Target Canada lost $1 billion last year

[torontogal12]

Big yikes for Target!

http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/ne...ated-to-canada

[Shwa Girl]

Big yikes for Target!

http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/ne...ated-to-canada

Why oh why do journalists bury good news near the end of their articles?

Despite the rocky start, Target announced last month that it will be continuing with its Canadian expansion with the opening of nine more stores this year.
It plans on opening two locations in Mississauga, Ont., and one store each in Toronto, Ottawa and Barrie, Ont. Stores will also be added in Edmonton, Victoria, Winnipeg and Candiac, Que.
Five of the locations will be in former Zellers locations, while the others will be newly constructed stores.
By the end of 2014,, Target said it will have a total of 133 locations in Canada.

[Shwa Girl]

Hmmm. What would Warren Buffet do with this news? Would he see this stock as a bargain? Would he see this as a buying opportunity for shares? Hmmm.

[Peachykeen2007]

maybe if they had a store that is closer to MANY people they would benefit

as for here in Winnipeg, I refuse to drive 30 minutes to even think about stepping foot into Target!

since they have opened I have shopped there twice ONLY because of the clearance section, and honestly the money I saved in store was spent on the gas to get there

[torontogal12]

It is not a journalist's job to spread only good news. That's the job of people in public relations. It is a journalist's job to spread news, whether it is positive or negative. In this case, $1 billion loss is too big to ignore and is much more newsworthy than the fact that they are continuing to open stores.

Will people talk about "Oh Target is opening more stores again?" or will they talk about "Geez, Target lost $1 billion."

Why oh why do journalists bury good news near the end of their articles?

[Shwa Girl]

It is not a journalist's job to spread only good news. That's the job of people in public relations. It is a journalist's job to spread news, whether it is positive or negative. In this case, $1 billion loss is too big to ignore and is much more newsworthy than the fact that they are continuing to open stores.

Will people talk about "Oh Target is opening more stores again?" or will they talk about "Geez, Target lost $1 billion."

Valid. Yes, journalists want people to read their articles.
O.k. Maybe they won't spread only good news.

Soooo, I'll take it on. I will spread the positive side of the story, as I see it anyway.

IMHO, Target's purpose here is to make the other guys stand up and give us deals - deals we should have had long ago, with our strong dollar.
Guess what? It's happening.
Wallys, Crappy Tire, Bloblaws and the others-- they are putting out the deals.

We win! Again!
Let the games continue!

[Shwa Girl]

Oh, just remembered.
Today. Bloblaws, located across from Tarjay had Royale on special. Same price as Target clearance.
Ice Melters was on sale. In February. Loblaws waits for end of season to reduce their ice melters.

Wally World had deals on last weekend. They were across from a Tarjay Boutique. So we win. Again.

So I say bring on the Tarjays, The Marshalls, The Home Depots, The Lowes.
Let the games continue!

[Chantel]

It was to be expected. Between feeling out their market and the debit card issues that plagued the US and freaked out Canadians, I can see why.

Next year will be better.

[mulock]

Row, row, row your boat....gently in the financial red.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, business is but to blame.

[torontogal12]

I agree. Re: feeling out the market especially, I think.

They are used to American consumption patterns. When DH lived in US, we were shocked by just how much stuff people would buy at teh grocery store. How many decorations they had on their house. They just buy a lot more stuff, from what I've noticed. Meanwhile in Canada, $15 Christmas stockings were being firesold at Dollarama prices because they bought too much stuff. I don't think Canadians buy new Xmas stockings every year. Our Target had a GIANT wall of them until February. Donno if this is the case in the US but I don't think they would overbuy so much stock to the point they'd have to sell it for nothing. Not good business.

Just growing pains in Canada

It was to be expected. Between feeling out their market and the debit card issues that plagued the US and freaked out Canadians, I can see why.

Next year will be better.

[Darth Penguin]

It was to be expected. Between feeling out their market and the debit card issues that plagued the US and freaked out Canadians, I can see why.

Next year will be better.

I agree. Re: feeling out the market especially, I think.

They are used to American consumption patterns. When DH lived in US, we were shocked by just how much stuff people would buy at teh grocery store. How many decorations they had on their house. They just buy a lot more stuff, from what I've noticed. Meanwhile in Canada, $15 Christmas stockings were being firesold at Dollarama prices because they bought too much stuff. I don't think Canadians buy new Xmas stockings every year. Our Target had a GIANT wall of them until February. Donno if this is the case in the US but I don't think they would overbuy so much stock to the point they'd have to sell it for nothing. Not good business.

Just growing pains in Canada

ITA..Target came into an almost saturated market cold and has had to start from the ground up with everything from premises to staff to distribution.

I see losing $1 bn as a small price to pay if they can crack open the Canadian market as they get more experienced in dealing with Canadian shoppers and the inital out-lay is reduced to almost nothing in the upcoming years' finicial reports.

[MikeSelmann]

We mus not forget that Canadian shoppers are not the same as the American shoppers. I think Canadian shoppers also want service (Value) besides the price tag. We must not cheer too much the arrival of huge corporations. It might be good for consumers however, lower prices to a point of "risk" of "no-profit" is bad long term business. Huge corporations will close all small independent stores permanently. That could have negative impact in the future. Target or the rest BIG BOYS/GALS might appear that they "like" consumers and that they are "nice", however their goal is "Market Share". Do not forget Wal***t did the damage once. On a long run the consumers will loose, Why? Because once the domination is achieved then the "price" will be going upwards with clever marketing tactics. Big Corporations influence our daily lives and to some extent our behavior, thy also pressure governments to pass laws that are unethical and unfair (through lobbying). Do you want Canada to be owned by Foreign Corporations that will blackmail the country?

[PurpleBunny89]

maybe if they had a store that is closer to MANY people they would benefit

as for here in Winnipeg, I refuse to drive 30 minutes to even think about stepping foot into Target!

since they have opened I have shopped there twice ONLY because of the clearance section, and honestly the money I saved in store was spent on the gas to get there

My closest store is 45 minutes away and I've never seen anything even close to the clearance price brags I always see on here. We are supposed to be getting one eventually north of us but it would still be a half hour drive for me. Granted I do live somewhere where I'd prefer there was no Target, currently we have only a handful of "big" stores and I'd like to keep it that way.

[Ciel]

People who shop at Target will be excited to know of other store openings-spreading word to their people or visiting the stores themselves to see what is being offered.
Valid point made above by other SCer-Target had to build its own supply chain in Canada-sunk costs that can be depreciated over time by accounting dept.

[mulock]

It's funny now because whenever I go to Target, I am only looking for "clearance" stickers.....I have yet to buy anything there that was regular price. I treat Target like a "hide and seek" opportunity for deals only.