Canadian Tire signs agreement with COSTAR to improve automotive
infrastructure and customer service

    
    Part of multi-year program to upgrade and advance Canadian Tire's
    automotive infrastructure and overall service experience for customers
    

TORONTO , Nov. 27 /CNW/ - Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited, Canada's leading retailer of automotive parts and service, announced today that it has signed a multi-year agreement with COSTAR Computer Systems, Canada's leading provider of automotive shop management software. The COSTAR agreement is part of a major initiative to upgrade Canadian Tire's automotive infrastructure to improve the overall service experience for customers.

COSTAR's Windows-based Shop Management System - integrated with other technologies currently being acquired - will provide Canadian Tire's 476 automotive centres and 5500 auto bays with world-class automotive functionality and customer-friendly technology.

Upon the new technology's implementation starting in 2011, customers will begin to see a marked improvement and difference in their automotive service experience.

    
    -  Customers will note easy-to-understand diagrams and pictures of their
       auto parts, along with installation and repair instructions.
       Installation and repair instructions can be printed to aid do-it-
       yourself repair;

    -  Store staff will be able to quickly see information in a truly
       integrated fashion, from auto part identification to labour install
       times, and 'how-to-repair' schematics;

    -  Customers will have their automotive history easily migrated from one
       location to another, allowing Canadian Tire to service that customer
       'nationally'. Both customer and vehicle history will be able to be
       forwarded to another store, along with pertinent information to assist
       the receiving store in welcoming the customer with upfront knowledge
       of their vehicle issue, forging a stronger customer relationship; and,

    -  Customers will benefit from significantly advanced systems for
       preventative maintenance schedules and new appointment scheduling
       capability.
    

"Canadian Tire is committed to improving our overall automotive customer experience and we are significantly investing in new infrastructure to achieve this goal," said Michael Medline, President, Canadian Tire Automotive and Dealer Relations. "COSTAR is Canada's leading provider of shop management software and when combined with other technologies, will bring a wealth of new tools and functionality that will allow our automotive employees to deliver a superior customer experience."

Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (TSX: CTC.a, CTC) is comprised of five business units: Canadian Tire Retail, one of Canada's most-shopped general merchandise retailers with 476 stores; PartSource, an automotive parts specialty chain with 87 stores; Canadian Tire Petroleum, one of the country's largest and most productive independent retailers of gasoline, operating 273 gas bars, 268 convenience stores and kiosks, and 73 car washes; Mark's Work Wearhouse, one of the country's leading apparel retailers operating 374 stores in Canada ; and Canadian Tire Financial Services that has issued over five million Canadian Tire MasterCard credit cards and markets related financial products and services for retail and petroleum customers. More than 57,000 Canadians work across Canadian Tire's organization from coast-to-coast in the enterprise's retail, financial services, and petroleum businesses.

COSTAR provides computer software to tire and automotive service retailers, and tire wholesalers throughout Canada , Australia and New Zealand . The COSTAR products offer class leading business solutions for single companies, multi-branch companies, franchises, co-ops, banner groups, and combinations of retail automotive service and tire wholesale. In 2010, COSTAR will celebrate it's 35th year of providing software to the automotive and tire industry.

For further information: Lisa Gibson, Canadian Tire, [phone], [email protected]