[Thanos]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/target- ... -1.2901618

$1:

Target says it plans to discontinue all operations in Canada and seek protection from creditors, less than two years after opening to much fanfare.

In a release early Thursday, the U.S. retail chain said it will close all its locations in Canada. There are 133 stores across the country with about 17,600 employees.

The company launched in Canada in the spring of 2013.

But after high expectations, the chain failed to deliver right out of the gate as customers faced higher-than-expected prices, and empty shelves as the retailer had problems with its distribution chain.
.....
The company is seeking the court's permission to set up a $70-million fund to ensure all employees affected by the move get at least 16 weeks in severance pay. The stores will remain open while the company completes the liquidation process.

Sad to see but their plan for Canada was bad from the beginning. Less products on the shelf than WalMart (or even the Zellers they replaced) and charge much higher prices than they did for the same items in their US stores? Not much of a deal for shoppers which in the end is what did them in. At least they have the decency though to make sure the employees are kind of taken care of on their way out.

[martin14]

Holy crap, that was fast.


17 thousand jobs lost won't help anyone either.

[Regina]

Wow.......major fail.

[Newsbot]

Title: Target Canada files for creditor protection, plans to close all stores
Category: Business
Posted By: DrCaleb
Date: 2015-01-15 06:10:37
Canadian

[DrCaleb]

Not exactly a surprise thought. Billions in losses, and they completely frelled up their supply chain by not making sure that it could handle the demand of opening so many stores so quickly.

But I do feel for the employees. At least Target is trying to let them down easy.

[Freakinoldguy]

I was just in Target yesterday and asked the staff about the stores closing and not one of them had heard anything about it. I guess this'll come as a bit of a shock to them.

But this goes to show what happens when a Large Corporate Chain thinks they know more than their customers. Had they stuck to the same format they used in the states we likely wouldn't be having this conversation and Wal-Mart would have some competition but what do I know I'm only one of those dumb Canadian customers.

[BartSimpson]

Target was my go-to place until about ten years ago. Around that time the quality of the clothing radically declined and their household products (in general) just seemed kind of shoddy to me. Maybe 'insubstantial' is a better word to use.

Add to this that I started doing even more shopping at Costco and online and I had less and less reason to bother with Target.

So I can totally see why they didn't get any traction in a completely new market.

[herbie]

Looked there for a men's jacket last spring, they had ONE men's jacket in the entire store. I don't think we've spent $100 there since the Prince George store opened.
How are they going to liquidate nothing?

[xerxes]

Can't say I'm surprised. Last time I was in one, there were more employees than customers, and that was in December.

FEel bad for the employees though.

[Thanos]

I used to go to Zellers all the time when they were still around. For all the criticism they got I found them to be a good source of basic household stuff like cleaning supplies, sheets, towels, cookware, etc, that was affordable plus had the benefit of not having to go anywhere near WalMart. I think I went into Target maybe twice in the last two years. Saw the empty shelve, didn't have what I was looking for, so I ended up at CanTire instead. Terrible for the employees but in terms of a hit for the retail market it isn't going to be a great loss in the slightest.

[Regina]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Target was my go-to place until about ten years ago. Around that time the quality of the clothing radically declined and their household products (in general) just seemed kind of shoddy to me. Maybe 'insubstantial' is a better word to use.

Add to this that I started doing even more shopping at Costco and online and I had less and less reason to bother with Target.

So I can totally see why they didn't get any traction in a completely new market.

The Canadian Target stores were no where even close to what they are or were in the US. From day one it was a desperate looking liquidation store at best, although cleaner. Poor selection, higher prices and no stock on the shelves made it nearly impossible to buy anything.

[Strutz]

Thanos Thanos:

I used to go to Zellers all the time when they were still around. For all the criticism they got I found them to be a good source of basic household stuff like cleaning supplies, sheets, towels, cookware, etc, that was affordable plus had the benefit of not having to go anywhere near WalMart. I think I went into Target maybe twice in the last two years. Saw the empty shelve, didn't have what I was looking for, so I ended up at CanTire instead. Terrible for the employees but in terms of a hit for the retail market it isn't going to be a great loss in the slightest.

Zellers was often my choice for the same products you mention as well. I rarely had any issues with products or service there.

Something I found strange was the transition from Zellers to Target. The Zellers store in Richmond shut down in February 2013 when Target took it over and of course it was closed for the changeover. I moved from Richmond in June and when I went back down there that October they still had not finished doing "renovations" to the store so it was not open yet. 8 months later? Why? It's not like they needed to rebuild the building, the store was in a mall and was still in perfectly good condition.

I don't get why it didn't work out considering they seem to be a big thing in the US.

A big fail for sure.

[martin14]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e22457908/


http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sony-ca ... -1.2902094

[Regina]

Strutz Strutz:

I don't get why it didn't work out considering they seem to be a big thing in the US.

A big fail for sure.

Easy. They didn't duplicate their business model used in the US.

[DrCaleb]

martin14 martin14:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/bombardier-to-slash-1000-jobs-take-14-billion-impairment-charge/article22457908/


http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sony-ca ... -1.2902094