Growing in big cities
With its expanded product line, Dollarama has been moving closer to directly competing with Walmart and Canadian Tire -- a potentially dangerous rivalry. But Stephens says Dollarama's advantage is that is not based on a big box model, so it can open smaller stores in more areas around town.
"What Dollarama has going for it that other discount retailers like Walmart don't is the growth in Canada is taking place in major metro markets and these stores are small enough that they can get real estate in those markets, whereas a Walmart has trouble fitting itself into that," he said.
Dollarama added 17 stores in the first quarter, bringing its store total to 972 locations. The company expects to open its 1,000th store this fall and plans to hit a maximum of about 1,400 over the next few years.