City bylaws are the epitome of living documents and are constantly adapting to accommodate a changing world with evolving priorities. Shifting demographics, environmental considerations, transit, education, infrastructure, and buildings are just some of the considerations that modern cities face when creating bylaws. CTM has the expertise to help you navigate these often complicated and shifting city ordinances and can help ensure your project gets completed on time, on budget, and on spec. What’s more, CTM’s expertise stretches across Canada, making it a one-stop shop for navigating the uniqu ..read more

When you’re developing land or constructing/ significantly renovating a building for a retail business, you need to submit a construction document package (also known as the detailed design package) for municipal review and approval. Developed by an engineering firm or architect, these drawings show how the project will be built – and ensure it is designed to meet all building codes and municipal regulations. If there are errors and oversights in the submission, it can result in the package being sent back. Major revisions can impact the entire project schedule. So it’s important to get it rig ..read more

By Ryan Guanlao The company I work for provides design, engineering and architectural services for clients in the retail petroleum, convenience store, restaurant, automotive and retail sectors. It’s our job to create the facility drawings and site plans that municipal development departments require to guide construction and meet public safety requirements. There have been times we’ve seen businesses who’ve gone ahead and leased (or invested in) space without the assistance of a commercial realtor – only to discover they overpaid, have a space that isn’t suitable or requires significant (and c ..read more

By Devin Mahaffey, President As anyone in the retail world will tell you, consistency across all locations is the key to a successful brand. Whether you’re Starbucks, A&W, 7-Eleven, Canadian Tire or Old Navy, customers expect the same brand experience at every store in every town and city across Canada. This is reflected in: The products you sell, The level of service you provide, and The look, feel and layout of your stores. Engineering and design firms like CTM are tasked with capturing that look and feel from one location to the next. The more stores we work on for that brand, the mor ..read more

By Ryan Guanlao It’s not until something is gone, that you truly appreciate how important and meaningful it was. This September after a two-year hiatus, the annual CARWACS Convenience U Show in Toronto made a triumphant return. And once more, CTM was there to represent the engineering and design industry. While valiant efforts were made to switch to a virtual model during the pandemic, it just wasn’t the same. I mean, how do you replace the energy, interactions and relationships that come from an inspiring in-person experience? You can’t. The CTM booth has been a fixture of CARWACS going back ..read more

In 2022, consumers don’t just want brands – they want fun, bold, exciting in-store experiences that brighten their day and leave them feeling good. They want colour, they want high-quality, and they want a design with punch. Mainly, they want a reason to leave their comfort zone and delight in the joys of being able to browse freely without masks, plastic walls, or physical distance (good riddance). Today’s customers want to be wowed. C-Store owners have realized if they want to bring people back in-store (and stand out from the competition), it’s time to step their game up. Let’s take a look ..read more

Have you ever been out shopping on vacation and decided to check out one of your favourite big-brand stores? Odds are it looked very similar to the one in your hometown. This is no mistake. Large-scale international brands conduct endless research and measurement on human psychology and buying habits to create stores designed for repeatable sales success. It’s this knowledge that solidifies them as retail leaders worldwide and why you keep going back to buy from the brand. To understand how to develop a winning store design, it is important to consider several different factors. Let’s have a l ..read more

South of the border, we’ve seen some significant changes to the drive-thru concept. Much of this has been in response to increased demand for pickup vs dine-in, as well as third-party delivery. In Minnesota, Taco Bell is introducing four-lane drive-thrus, with 3 dedicated lanes for delivery drivers and app-based order pickup. In Canada, we’re still in the early days of adopting dual-lane drive-thrus. Currently, McDonald’s and Tim Hortons are the two chains that have been consistently bringing this model to market. Yet as consumer preferences change and innovations become more feasible, QSRs wi ..read more

In wake of the innumerable changes that the pandemic has brought to our lives, the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry is one sector that has been transformed forever. Technological and internal process changes have made things like contactless food pickup, online ordering, and increased drive-thru usage the new norm for today’s consumers. Above all else, the desire for convenience has reached dizzying new heights, making customers more demanding, more impatient, and more particular than ever. According to a recent survey by Bluedot, 90% of QSR diners said that four-to-seven cars in a driv ..read more

For convenience store owners, quick service restaurant (QSR) owners, and other independent retailers, consumer expectations around public hygiene have intensified dramatically. Although we are beginning to move past the pandemic, COVID-19 has left a lasting imprint on health and hygiene expectations in public settings. Consumers are now vigilant critics who will abandon businesses that do not appear to take their health seriously. For a customer, nothing says more about your business’ commitment to health and hygiene than the state of your public washroom facilities. It’s a big reason why more ..read more