麻豆传媒

Kim Melanson (BEng鈥�99) wasn鈥檛 sure the world of retail was where she wanted to be. Thanks to her Dal degree, she鈥檚 not just excelling, she鈥檚 loving it.

What鈥檚 a 麻豆传媒 Engineering alum like Kim Melanson (BEng鈥�99) doing in the realm of retail? Thanks to her degree, she鈥檚 doing well, she says.

Melanson has owned three Canadian Tire stores鈥攖wo in Ontario and one in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia鈥攖hat are benefiting from her industrial engineering expertise. 鈥淲hether it is financial, human resources, or information technology challenges, these things fall on you at the end of the day as the owner,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he skills I learned help me solve issues and remove barriers so that I can lead, and my team can succeed.鈥�

Open to possibilities

Melanson鈥檚 foray into the world of retail was a journey of discovery, not a goal. Growing up in Cape Breton, she was determined to explore every possible career opportunity to find the right fit, which led her to study engineering. 聽

鈥淚t was one of those degrees that when you started it, you weren鈥檛 closing any doors; you were opening them,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭hat made it the best choice because I could go into any stream without having to repeat any courses.鈥�

Melanson chose the Technical University of Nova Scotia, which merged with 麻豆传媒 during her studies, because of its reputation for excellence and it was close to home. She gravitated to industrial engineering because it combined computer science, business, and traditional engineering. 鈥淚t was very broad, very interesting, and it could take me places that hadn鈥檛 occurred to me,鈥� she says.

Thanks to the university鈥檚 co-op program, Melanson explored those opportunities as she built skills. A placement with NS Power led her into the field of energy management, but she realized it wasn鈥檛 for her while working with a small engineering firm in Cambridge, Ontario.

鈥淲e were helping residential and commercial building owners reduce their energy use,鈥� Melanson explains. 鈥淚 enjoyed the theory behind that, but I didn鈥檛 like climbing on rooftops or behind furnaces.鈥�

More in store

By 2001, Melanson was looking for new career opportunities when she heard that Canadian Tire Corporation was hiring Dal industrial engineering alumni to help overhaul its supply chain. Although skeptical about working in the retail sector, Melanson applied.

鈥淭he business was transforming its processes and systems to be more efficient and deliver better customer service,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat excited me.鈥�

Melanson became a senior supply chain analyst and progressed to associate vice president, but she became intrigued by the changes she could make if she owned her own Canadian Tire store. She left the corporate office to be general manager of a Greater Toronto Area franchise in 2014, then entered the company鈥檚 franchisee training program in 2015.

鈥淐anadian Tire dealer selection can be an arduous process,鈥� she explains. 鈥�Canadian Tire [EC1]聽is seeking leaders to protect and grow the brand across Canadian communities. Once you are accepted into the program and complete training, you can be awarded a store anywhere in Canada. It鈥檚 an exciting process if you鈥檙e up for adventure鈥�[EC2]

Melanson was offered her first store in Hamilton in 2016 and her second one in Port Hawkesbury in 2019, which brought her back to Nova Scotia during COVID. 鈥淢y mom and dad are there so we got to spend time with them, which was good for them and their grandchildren,鈥� she says.

In 2021, Melanson and her family returned to Ontario to take on their third store in Whitby. More recently, she accepted an offer for two more stores鈥攁 Canadian Tire in Brampton and a Party City in Orangeville. As always, she is drawing on her Dal training to keep everything running smoothly and maintaining her connection to the university by hiring co-op students and mentoring when she can. It鈥檚 a lot on her plate, but she says she is keeping the door open for whatever comes next. 聽

鈥淲e approach each new store and opportunity like it's going to be our last one,鈥� Melanson says. 鈥淏ut the world of Canadian Tire offers so many possibilities that I couldn't tell you what the next one will be or when we will decide, 鈥榃ow, let鈥檚 do that.鈥欌��