Those living in Southern Ontario stream down to Buffalo to engage in “cross-border shopping”. The reasons are many, but the most commonly cited are lower prices and a wider variety of goods.
Still, when I’ve taken trips to Toronto, I’ve noticed brands of products that are very common which are either unavailable in the US or else very rare. One that comes to mind are Bata sneakers; I’ve never seen them for sale in the US, but they’re as common north of the border as … oh, a second-tier brand like Adidas or Reebok in the US. It’s a brand that is very international in scope, too, except for the US.
Of course, there’s Cuban cigars and other products that are unavailable in the US. Until a decade or so ago, Ikea stores were far less common in the US than in Canada and other Western nations, and they’re still not very widespread here. Many vehicle brands are unavailable in the US; SEAT, Skoda, Peugeot, Renault, Citroen, Proton, Fiat, Lancia and many others.
What other brands can you think of that have an international presence, but which are rare or nonexistent in the US?
In the US Hershey makes some Cadbury-brand products (creme eggs, dairy milk, fruit & nut bars), but if you want anything outside that very limited range, you’re out of luck (which is grossly unfair, because Twirl bars are awesomely good).
Bata shoes is all but defunct in Canada. In fact, the last time I saw a pair of shoes with the Bata branding on them, platform sneakers a-la-Spice Girls were still cool. I guess you haven’t been to Toronto in a while, huh?
The Bata brand is alive and well in Europe and parts of Asia, but that’s about it. The Bata family do live in Toronto, but the only shoes they’re known for around here are the ones on display in the Bata Museum (which is Mrs Bata’s pet project).
In regards to shoes, I remember years ago in the U.S. Puma was considered a third tier brand, the sort of footwear you would find mainly in a discount shoe store.
CRC doesn’t seem to be available here, at least not readily in the retail world even though it’s a US company. It comes in lots of different types for different purposes but I know it as something in spray cans similar to WD40. In New Zealand and I suspect other places anyone doing electrical service work would have a can of CRC contact cleaner in their tool box. Maybe I’ve just missed it but I haven’t seen it in any hardware stores.
That could just as easily be called “Ten Car Brands Nobody’s Ever Heard Of” because they’re just as unknown in their home markets as they are here (and Koeningsegg sells cars in the US anyway).
Better examples would be Vauxhall/Opel (most of which are usually available here under other GM badges), Seat, Fiat, Rover (well, until they went bust), Mahindra and Skoda.
I was surprised to find that Silk Cut cigarettes aren’t available in the US. RJR or whoever used to pour tons of advertising into them in the UK so I assumed it was a global brand.
I’m familiar with it from various trips to Latin America, I actually thought it was a Venezuelan or Mexican brand until I looked it up just now. wikipedia says it’s sold in the US under license, and I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere here but it’s certainly not ubiquitous.
