[Johnny_H]

Woolco, Eaton's, Simpsons.... what makes Zellers so special? They all sell the same shit, cheap furniture, even cheaper clothing, dvd's, toys. All pretty much are U.S. made, which in turn are really Chinese made.

Canada doesn't really make anything to sell in these stores, its all one giant Wal-Mart to me anyway.

[Canadian_Mind]

Went to Target several times now. Product quality is slightly better than Wal-Mart, and prices are a bit higher. But the service kicked ass.

Would be a step up for people who don't want to shop at Wal-mart. Not everything in Target is made in China.

[bootlegga]

andyt andyt:

Can't pay employees decent wages - that's not today's business model. Squeeze every penny you can, to squeeze prices as low as possible is the only way to get customers. Most of the profit goes to Asia either way, as we buy all their crap. And cut our own throats to save a buck.

Profits go to Asia? I doubt it, none of the profits go to Asia. Asia may make profits on manufacturing goods for the West, but the vast majority of profits from Wal-Mart/Target/big box stores go to shareholders and CEOs, not Asia.

The old model was buy a widget made here for $8 and sell it for $20 to customers. After labour/infrastrucutre, the company made $2-3.

Nowadays, that widget is made in Asia for $1, another $2 is spent on shipping it here and it gets sold for $15. Labour and infrastructure still cost about the same, but profits jump because the product costs far less to manufacture.

There's a reason why the stock market is valued hundreds of times higher than it was in 60s and it isn't because profits are going to Asia. It because stock prices on average are far higher than in the past - because of increased earnings and dividend payouts.

[QBC]

Well, I just read in our local paper that our Zellers store is probably a thing of the past. Or should I say, that there probably won't be a Target store here and the Zellers will just go away. Strange considering the market and money here.

[BionicBunny]

My view and my experiences of how it works. The box companies/chain stores don't just give a contract to a company in China. They actually give the contract to the company with the lowest quote on manufacture of goods. I have seen a majority of products in stores marked China, Afghan, Pakistan, Vietnam and India.

There are stores where companies have to pay them to carry their product (they lease shelf space by levels and width/length). Also there are stores where they have a arrangement that goods returned by a customer are in the end, refunded in cost by manufacturer 100% back to the store.

And yet some stores possibly still get away with telling their employees they can't afford to pay them a decent wage.

Oh and by-the-way, Wal-Mart (at least the one I applied to) start their employees off at minnimum wage.

[bootlegga]

Interesting...

$1:

Fairweather files $250M lawsuit against Target, claims trademark infringement

TORONTO - Fairweather Ltd. has filed a $250-million lawsuit in the Federal Court of Canada against American discount retailer Target.

In documents filed Monday, Fairweather is also seeking an injunction to prevent the U.S. company from using the Target name in Canada.

The court documents say Toronto-based Fairweather has owned the Canadian rights to the name for 10 years.

The documents say Fairweather has been operating a Toronto clothing store under the name "Target Apparel" since 2005.

The American discount retailer announced last week that it plans to open more than 200 stores in Canada.

Both companies have refused to comment on the court action.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/fairweather-fi ... 5-338.html

[wildrosegirl]

[quote="bootlegga"]Interesting...

Very...

I like it.

[ShepherdsDog]

Someone is looking at making some cash for selling the rights to the name.