News from CNW Group

Canadian Tire drops gas prices by 25 cents per litre at new gas bar in Whitby

Thursday, May 22, 2003

Special three-hour event this morning to celebrate grand opening of gas

bar and car wash

WHITBY, ON, May 22 /CNW/ - In celebration of the new Canadian Tire gas bar and Simoniz car wash in Whitby, Canadian Tire is holding its popular gas sale event today. Between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. this morning, Canadian Tire is offering 25 cents per litre off the market price for gas at the new location, 4080 Garden Street, in front of the Canadian Tire store.

"We're holding this special gas sale event to celebrate the opening of our new gas bar and car wash services in Whitby," says Peter Kilty, vice- president, Canadian Tire Petroleum. "It's also a great way for us to demonstrate our everyday commitment to providing customers with competitive prices at the pump. When you add in the savings customers get in-store using their Canadian Tire 'Money'(TM) rewards and the coupons for weekly product specials, it's a compelling offer for customers looking for great value," adds Kilty.

The Canadian Tire gas bar in Whitby features four pumps, the latest in pay-at-the-pump convenience and a Simoniz rollover touchless car wash, all operated by Canadian Tire Gas Bar Agent Nagi Abader.

"One of the things customers will love about coming here to fill up with gas is that they can earn Canadian Tire 'Money' to use anytime at Canadian Tire stores to buy anything for around the home or for the car," says Abader. Canadian Tire 'Money' rewards are issued when customers use cash or Canadian Tire branded credit cards to pay for gas or car wash services.

The new Simoniz car wash is a touchless wash that offers three types of washes - Basic, Regular and Ultimate Plus. The car wash also provides tricolour foaming polish, underspray, rust inhibitor, tire wheel cleaner and clear coat protection to help customers care for their cars.

Beyond the three-hour gas sale, other grand opening events planned include "Spin to Win", where each customer who purchases a car wash spins a roulette wheel to receive one of 11 prizes. This two-day promotion runs Thursday and Friday.

The new gas bar and car wash in Whitby is part of Canadian Tire's overall strategy to significantly increase the number of gas stations and car wash sites where Canadian Tire stores operate through a program of building new incremental sites and re-branding existing sites of other gasoline retailers.

Canadian Tire Petroleum is one of the country's highest-volume, independent gasoline retailers with 216 gas bars and 37 Simoniz car wash sites across Canada. The Canadian Tire Petroleum network of gas bars has been a part of Canadian communities since 1958. That same year, Canadian Tire 'Money' began as Canada's first customer loyalty reward program at the gas bars and has since become one of the most successful and popular programs in the country.

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX: CTR.a, CTR) operates more than 1,000 stores, gas bars and car washes in an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retail, financial services and petroleum. Canadian Tire Retail, with 449 stores operated by Associate Dealers across Canada, offers a unique mix of products and services through three specialty categories in which the organization is the market leader - Automotive, Sports and Leisure, and Home Products. www.canadiantire.ca offers Canadians the opportunity to shop online. PartSource is an automotive parts specialty chain with 33 stores designed to meet the needs of major purchasers of automotive parts - professional automotive installers and serious do-it-yourselfers. Canadian Tire Petroleum is one of the country's largest and most productive independent retailers of gasoline, operating 216 gas bars and 37 car washes. Mark's Work Wearhouse is a specialty retail organization that operates 300 stores in Canada, selling casual work and work-related apparel and footwear. Canadian Tire Financial Services manages related financial products and services for retail and petroleum customers, and also markets other value-added products to our customers. More than 45,000 Canadians work across Canadian Tire's organization from coast-to-coast in the enterprise's retail, financial services and petroleum businesses.

For further information: Ron DiMambro, Canadian Tire Petroleum, Tel: (416) 480-8316; Carol Talbot, Canadian Tire Corporation, Tel: (416) 480-3343; To request a free copy of this organization's annual report, please go to http://www.newswire.ca and click on reports@cnw.