Canadian Tire is the name of one of the largest retail companies in Canada, which was established in 1922. Today the company has almost 2 thousand locations across the country, with the gas stations and stores, offering such products as homeware, sports apparel and equipment, leisure goods, and automotive components.
Meaning and history
Canadian Tire was born at the beginning of the 1920s when the Billes brothers bought the Hamilton Tire and Garage business in Toronto. The brothers started actively developing the tire retail business, and by 1927 the company has significantly grown. This is when the Canadian Tire name came up.
In the next decades the company was evolving and developing, and it happened mostly due to the franchise system the Billes brothers employed. The first Canadian Tire franchises were free and gave a lot of freedom to the owners, and a lot of experience to the brothers. The variety of stores in the region made them expand the variety of goods offered in the stores. The next step was setting gas stations at every location.
Today Canadian Tire is not simply an automotive parts retailer. It is one of the largest chains of home supply stores, plus apart from retail the company also has its subdivisions in insurance services, real estate investments, and financial consulting.
What is Canadian Tire?
Canadian Tire is one of the largest players in the home supply and automotive parts retail segment in Canada. The company was established at the beginning of the 1920s, and by today has opened over 1,5 thousand locations all over the country.
In terms of visual identity, the Canadian Tire company stays loyal to its badge, designed at the end of the 1960s. Its bright and intense logo combines all the necessary elements: the tribute to Canada, the graphical representation of the automotive specialization of the company, and the colorful representation of its power and expertise.
1967 – Today
The Canadian Tire logo, designed in 1967, is composed of a solid red badge, drawn in a triangular shape, pointing down. The badge looks like a road sign, which represents the roots of the company. The red triangle with softened corners features a thin double outline in white and black and has a green maple leaf set on its top part. The white sans-serif lettering with the name of the company is written across the red background on two levels.
The secondary version of the logo comprises the red triangular sign with the green leaf set on the left from the red uppercase (apart from two letters “N”) “Canadian Tire” inscription written in one straight line.
Font and color
The bold and condensed sans-serif “Canadian Tire” lettering from the primary logo f the retailer is set in the mixed case, with all letters but the “N”s capitalized. Although the typeface was designed fr the company in the 1960s, it looks quite similar to the modern Pop Tune JNL.
As for the color palette of the Canadian Tire visual identity, it is composed of intense red and green shades, accompanies by white and black details, which add professionalism and clarity to the solid bright hues. The badge looks juicy and powerful, being eye-catching and easily memorable.