Celebrate your work.
Acknowledge your team.
Each year, the Excellence in Retailing Awards (ERA) recognize the industry game changers that go above and beyond to serve their customers and push Canada into the future of retail.
Awards Gala: A Night to Celebrate Your Team
Revel in industry-wide recognition of your work, celebrate with your colleagues in person, and make new connections. Guests enjoy a cocktail reception, a delicious dinner, and inspiring awards ceremonies.
2026 FINALISTS
Powering Retail with Renewable Energy
Staples Canada
Powering Retail with Renewable Energy
Staples Canada
Strengthening our sustainability partnerships with transparent and accessible reporting, Staples is the first retailer to pilot Bullfrog Environmental Tokens. Introduced at our brand‑defining Burlington, Ontario store grand opening, these digital tokens include detailed metadata that provides long‑term traceability of the store’s environmental impact. Customers can access real‑time information about the store’s renewable energy use through in‑store signage with QR codes that link directly to its clean energy profile.
The Orange Apron Recycling Innovation Program
The Home Depot
The Orange Apron Recycling Innovation Program
The Home Depot
In 2025, The Home Depot Canada diverted over 14,000 pounds of associate aprons from landfill when it launched a national apron recycling program to further advance circular innovation in store operations.
Putting the Red in InspiRED Design
Appliance Canada
Putting the Red in InspiRED Design
Appliance Canada
Our Richmond BC showroom redefines appliance retail by blending Canadian warmth with aesthetic function, featuring rich wooden ceilings and thoughtfully curated lifestyle vignettes that transform shopping into an immersive experience. Since 1983, we’ve put the RED in inspiRED design, and this innovative space elevates that legacy through refined flow, enhanced lighting, and wider aisleways that invite customers to explore and envision their dream homes. This is our invitation for British Columbians to “”Turn over a New Leaf”” with a revolutionary retail experience that balances sensory appeal with unparalleled customer comfort.
Holiday TEDDY Campaign
Lindt & Sprungli (Canada)
Holiday TEDDY Campaign
Lindt & Sprungli (Canada)
The Lindt Christmas Holiday campaign 2025 aimed to boost store traffic and sales by spotlighting Milk LINDOR Truffles, Christmas TEDDY, and Champs Elysees Pralines. With immersive décor, giant teddy statues, and creative product displays, the campaign drew both new and returning holiday shoppers. By offering premium chocolates in a festive setting, Lindt established itself as the go-to destination for memorable seasonal gifts and experiences, reinforcing its reputation for quality and holiday magic.
Grow With Us
Staples Canada
Grow With Us
Staples Canada
Grow with Us is a national talent development program that opens career pathways for retail associates by turning internal mobility into a real, accessible opportunity. Through practical tools, inspiring career stories, and direct access to hiring leaders, the program makes skills‑based growth visible, achievable, and encouraged across Staples Canada. The result is stronger engagement, increased internal movement, and a more future‑ready workforce built from within.
Meet Rose: The AI Assistant Bringing In-Store Service to Online Shopping
La Vie en Rose
Meet Rose: The AI Assistant Bringing In-Store Service to Online Shopping
La Vie en Rose
To enhance the digital shopping experience and replicate the personalized service of in-store associates online, la Vie en Rose implemented Rose, an AI-Powered Shopping Assistance chatbot. This delivers personalized, omnichannel assistance that reduces friction in the buying journey, improves satisfaction, increases engagement and conversion, and creates a more interactive, customer-centric e-commerce experience.
Eliminating Single-Use Packaging Program
La Vie en Rose
Eliminating Single-Use Packaging Program
La Vie en Rose
In summer 2023, la Vie en Rose Group eliminated single‑use shopping bags from all la Vie en Rose banner stores across the country, regardless of municipal packaging regulations. This operational shift was designed to drive a fundamental behavioural change, encouraging customers to transition toward “bring-your-own” and reuse practices.
Easter Activation - Gold Bunny
Lindt & Sprungli (Canada)
Easter Activation - Gold Bunny
Lindt & Sprungli (Canada)
Lindt Canada Retail’s 2025 Easter merchandising campaign centred around the iconic Gold Bunny, creating
engaging window displays and exclusive in-store experiences. The initiative aimed to attract Easter shoppers, boost foot traffic, and drive sales with visually striking décor and dynamic messaging. By showcasing the largest selection of Gold Bunny products, the campaign positioned Lindt stores as the prime destination for seasonal premium chocolate gifts, achieving increased sales and brand visibility.
Mike chez RONA: The Rebirth of an Iconic Brand
RONA
Mike chez RONA: The Rebirth of an Iconic Brand
RONA
In spring 2025, RONA hit a marketing home run in Quebec with its “Mike chez RONA” campaign featuring a fictitious employee named Mike that became an overnight phenomenon in the province. Leveraging nostalgia and entertainment through a parody of the 70’s hit “My Sharona”, the campaign captured the attention of the public and led to an all-out Mikemania. More than a campaign, Mike became a cultural icon, re-establishing RONA as a trusted and locally relevant home improvement partner.
