Following two years of stagnation for retail markets in the U.S. and Canada, 2010 served as a year of recovery for the impeded industry.
However, a number of analysts are projecting 2011 to be a year of substantial growth, as consumer activity in the U.S. trickles northward, opening up Canadians' wallets as well.
"If you look at 2008 and 2009, they were very difficult years for retailers," Daniel Baer, a retail industry consultant with Ernst & Young, told the Toronto Star. "2010, I would say, was a recovery year for retailers. So in 2011 and 2012, we expect the market to grow but it will be more competitive because there are more players entering the market."
Walmart, the world's largest retailer announced plans Wednesday to invest more than $500 million in opening more than 40 new stores across Canada. Meanwhile, Walmart's chief competitor Target recently announced plans to enter the country by 2013.
The expansion into Canada serves as something of a trial-run for American retailers that are not yet willing to invest in more risky or costly expansions into the vastly different markets of Asia or even Europe.
"It takes time to build stores and to plan and to get your real estate and the like," Baert added. "They are planning ahead for better times."
