Canadian Tire appoints Mike Medline as president, Dealer Relations and Diversified Businesses

TORONTO, May 18 /CNW/ - Canadian Tire Corporation (TSX: CTC.A., CTC) president and CEO, Tom Gauld, today announced the appointment of Mike Medline as president of Dealer Relations and Diversified Businesses, effective immediately. Previously executive vice-president of New Business Development, Mike will continue to be responsible for Canadian Tire Petroleum and PartSource as well as the Corporate Strategic Planning and New Business Development groups. In addition, Mike will create a new Dealer Relations Group responsible for, among other things, the motivation, alignment and career development of Canadian Tire Associate Dealers. "I believe that the changes we have announced today will enable us to better serve our customers," said Tom Gauld. "We are creating the conditions that allow Canadian Tire Retail to focus on marketing and operational priorities while Dealer Relations provides the desired support and development that our Dealers deserve. Moreover, Dealer Relations can bring focus and resolve to addressing issues in order to pave the way for the continued advancement of our strategic agenda," said Gauld. "The Dealer Relations function is highly desired by our Associate Dealers and I have the utmost confidence in Mike Medline to develop and lead this new role. Mike is a very strong executive with an excellent track record of delivering results on diverse and complex assignments. He has gained significant retail experience to augment his broad business experience, through his leadership of Petroleum, the growth of the PartSource franchise and the acquisition of Mark'''''s Work Wearhouse. Mike and his colleague, Mike Arnett, president of Canadian Tire Retail, collaborate well together and are committed to working with the Associate Dealers to ensure their success and that of Canadian Tire Corporation as a whole," added Gauld. Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited (operates more than 1,100 stores, gas bars and car washes in an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retail, financial services and petroleum. Canadian Tire Retail, Canada's most-shopped general merchandise retailer, with 462 stores operated by Associate Dealers across Canada offers a unique mix of products and services through three specialty categories in which the organization is the market leader - Automotive, Sports and Leisure, and Home Products. www.canadiantire.ca offers Canadians the opportunity to shop online. PartSource is an automotive parts specialty chain with 54 stores designed to meet the needs of purchasers of automotive parts - professional automotive installers and serious do-it-yourselfers. Canadian Tire Petroleum is one of the country's largest and most productive independent retailers of gasoline, operating 259 gas bars, 247 convenience stores and kiosks, and 67 car washes. Mark's Work Wearhouse is one of the country's leading apparel retailers operating 334 stores in Canada. Under the Clothes that Work(TM) marketing strategy, Mark's sells apparel and footwear in work, work-related, casual and active-wear categories, as well as health-care and business-to-business apparel. www.marks.com offers Canadians the opportunity to shop online. Canadian Tire Financial Services manages over 4 million Canadian Tire MasterCard accounts and markets related financial products and services for retail and petroleum customers. Financial Services can also be accessed online at www.ctfs.com. More than 50,000 Canadians work across Canadian Tire's organization from coast-to-coast in the enterprise's retail, financial services, and petroleum businesses. For further information: Investors and Media can contact: Scott Bonikowsky, Divisional VP, Corporate Communication & Investor Relations, (416) 480-8570, bonikowsky@cantire.com;