CANADIAN TIRE HIT BY MAJOR DC FIRE—AND GETS SUED BY ROBOTICS FIRM BECAUSE OF IT

perations at one of Canadian Tire’s major DCs were completely shut down for several weeks after a large fire on Mar. 15 damaged the A.J. Billes Distribution Centre on Goreway Drive in Brampton. All of the employees at the facility were safely evacuated, the company says.

The 1.3 million-square-foot A.J. Billes Distribution Centre distributes goods nationally. The company said that the suspension of the facility’s operations negatively impacted Canadian Tire’s first quarter results, released on May 11.

“Priority inventory” was transferred to other Canadian Tire distribution centres, the company says, and temporary distribution facilities were deployed. The losses to the firm include damaged or destroyed inventory, building damage, and the costs of cleanup and repairs.

Canadian Tire also has two other DCs in the area on the west side of the GTA. One of them is a state-of-the-art bulk facility measuring 1.4 million square fee, in Bolton, Ont. (sometimes referred to as the Caledon DC). It is 20 kilometres northwest of the stricken A.J. Billes facility. The company also has a second DC in Brampton, 14 kilometres to the west of the closed DC,

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on Hurontario St. This DC was completed last year—and is also considered state-ofthe-art. It measures 1.3 million square feet.

In May, a warehouse robotics firm filed a statement of claim against Canadian Tire over what it said was damages to its business because of the fire. Calgary-based Attabotics specializes in inventory storage and supply chain systems, helping companies compete against the likes of Amazon.

The start-up was working with Canadian Tire to develop robots that “move and pick in three dimensions,” according to the company’s website, to reduce the inefficiencies of “legacy” row-and-aisle warehouse systems.

The damages incurred by Attabotics, according to the claim, include “loss of reputation, business opportunities, goodwill, market share, and/or loss of profit.” The fire occurred because of Canadian Tire’s “wrongful conduct, statutory breaches, breaches of contract, gross negligence, willful misconduct, negligence, and recklessness,” the claim alleges.

Attabotics is a startup that raised $71.7 million in new funding at the end of last year to help it develop its business. Funding came through Export Development Canada, with involvement from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, taking the company’s total funding to $165.1 million.