Local charity - Good causes and good marketing

People remember the good things that your business does. 

Giant Tiger #170 (Union St. Fredericton)

I was at a meeting last night and we were talking about buying food and supplies for an upcoming event. Someone at the table immediately piped up and said, "Giant Tiger will have all of that. Wayne is always good to us. Let's just go there."

Wayne Gallant is the manager of one of the Giant Tiger stores in Fredericton. (He also happens to be a close friend of mine and teammates in our adventure racing team, Team Bulletproof.)

One of the things that I find truly great about Giant Tiger (and specifically Wayne's store) is how much they give to the community. Hardly a week goes by where there isn't an announcement about a sponsorship or some other charity event that they are helping with.

For those of you not familiar, Giant Tiger (GT) is a Canadian discount store chain. Their specialty is rock bottom pricing. My expectation of a discount store, and it is probably common, would be that they need to keep costs to an absolute minimum and that things like community involvement would come a distant second. That doesn't seem to be the case with Giant Tiger. And it seems to be working for them.

Wayne has garnered a great deal of loyalty with the people that he supports. His support ranges from the IWK, Liberty Lane, local schools, Scouts and Girl Guides to a variety of sporting events like bike and running races. People who participate in these causes and events really appreciate his efforts and many pay it back in the form of loyalty to his store.

On the Giant Tiger website they state that they have "A progressive, value-oriented, no-nonsense approach to retailing." More companies should share these values. It pays off for the community and for the company.