BREAKING Another suspect arrested in Toronto Pearson airport gold heist: police
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Shoppers may need a little holiday magic themselves to snag one of this year's hottest toys.
Demand has been high in Canada and the United States for Magic Mixies, a creation of Moose Toys out of Australia.
The toy has kids mix magical ingredients together in a cauldron, creating real mist, and then, with the tap of a special wand and a couple of magic words, a pink or blue furry pet, or Mixie, is born.
With helpful marketing from 'How I Met Your Mother' star Neil Patrick Harris, the holiday frenzy for Magic Mixies has been dubbed by The New York Post as "worse than 'Tickle Me Elmo.'"
Up north, several retailers have reported being out of stock of the popular toy as of Friday, including Walmart, Indigo, The Bay and Toys 'R' Us.
Those willing to fork up a few more bucks can find Magic Mixies on Amazon.ca or eBay for well over $100 in most cases, with some listing the furry creature for about $200.
"There's so many cool elements to this toy, I think," Kristin Morency Goldman, a spokesperson for the U.S. not-for-profit The Toy Association, told CTVNews.ca by phone.
"Really, the innovation and the creativity in the toy itself is really driving the demand — and you can repeat the process over and over again."
Goldman says there always is that one toy every holiday season that everyone wants but can't get their hands on, whether it's Tickle Me Elmo or back in the 1980s with Cabbage Patch Kids.
And this year, Magic Mixies just happens to have that perfect storm of ingredients that drives what kids want in a toy, she says, with kids able to go through the "magic reveal" over and over again.
The current shipping crisis has impacted the availability of all toys, Goldman says, although there are still many options out there that are just as innovative as Magic Mixies.
"But I would say, if you see one and want one, get it. Don't wait five minutes, because in five minutes it'll be gone."
Marty Weintraub, national retail leader at Deloitte, says shoppers have been a bit more fearful as a result of the supply chain challenges, with people starting their holiday shopping earlier than ever "to a pretty serious magnitude."
Holiday shopping, which usually begins closer to Black Friday, saw an uptake around the end of October and early November, he says.
As part of its 2021 holiday retail outlook, Deloitte found 14 per cent of consumers planned on completing their shopping on Cyber Monday. Another 65 per cent expected to finish in December, down from 75 per cent in 2019, which Deloitte believes reflects rising concerns around pandemic-driven supply chain issues and their impact on retailers.
Even with existing supply chain challenges, Weintraub says stores do have a lot of product available — shoppers just may not be able to get the exact item they want, or at as deep of a discount.
"Unfortunately, there's lots of things that have to get solved, and on top of that you have really strong demand," Weintraub said as far as when consumers and retailers may see some easing in the supply chain.
There are signs that the situation may improve over the next several months, Weintraub says, although that will depend on factors such as when demand starts to waver or whether existing labour challenges continue to persist.
As far as advice he would give to shoppers — and with only a few weeks left before Christmas — Weintraub says don't procrastinate, and the more digitally savvy you are the better shot you'll have.
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Hailey and Justin Bieber are going to be parents. The couple announced the news on Thursday on Instagram, both sharing a video that showcases Hailey Bieber's growing belly.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would not legislate on, nor use the notwithstanding clause, on abortion, his office says, as anti-abortion protesters gather on Parliament Hill.
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
A video circulating on social media of a young girl being hit by a bike has some calling for better safety and more caution when designing bike lanes in the city. The video shows a four-year-old girl crossing Jeanne-Mance Street in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood to get on a school bus stopped on the opposite side of the street
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.