2006 Highlights
Introducing Retailers of Tomorrow
Since 2005, Hbc has been working with Junior Achievement (JA), helping elementary and high school students to understand business, the economy and how to be smart consumers.
In the fall of 2006, a group of JA high school students designed “Frost It” – a design kit for cell phones and iPods. Under the guidance of Hbc associates, the students developed, marketed and sold the product. The 50-plus units sold out.
Hbc Associate Scholarship Program
The Hbc Associate Scholarship Program was established to provide bursaries to help finance higher education for the children and dependents of Hbc associates who might benefit from such assistance. The program was founded in 1991 in memory of Joe Fritch, a long-term Hbc associate whose life was tragically cut short in 1989. Each year, the program awards 40 scholarships of $2,500 each to students for post-secondary education, for a total of $100,000 a year.
Customer Service Heroes – Check Out Some of the Great Service Contributions Made by Hbc Associates
The Bay – Park Royal
“I really want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for being so extraordinary!”
The Bay in Park Royal, British Columbia had an exceptional story of customer service. A husband and wife came into the store covered in soot and smelling of smoke. Their home had just burnt to the ground and they had lost everything. Faced with this unimaginable catastrophe, the family came to the store to replace things they needed for everyday living.
They were amazed at the service and compassion they received from Jill D’Ambrosio in Cosmetics, Mary Pederson in Display, and Rina Mariani in Gift Registry, as well as a number of other associates in the store.
The couple called the North Shore News to tell them about their experience and praise the Park Royal store for its outstanding service!
“The associates at the Bay just made a difficult time really extraordinary, and I think that it’s a model of what community is all about.”
Zellers – Guelph
Christy George, a sales associate at the Zellers store in Guelph, Ontario, assisted an elderly customer in purchasing a cement bird bath.
After purchasing the bird bath, the customer was concerned as to how she would remove it from her car and set it up in the garden once she arrived home. The customer had lost her husband two years earlier and was still adjusting to living on her own.
Christy immediately offered to deliver the bird bath and set it up in the garden for her. The customer was more than grateful and shocked that Christy would offer to do this. Since Christy did not have a car, she volunteered the services of a store executive, who went with Christy to deliver and set up the bird bath once their shifts had ended. The result – a customer for life who stops by regularly to say hello and shop in the store.