With a manufacturing slowdown and recent news of sawmill closures in Canada, the "impact on employment here could reduce the amount of disposable income in Canada," she said. Still, Home Depot Canada, fuelled by solid housing starts and a surging economy, continues to expand, adding 11 stores this year and eight or nine next year, she said. "We are definitely feeling the discomfort in the United States — in Canada we don't feel it yet," concurred Aldo Bensadoun, chief executive of Montreal-based shoe retailer Aldo Group, which has 600 stores around the world, with operations in Canada, the U.S., the United Kingdom as well as Saudi Arabia and India.

The market meltdown in the United States triggered by subprime mortgage crisis and housing starts falling for the past six months in a row has left U.S. retailers increasingly apprehensive about a consumer spending slowdown, said David Henry of U.S.-based Kimco Realty Corp., and developers fear an economic and real estate downturn such as occurred in the early 1990s.Mr. Bensadoun said the shoe retailer is watching its inventory levels and improving its service as customers become choosier and more frugal.

In this climate global expansion represents a "tremendous opportunity, not only financially but also an opportunity to put your imprint in what you do and believe in," he noted. Aldo expanded recently into India, the fastest growing nation in the world, which still "has very few shopping centers and very few international brands," he said. Paul Chehab, a vice-president at mall developer Ivanhoe Cambridge, said there is "little [shopping mall] growth in the U.S. and Canada right now, and everybody is looking for growth and a little risk."