people

Joe Calvano, President, Dollar Tree Stores Canada Inc.

By Kristen Hilderman /

Joe Calvano, Dollar Tree Stores Canada Inc. | BCBusiness

From the 2013 Influencer Index: The head of Dollar Tree Canada is spearheading the discount store expansion across Canada

It’s been just over two years since Fortune 500 company Dollar Tree Stores acquired B.C.-based Dollar Giant Inc. for US$52 million, launching Dollar Tree’s first chain of retail outlets outside the U.S. Joe Calvano maintained his leadership role as Dollar Tree Canada president and has grown the group of stores, adding 13 locations across Canada.

Calvano’s reputation for success precedes him, as does his disposition for being a passionate businessman. “We’ve known [Joe] in retail since the late ’80s,” says Mark Startup, former Shelfspace CEO and the vice-president of MyStore. “He’s one of the pioneers in British Columbia. He’s a passionate merchant. It’s wonderful to see in a hyper-competitive market, that to focus on your passion and to lead the people that drive the brand is very much part of the success of many growing retail companies.”

In a world now rife with discount stores, Calvano is heading up the charge with plans to expand aggressively into new markets.

“When he was in the Superstar Athletic Group, he showed tremendous leadership and success at that time and he clearly has parlayed that success into one of the province’s and country’s most successful retail companies today,” says Startup of Calvano and Dollar Tree’s role in the rapidly growing discount-store market. Retail has seen an indisputable boom in dollar stores and Calvano is carving the path for one of B.C.’s largest dollar-store chains and Canada’s only single-price-point retailer.