Nordstrom was added this year to the growing list of U.S.-based retailers failing to grow in Canada, but some real estate professionals say American businesses can adopt some practices to avoid the same frosty reception north of the border.

Bradley Jones, senior vice president & head of leasing and operations in Canada for real estate developer and investor Oxford Properties Group, said underestimating the Canadian consumer is probably the biggest reason behind some failures of U.S. chains to establish a permanent foothold in the country.

"They underestimated in a big way the Canadian consumer and how we purchase goods, the research we do prior to making those purchases and the offerings that fit with our lifestyle," said Jones, whose company operates 14 million square feet of retail property in North America and Europe. "No doubt the supply chain was an issue. The experience you got in a Target in America was very different than the experience of a Target in Canada. They just didn't have the product."

Minneapolis-based Target, which opened 133 locations across Canada but discontinued operations in the country in 2015 amid mounting losses and significant supply chain issues, is probably the most high-profile U.S. retailer to fail to establish itself north of the border. The company didn't respond to a request to comment.

Other retailers based in the United States to fail to make a go of it in Canada in recent years include Express, J Crew, Sears and Sam's Club. Kmart was another victim in the 1990s. Nordstrom Canada became the latest casualty when the Seattle-based department store chain filed for bankruptcy protection in March.

The issue of U.S. retailers failure to achieve needed growth in Canada were a hot topic at a recent International Council of Shopping Centers Toronto chapter event.

Oxford's Jones said U.S. retailers also need to understand the employment market in Canada.

"In America, retail is viewed as a career, and here it is more transient," said Jones. "They missed the market on that, but they also missed the fact that Canadians are very supportive of other Canadian retail, and they didn't realize how crowded the space was. It's shocking to think they researched the market for 10 years before they came. They couldn't understand the supply chain," labor and merchandise, he said, adding "It is unthinkable."

The executive noted Nordstrom's struggles came even as Canadian luxury retailer Holt Renfrew, established in 1837, has stood the test of time.

"It goes back to the experience they have created for the customers or the lack thereof," said Jones, noting Nordstrom's got squeezed out of some brands and would be low on essential items like women's shoes for an ensemble.

Eric Sherman, vice president of real estate in Toronto's Yorkville district for First Capital REIT, said his company sometimes faces the dilemma of leasing to a "great international restaurant" in what is the city's most expensive retail district to rent in.

"It's exciting that they want to do a first-to-market location in Toronto, but do they know what they are getting themselves into, and have they done the research," said Sherman.

Andrew Oliver, president & chief executive of Oliver & Bonacini Hospitality, which operates in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton and is known for its restaurants, said his company understands the red tape that comes with dealing with the Canadian government, be it federal, provincial or municipal.

"I find, especially on the food side, we talk to folks coming up and talk to us ahead of time, and they are like, what do you mean you can only buy alcohol from one person'?" said Oliver. He was referring to monopolies in Canada that include the Ontario Liquor Control Board, or LCBO, the Crown Corporation that operates as a retailer and wholesaler of wine, beer, and spirits in the country's largest province. "We have supply chain management for dairy, and they say 'what do you mean they control the price of cheese and milk'."

Oliver pointed to companies like the eatery P.F. Chang's, which left Toronto a few years ago and he said it's not uncommon for a U.S. food retailers to not succeed in Canada.

"It's just such a different way of doing business," said Oliver. He pointed to the taxation structure in Canada, where a top marginal rate in Ontario is 53.53%, leaving the high end of the market with less disposable income for luxury goods. "I always get calls telling me, 'I'm bringing this amazing American concept here,' and I'm like, 'Call me when it doesn't work.'"

Still, for all the struggles, there have been successes like Walmart, and Oliver said it makes more sense for companies to do what New York-based Shake Shack Inc. just announced, creating a partnership with Canadians for rolling out stores north of the border.

"You can touch on the success stories too, like Chick-fil-A, which spent a number of years before operating," said Sherman. "The Canadian market can be difficult to penetrate, but it is not impenetrable."

The issue for American companies is they think they have figured out the Canadian market by studying Ontario and Toronto, said David Nash, vice president, marketing & equity partner with Altea Active, a wellness and social club.

"When you equate what that might represent for fellow tenants in a commercial property, it can be quite significant," he said.

"But there are so many micro realities across the country," he said. "We are deliberate about every community we go into in Canada. The people in Toronto are very different than the people in Vancouver or the people in Halifax."