General Business Updates and News

[tomh009]

Roadtrek has been purchased by the largest RV manufacturer in Europe.

http://therecord.com/news-story/6330320-...nufacturer

I meant to comment on this earlier: this looks like a good kind of acquisition, EHG is looking to build a footprint in North America, and Roadtrek has a lot of opportunity for growth.

[rangersfan]

M&M Meats is moving their head office from Kitchener to Mississauga, sad to see a company started locally move it's head quarters elsewhere.

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/6392...ssissauga/

[plam]

M&M Meats is moving their head office from Kitchener to Mississauga, sad to see a company started locally move it's head quarters elsewhere.

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/6392...ssissauga/

Doesn't sound like a win for the employees: "including an open environment for greater collaboration and teamwork" and "a short 30-45 minute drive from Kitchener"...

[DHLawrence]

As long as they aren't farther east than Winston Churchill.

[jamincan]

Yeah, I commute to my company's office near Winston Churchill and the 401 from the Heritage Park area of Kitchener and it takes me 45 minutes at the best of times. If I do the trip during normal commuting hours, I need to tack on 15+ minutes to that.

[TMKM94]

30-45 Minute drive from Here to Mississauga. LOL Maybe if you take the 407? Whenever I have gone to The GTA it's been at least a 2 Hour Car/bus ride.

[JoeKW]

And if you hit the accident lottery, rain lottery, winter storm lottery, construction lottery or random reason lottery you can expect to add an additional 1-3 hours to that drive.

[MidTowner]

Crappy news for the employees for sure. In some cases, they may have moved to allow themselves an easy ten-minute commute to the office- now, it’s an hour plus into the GTA, so maybe an extra hour and a half a day, seven and a half hours a week, three hundred or more extra hours a year… Plus those stressful days where, thanks to a collision or a snowstorm, you’re not sure when you’re going to make it into the office, or home.

And, if they want to move to preserve some normal lifestyle, they’re moving to a significantly more expensive real estate market.

Not good news for Waterloo Region to lose a homegrown business’ head office, and a hundred good jobs.

[jamincan]

I wonder what the impetus for the move was.

[Markster]

I wonder what the impetus for the move was.

Considering these tidbits of information:

The company said the rebranding and makeover has started at some stores and will be rolled out to all of its outlets across the country in the coming months.

M&M has 370 stores across the country after closing almost 100 over the last few years.

Searchlight, a Toronto-based firm whose other investments include the clothing chain Roots, bought M&M in 2014.

I'd guess that Searchlight is doing some aggressive cost-cutting, and they've done the math that Mississauga will be cheaper.

[kps]

I wonder what the impetus for the move was.

Considering these tidbits of information:

The company said the rebranding and makeover has started at some stores and will be rolled out to all of its outlets across the country in the coming months.

M&M has 370 stores across the country after closing almost 100 over the last few years.  

Searchlight, a Toronto-based firm whose other investments include the clothing chain Roots, bought M&M in 2014.

I'd guess that Searchlight is doing some aggressive cost-cutting, and they've done the math that Mississauga will be cheaper.

I'd guess that current upper management live in Toronto and don't want to commute.

[panamaniac]

Considering these tidbits of information:

I'd guess that Searchlight is doing some aggressive cost-cutting, and they've done the math that Mississauga will be cheaper.

I'd guess that current upper management live in Toronto and don't want to commute.

That would be pretty abusive, if accurate.  I wonder if the City routinely meets with companies that close or move out of town - perhaps to see if there are lessons to be learned for the future?   Fortunately, I don't patronize M&M, so I don't need to think about another boycott! 

[MidTowner]

I'd guess that current upper management live in Toronto and don't want to commute.

That would be pretty abusive, if accurate.  I wonder if the City routinely meets with companies that close or move out of town - perhaps to see if there are lessons to be learned for the future?   Fortunately, I don't patronize M&M, so I don't need to think about another boycott! 

I think that, for smaller companies, the CEO’s commute is often a big factor in the head office’s location. An exit interview would be a great idea; I hope that they would reach out and try to see if any info can be gleaned.

I actually have tried to buy from M&M in the past, even though a lot of the products aren’t really my taste and I find them generally overpriced. So in a sense I’m glad I don’t need to exert that effort any longer.

[KevinL]

I'm quite an M&M fan and I'm very proud of what Mac Voisin built in this area. I'm disappointed by this news, but I'm not motivated to completely boycott them.

[rangersfan]

Some information on Famebit, which has a small local office.

http://m.therecord.com/news-story/643640...dvertisers