Redefining the Appliance Retail Experience
Corbeil Appliances
Redefining the Appliance Retail Experience
Corbeil Appliances
Corbeil Appliances’ enhanced in-store experience and design initiative as expressed through our new concept stores in Boucherville and St-Hubert, Quebec. Created with NoBrainer Agency, Dyda Architecture, Léger Market Research, and appliance manufacturer partners, the concept transforms appliance shopping from a traditional showroom into an immersive, customer-centered environment. Through a modular layout, persona-led merchandising, realistic kitchen vignettes, consultative signage, interactive digital tools, and hands-on testing in “The Lab,” we created a store experience that is more engaging, more intuitive, and more aligned with customer needs—while reinforcing Corbeil’s position as a specialist in home appliances.
New Yorkdale Shopping Centre Boutique
Nespresso Canada
New Yorkdale Shopping Centre Boutique
Nespresso Canada
Nespresso Canada opened our newly rennovated boutique in Yorkdale Shopping Centre in March 2025. This elegant space is the latest concept design by the Nespresso global retail design team in Milan, executed by DK Studio Architects. Our in-store experience centers on tastings at the Coffee As An Art (CAAA) bar, where customers engage with coffee specialists while savoring premium blends. This initiative aims to redefine the retail coffee experience, transforming each visit into a memorable event that highlights our commitment to quality and sustainability.
Real Sleep Campaign
IKEA Canada
Real Sleep Campaign
IKEA Canada
To prove IKEA Canada’s mattress quality, we launched the Real Sleep campaign – a clever, multi-layered effort challenging the idea that a great night’s sleep comes with a premium price tag. We started by capturing attention with late-night DMs targeting people up scrolling when they should have been sleeping and later proved our comfort in the most convincing way possible: real people, caught on camera, talking in their sleep. The campaign resonated with Canadians, driving visitation and sales while cementing IKEA as a credible destination for high-quality, affordable mattresses.
Customer In Focus
IKEA Canada Limited Partnership
Customer In Focus
IKEA Canada Limited Partnership
To equip co-workers with upskilling on all available and updated digital tools which translates to customers engaging with IKEA through multiple channels, including online platforms, social media, mobile apps, and in-store interactions – thus driving sales potential.
Fresh Baked Design
Cobs Bread
Fresh Baked Design
Cobs Bread
To amplify the brand’s promise of fresh-baked quality, the design reimagines the traditional bakery layout by opening up the back-of-house to full customer view. By integrating visible prep stations and a transparent bread wall, the design maximizes a small retail footprint to create a high-touch, sensory experience where seeing is believing. The result is an elevated front-of-house flow that seamlessly connects the artistry of the bakers with the community they serve.
New RW&CO Flagship Store in St-Bruno, Québec
RW&Co.
New RW&CO Flagship Store in St-Bruno, Québec
RW&Co.
Opened in October 2025, RW&CO.’s first-ever flagship store at Primaris’ Promenades St-Bruno marks a key milestone in the brand’s evolution. Designed by Dalziel & Pow, the 7,800-square-foot space brings RW&CO.’s recent rebrand to life through an elevated, customer-centric retail experience. As the brand’s largest store to date, the flagship reflects RW&CO.’s refined positioning as a Canadian fashion authority, blending timeless essentials with occasion-ready fashion.
Feast On Love
Pet Valu
Feast On Love
Pet Valu
Feast on Love transformed holiday pet feeding into a shared ritual of love, inviting Devoted Pet Lovers to include pets in the season’s most meaningful moments. Pet Valu inspired pet lovers to elevate holiday feeding rituals with expert guidance, creator storytelling, and a digitally led, social‑first campaign. The result was a warm, culturally resonant idea that connected emotionally while delivering strong commercial impact.
With Its Newly Redesigned Montréal Store, the SQDC Puts In-Store Advice at the Heart of the Customer Experience
Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC)
With Its Newly Redesigned Montréal Store, the SQDC Puts In-Store Advice at the Heart of the Customer Experience
Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC)
As Quebec’s only legal cannabis retailer, the SQDC carries a unique responsibility. After seven years of operating within a highly regulated framework, it set out to rethink how its stores could better support dialogue, trust and informed decision‑making. The redesigned Montréal location embodies this shift, placing human advice at the centre of the in‑store experience while remaining consistent with the SQDC’s mandate.
Body Worn Cameras in Retail
Loblaw Companies Ltd.
Body Worn Cameras in Retail
Loblaw Companies Ltd.
