http://www.thestar.com/business/article/733297--new-canadian-tire-coin-set-to-roll-outNew Canadian Tire coin set to roll out?One-dollar piece may drive rewards program revampIn 1958, Canada got its second currency, albeit unofficially. It's the one people stuffed into glove boxes and cookie tins and jars in the garage, instead of wallets or purses.
Canadian Tire money.
Come 2009, Canadian Tire Corp., one of the nation's most iconic retailers, is introducing a dollar coin to complement its multi-hued, low-denomination stable of widely hoarded bills.
Canadian Tire spokeswoman Lisa Gibson declined to confirm the coin's launch.
She would say only that the company plans an announcement Wednesday on the direction of the rewards program and "the role that Canadian Tire paper money will actually play" in that program.
However, a copy of a flyer destined for Canadian Tire stores in Quebec, obtained by the Star, shows an ad for a limited edition one-dollar coin, available to customers who spend at least $25 this weekend. Images of the coin itself have also been posted on collectors' websites, revealing it to look a bit like a quarter, with the Canadian Tire logo on one side and the beaming fictional Scotsman Sandy McTire on the other.
The coin is likely to be the centrepiece of an overhaul of Canada's best-known retail rewards program.
There has been speculation that the company might eliminate paper money altogether.
In a digital economy, Canadian Tire money is a throwback to an era of physical cash and human interaction that scarcely exists in this online age of speedy and efficient consumption.
But such a decision would surely shock the nation – not least, the money's ardent collectors – even if the retailer has already moved to a parallel electronic rewards program using a credit card and electronic Canadian Tire money.
"Whenever my dad went and got stuff for the house, he'd give me the money," said Roger Fox, 64, who has been collecting Canadian Tire bills since 1963, is a past-president of the Canadian Tire Coupon Collectors Club and wrote a chapter on the subject for a book published by the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association. The coin is a dramatic introduction for collectors such as Fox: Is it a heartbreakingly thrifty move away from paper money or a reassertion of the importance of the rewards program?
"They may be cutting back their printing costs while at the same time not eliminating Canadian Tire money altogether, but replacing say, the 50 cent, dollar, and two dollar (bills) with a coin," Fox said, adding, "I'm just thinking out loud, that's all. I have no proof."
Canadian Tire has been making a gradual shift away from emphasizing its paper money.
The company's exclusive credit card, Options Mastercard, introduced in 2000, lets shoppers accumulate Canadian Tire money wherever they shop, at a better rate than using cash.
In its promotions, the company refers to it as "Canadian Tire money rewards" – with quotation marks around money.
Customers now receive paper money only if they use cash or debit.
Jerome Fourre, a collector since 1985 from the Montreal area, said that after a golden age of 5 per cent Canadian Tire money returns – $5 for every $100 spent – the current return is more like 0.4 per cent, or 40 cents for every $100 spent.
The company does not release details on the loyalty program.
"Canadian Tire money was originally to get people to pay cash," said Fourre.
"In 2009, cash is not what they want."
For its part, the company said it has no immediate plans to cancel the beloved bills.
And, obviously, collectors such as Fourre and Fox – part of a national subculture of clubs, meetings and exhibits devoted to Canadian Tire money – want to see the paper bills survive, though eliminating them would probably up the value of their stashes.
"When it's on plastic it's not something you have tangible in your hand," Fox said.
"It's as if you're getting something for free.
"Who doesn't want something for nothing?"
