No one wants to see vacant storefronts, but this is becoming a regular trend in Canada. One of the biggest issues is not the Canadian economy, but rather the fear that international (RE: American) businesses can bring hacking issues with them. What is even more frustrating for customers and property owners alike is that many American-based retailers, such as Target, are packing their bags and heading back to the states.
Investors Ivanhoe Cambridge and Oxford Properties Group bought back 11 Target store leases for $138-million. While this seems excessive, the move can help everyone. Canadian merchants – and their economy – can cease their worries about Target hackings and security lapses, and the US-based company can breathe easier about a future hacking affecting more people. While the 2013 hacking did affect stores in Canada, the majority of victims were shoppers from US stores.
Another issue comes from Canadian Target’s financial issues. Back in January the chain filed for bankruptcy, and customers, property owners, and other merchants are skeptical of large chains that have severe enough financial issues that they must file bankruptcy. While consumer bankruptcy typically comes from loss of income, too-high credit card balances, or medical bills, retail bankruptcy comes from years of bad management and bad choices. This is rarely fixed quickly, and problems can arise even after a retail bankruptcy. Canadian shoppers will be looking for another new business to frequent, and property owners are looking for new businesses to move in. This is where a Canadian merchant account comes in.
While many view a Canadian merchant account as something that is only used for US-based online retailers who offer sales to their northern neighbors, US-based brick and mortar retailers also need Canadian merchant accounts. These are hard to find – and even hard to find an experienced processor – because they are placed into the industry’s “high risk” category. This is because these companies have a higher rate of fraudulent issues and business closures. However, this should not deter you, because in our modern-day, every business is at-risk of fraudulent activity. You just need to make sure that your Canadian merchant account processor is equipped to handle a potential hacking.