A steady, impartial witness to every front-line interaction, Body Worn Cameras capture clear, independent records that cut through dispute and uncertainty. Paired with proven de‑escalation practices, the program protects staff and shoppers, reduces confrontations, and prevents loss through reliable evidence and deterrence.
The Unreal Deal
Save-On-Foods
The Unreal Deal
Save-On-Foods
For more than a decade, Darrell’s Deals was Save-On-Foods’ trusted weekly promotion, delivering strong value and building deep brand loyalty. With the retirement of Darrell Jones in February 2025, Save-On-Foods saw an opportunity to modernize the platform and better connect with families, leading to the launch of Unreal Deal. Designed to carry the legacy forward in a fresh, energetic way, Unreal Deal reinforces one clear message: the deal is on at Save-On-Foods.
The Art of Home
Silk & Snow
The Art of Home
Silk & Snow
In October 2025, in the heart of downtown Toronto, home retailer Silk & Snow showcased its first experiential marketing experience: The Art of Home. In partnership with experiential marketing agency Mosaic, Silk & Snow created an immersive art gallery experience that transformed our thoughtful, intentional design process into sensory-driven installations and invited the city to experience the brand in a new light.
From Compact to Impact
Lindt & Sprungli (Canada)
From Compact to Impact
Lindt & Sprungli (Canada)
Reimagining one of Lindt Canada’s top stores by designing and building a new store concept with a core focus on
improved customer experience, store circulation, dedicated spaces for creative activation, and optimized store operations.
Love at First Wash
Sephora
Love at First Wash
Sephora
As Canada’s leading beauty retailer, Sephora Canada wanted to generate excitement and discovery around Sephora’s hair wash category in order to drive growth and shift clients from mass to prestige products. Centred on the core message that good hair starts in the shower, the retailer executed an immersive, experiential wash care pop-up across seven locations, featuring tactile educational fixtures, comprehensive staff training and 360-amplification.
Enchanting the Holiday Shopper
Lindt & Sprungli (Canada)
Enchanting the Holiday Shopper
Lindt & Sprungli (Canada)
Lindt’s Enchanting the Holiday Shopper program transforms the in-store experience into a premium Christmas destination, inspiring shoppers through elevated displays, gift solutions, and festive storytelling. By combining high-impact merchandising, strategic placement, and sampling, the program drives discovery, impulse purchases, across key holiday occasions. The result is a seamless, gift-ready experience that delights shoppers and positions Lindt as the ultimate destination for holiday chocolate.
Playtime
Pet Valu
Playtime
Pet Valu
Pet Valu’s Playtime campaign didn’t fight screen time, it hijacked it. By inserting playful interruptions into streaming, gaming, and scrolling moments, the campaign reminded pet parents that play isn’t optional, it’s essential. By interrupting streaming, scrolling, and gaming moments with playful, pet‑provoking media, Pet Valu reframed toys from a “nice‑to‑have” into an essential part of pet health and happiness. The result was a campaign that didn’t just capture attention, it changed behavior, one playful pause at a time.
From Barn to Basket: Reimagining Farm Boy Kanata’s Shop-Within-a-Shop
Farm Boy Company Inc.
From Barn to Basket: Reimagining Farm Boy Kanata’s Shop-Within-a-Shop
Farm Boy Company Inc.
Farm Boy’s new Kanata, Ontario store—purpose built to replace a nearly 30 year old, smaller location—delivers an immersive, shop within a shop fresh market experience rooted in “A Farm Boy Fresh Twist” on grocery shopping: “fresh, local, and made by us.” The design blends warm, farm inspired materials with illuminated focal points guiding shoppers through distinct departments, from a life size barn feature to hand finished bulkheads and facades. Interior design support came from Inicio Design and Greystone Design Group Inc. with all other creative led internally. The result is a larger, better flowing full shop destination that elevates brand presence while delighting families, value seekers, and forward thinking shoppers while still achieving a fresh-market feel.
Iconic Purdys Purple Comes to Save-On-Foods
Pattison Food Group
Iconic Purdys Purple Comes to Save-On-Foods
Pattison Food Group
In 2025, Save‑On‑Foods partnered with iconic B.C. brand Purdys Chocolatier to become the first and only grocery retailer to carry Purdys chocolates on shelf, launching the assortment in 131 locations across Western Canada. The collaboration combined a curated product lineup with bold in‑store merchandising, store‑led creativity, and a coordinated marketing and media campaign to deliver a standout customer experience. The launch generated strong results, with more than 11,000 units sold in the first two weeks, high household penetration and repeat purchases, and widespread media and social engagement, demonstrating the power of thoughtful local partnerships.
