Is the Canadian Puzzle Solvable?

That’s probably why only a few mostly bigger names, such as L.L. Bean, have had any success. But it’s hardly been overwhelming. (At about $30 million, Bean’s Canadian business, which is entirely catalog/Web, still represents a pretty tiny portion of the company’s sales.)

Canadians are so put off by shipping charges that Hudson’s Bay Co., one of the country’s largest multichannel retailers, has found that 80 percent of its direct marketing customers would rather have orders shipped to local stores than to their homes in order to save on shipping charges.