in 2006) and serviced with non-CT tools and parts is still in use today by a friend.