The Ambition Collection
CIBC
The Ambition Collection
CIBC
In response to the U.S. imposing a 25% tariff on Canadian imports in March 2025, Canadian shoppers became more interested in supporting Canadian-made goods—both to save money and as an act of patriotism. Seizing the moment, CIBC partnered with Toronto Pearson to launch The Ambition Collection, a curated pop-up in Terminal 1 International Arrivals showcasing Canadian entrepreneurs and their products. Running from October 2025 through early 2026, the activation connected millions of travellers with local brands through immersive displays, founder stories, and QR-enabled shopping.
Supporting Canadian Farmers with Duck's Unlimited Canada
Loblaw Companies Limited
Supporting Canadian Farmers with Duck's Unlimited Canada
Loblaw Companies Limited
Loblaw Companies Limited is proud to submit our initiative focused on sustainable plastic packaging, driven by the Golden Design Rules (GDRs) for Plastics Packaging as defined by the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF). This initiative encompasses significant conversions within our control brand (President’s Choice, no name, etc.) and in-store plastic packaging.
Canada's Home Team
Home Hardware
Canada's Home Team
Home Hardware
Home Hardware seized a national moment during the Blue Jays’ playoff run, brilliantly transforming from a familiar brand into “Canada’s Home Team.” Through an authentic campaign featuring their own local Dealers embodying the nation’s underdog spirit, they forged an unparalleled emotional connection. This strategic move ignited widespread engagement, empowered its community, and drove significant, measurable business growth.
Safeguarding Success: Implementing a Comprehensive Physical & Digital Loss Prevention Strategy Across CANNABIS XPRESS Stores
CANNABIS XPRESS
Safeguarding Success: Implementing a Comprehensive Physical & Digital Loss Prevention Strategy Across CANNABIS XPRESS Stores
CANNABIS XPRESS
CANNABIS XPRESS has implemented one of the most advanced and comprehensive loss prevention programs in Canadian retail, integrating physical security, digital safeguards, and artificial intelligence across its 21 stores in Ontario and New Brunswick. Originating in Grand Bay-Westfield, New Brunswick—the province’s first private cannabis store—the program has achieved a flawless record of zero break-ins or robberies and maintains theft rates 90% below national retail benchmarks. Combining 24/7 monitored surveillance, employee training, layered operational controls, and AI-powered transaction analytics, the system proactively detects and prevents loss before it occurs. This innovative approach not only protects people, property, and profits but also sets a new national standard for safe, efficient, and trustworthy cannabis retailing.
Awards of Distinction
Retailer of the Year
Longo's
Retailer of the Year
Alimentation Couche-Tard
Ambassador of the Year
The Jilly Box
Award Winner
Browns Shoes
Retail Education Scholarship Program
Each year, RCC awards scholarships to students interested in a career in retail or who currently work in retail. In 2025, $62,000 in scholarships was awarded to students working in retail and who are entering or currently enrolled in a retail-related program at a Canadian post-secondary institution.
Awards Gala hosted by Taylor Kaye
Guests will hear from a variety of industry leaders, including the 2026 Award of Distinction winners, Michael Brownstein and Jillian Harris. Guests will also enjoy an exceptional dinner, prepared under the consultation of world-renowned chef Mark McEwan.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Excellence in Retailing Awards showcases outstanding innovation in the retail section, gathering retail decision makers for a night of recognition and celebration.
Demonstrate thought leadership, build your brand and make new connections through various ERA Sponsorship Opportunities. Contact sponsorship at rccsponsorship@retailcouncil.org
Excellence in Retailing Awards Gala
June 2, 2026. Toronto Congress Centre. North Building. 1020 Martin Grove Rd, Etobicoke, ON M9W 1J1.
As The Voice of Retail™ in Canada since 1963, Retail Council of Canada (RCC) represents over 65,000 independent, regional, national mass and specialty retail businesses and online merchants in general merchandise, drug and grocery.
Application Timeline
MARCH 13, 2026
First Submission Deadline
MARCH 27, 2026
Deadline to Upload all Submission Details
APRIL 2026
Judging Period
MAY 2026
Finalists Announced
JUNE 2, 2026
Winners Announced at the 2026 Excellence in Retailing Awards Gala
Why Apply?
- Benchmark your work: Compare your projects against the best in retail, with over 50 submissions each year.
- Celebrate achievements: Showcase successful initiatives across 12 comprehensive retail categories.
- Gain expert recognition: Esteemed retail judges evaluate every submission.
- Highlight your team: Reward your team’s hard work by putting their efforts in the spotlight.
Awards Categories
The Excellence in Retail Awards recognize outstanding achievements in twelve distinct categories.
- NEW: Unified Commerce
- NEW: AI Operations Innovation
- NEW: Consumer AI Experience & Marketing Award
- E-Commerce Award
- Environmental Leadership
- Health, Safety & Wellness
- In-Store Experience & Design
- Philanthropic Leadership
- Pop-Up Experience & Design
- In-Store Merchandising
- Loss Prevention
- Retail Marketing
- Supply Chain Innovation
- Talent Development