Greg Hicks, the president and chief executive of Mark's and SportChek-owner Canadian Tire Corp., blamed "rising interest rates, stubborn inflation impacting discretionary spend and unfavourable weather" for the company's fourth-quarter profit dropping 68 per cent from a year earlier.
The challenges aren't letting up with credit card data he recently reviewed showing competition across clothing retailers is high.
"Apparel-focused retailers are having a real challenge on the top line and we're therefore seeing the intensity ramp quite a bit," Hicks said.