Canadian Tire 2000s

Big oil companies started to raise the price of gas at the pumps to put pressure on individual companies in order to monopolize the market. Canadian Tire was finding it difficult to compete with these oil companies and realized something needed to change. In 1958, A.J decided customers who paid for gas with cash would receive 5 % back in the form of Canadian Tire Money which could only be used at a Canadian Tire store. A concept Canada had never seen before and was a reward for customers paying with cash. This is because the Billes had a concept that money was good and debit was bad. For Canadian Tire this was the best way to compete with the big companies as well as generate additional revenue for the store. This was a hit. People were lining up at the pumps and there was an increase of in store customers.
The first Canadian Tire Money was handed out at Toronto’s Yonge and Davenport gas bar. It features a dollar coin and a tire with legs running beside each other and the quote “We make your dollar go further” across the top. The back of the Canadian Tire Money featured artwork of a rural-industrial scene including trains, ships, airplanes and cars as a representation of the Canadian economy with a Canadian Tire Store in the middle. Denominations included 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 10, 25 and 50 cents and $1. However, there needed to be something done about the poor quality of paper as it often ripped upon being folded.