We act as a seamless partner to our clients through an integrated, national team with deep retail sector expertise

A dynamic, changing industry

With unmatched industry experience, practical and contextual advice, and custom, integrated teams, our Retail and Consumer Markets Group helps clients overcome the daily challenges inherent in the industry and take advantage of emerging trends that benefit their businesses. Our deep-rooted knowledge and global business experience enables us to advise on significant mandates across all sectors - Consumer Products, Food, Beverage & Agribusiness, Franchise & Distribution, Hospitality and Retail – and pair clients with the most experienced and capable professionals to provide top-tier legal and strategic business advice, whatever the challenge.

Comprehensive knowledge and insight from years of experience

Clients from across Canada, the U.S. and abroad access unsurpassed experience to address their diverse and specific legal needs – from navigating complex industry acquisitions, to developing comprehensive and successful Canadian market entry strategies to managing high stakes cybersecurity breaches, and of course, the day-to-day advice required to remain competitive and compliant across the many evolving and intersecting regulations governing the industry. Our experience includes:

• Canadian entry and expansion – strategic advice for new and recent market entrants;
• M&A and public offerings of retail, consumer products and hospitality businesses and franchise systems;
• international trade and cross-border matters, supply chain management and commercial agreements;
• e-commerce, website terms and conditions, omnichannel integration;
• real property development, expansion, relocation and leasing;
• privacy, cybersecurity and data management;
• human resources, labour and employment, and, immigration;
• branding, marketing and intellectual property;
• packaging and labeling;
• consumer protection, product compliance and recalls;
• competition and regulatory compliance;
• payment systems, credit cards and loyalty program; and
• loss prevention, crisis management and disputes (class actions, product liability, commercial disputes).

With on-the-ground expertise in each of Canada’s major business centres and a strong understanding of how legislation differs from province to province, we help our clients succeed in each unique market. We are proud to be a fully bilingual firm and offer the legal support needed to meet both English and French language requirements.

Ahead of the Trends

Immersed in the industry, we are on the inside of information flow – connecting with industry leaders and engaging with industry associations such as the Retail Council of Canada, International Council of Shopping Centres, Food and Consumer Products of Canada, and Luxury Law Summit. Through our active involvement and seat at the table, we know exactly the emerging challenges you face and how to tackle them.

We combine specific sector knowledge to empower global businesses

Consumer Products — Working with clients across a range of industry segments, from household, electronic and pet products to clothing and luxury goods on issues including packaging and labelling, M&A and product recalls. We partner with leading companies, such as Unilever, Mattel and Sony.

Food, Beverage & Agribusiness — Our comprehensive understanding of the role of the food chain – and its impact on food availability, accessibility and security – is unsurpassed. Our clients include every link in the chain, such as multinational growers and producers; food processors and distributors; manufacturers of agricultural and food processing industrial equipment; fertilizer and agrochemical producers; lenders and investors (such as private equity and venture capital firms) across all food, beverage and agribusiness categories, including pet food. Clients include popular brands such as Pepsi, Kraft, and Corby Spirit and Wine.

Franchise & Distribution — We work with franchisors on all aspects of Canadian franchise and distribution law, across diverse industries and sectors, including providing counsel on disclosure documents; distribution and franchise agreements; litigation and class actions; IP protection; and network operations and strategy. Clients with sophisticated distribution or franchise networks, such as Bell Canada, Canadian Tire, Nissan Canada and Mister Transmission have relied on us for everything from addressing day-to-day issues to strategic changes.

Hospitality — In addition to being a trusted day-to-day advisor, we have sat at the table with national and international hotel owners, management companies, franchisors, developers and investors for some of the highest-profile hospitality deals in North America and around the world. Our clients do business in all areas of the hospitality, entertainment, leisure and resort industry - we represent hotels and resorts, airlines, casinos and gaming businesses, stadiums and other sports facilities, timeshare companies and retirement communities. We have advised Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, Paramount Fine Foods and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment in this area.

Retail — We bring together lawyers from multiple disciplines that work with clients across a range of industry segments, from clothing and household goods to grocery, personal care, cosmetics, luxury goods and electronic products. We partner with leading online and brick and mortar retailers in Canada, the US and internationally including Costco, Canadian Tire, The Home Depot, Harry Rosen, Starbucks, Godiva Chocolatier, lululemon, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hertz Canada, Sephora, Fruits & Passion, The Putting Edge, The Bata Shoe Organization, and Leon’s Furniture Limited.

Game-changing industry insights

Our Annual Consumer Products & Retail Summit highlights the latest industry trends and legal developments and features practical tips to address timely issues affecting retailers and consumer-facing businesses. For more news about the industry in Canada, please visit our blog: Consumer Markets Perspectives.

We are the only call you need to make for pragmatic advice.