Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Made In China - Eh?

Turns out the Canadian Olympic athletes uniforms and all the replicas for sale to the public were made in China. Apparently it would be "impractical" to insist on strictly Canadian-made uniforms. The supposed reality is that there is no longer the manufacturing capacity in Canada that can meet the volumes that are necessary to manufacture, particularly the replica clothing, that is sold to the public. Canada’s manufacturing industry has been decimated by cheap foreign imports — especially from China — and the rising Canadian dollar.

The replicas will be sold in Canada by what "used" to be the Hudson's Bay Company, but they were bought out today by an equity company that owns Lord & Taylor. Now, I like Lord & Taylor, but it's really sad to see all our retailers disappear. First it was Simpson's, then Eaton's, now The Bay - what's next - Canadian Tire - Tim Horton's?

If Tim Horton's disappears, at least I'll know where it went - to Teenytinytown, Vermont!

3 comments:

Three Birds Inspired said...

Same thing in the US. So little is actually manufactured here and so many of our "iconic American" companies are owned by foreign groups. Jobs lost every year so that someone can buy cheap stuff at Walmart.

Anonymous said...

Seems like everything is being manufactured in China these days. It's sad. So many people here have lost jobs.

Mary Johnson said...

Oh no! Not Tim Horton's! I fell in love with them in Toronto and would have stopped in at the one in the Vancouver airport today but the line was VERY long.