Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is a Canadian retail company which sells a wide range of automotive, sports and leisure, and home products. Some stores also sell toys and food products. Retail operations include Canadian Tire, the core retail and automotive service operation, which operates a large car repair garage in each store; Canadian Tire Petroleum; men’s, women’s, and work apparel retailer Mark's; sporting goods and sportswear retail conglomerate FGL Sports, and PartSource, retailing auto parts and accessories. Its head office is in Toronto, Ontario. The retailer is known for its Canadian Tire money, a loyalty program first introduced in 1958, where customers are provided with coupons resembling paper money worth 0.4% of their purchase that can be used in subsequent purchases as scrip at Canadian Tire stores and gas stations, and some merchants in flea markets.HistoryOn September 15, 1922, at 8:34 John William Billes and Alfred Jackson Billes invested their combined savings of $1,800 in the Hamilton Tire and Garage Ltd (established in 1909 as the Hamilton Garage and Rubber Company) in Toronto. Hamilton Tire & Garage was sold in 1923 and the Billes brothers moved several times before they settled their site at 639 Yonge Street.In 1934, the first official associate store opened in Hamilton, Ontario. In 1937, Canadian Tire moved into the new Main store at 837 Yonge Street, after completing extensive alterations to what once was the Grand Central Market. This location remains as an associate store in the chain today. The first Canadian Tire catalogue consisted of a price list in the format of a 24" × 10" folder. Sent in 1926 to car owners in Southern Ontario, this initial price sheet folder heralded the beginning of the Mail Order Department at Canadian Tire. Since then, the company has grown to over 487 stores. The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
