Target leaving Canada!

[Midnightly]

Totally agree with this. When I went to Target in the U.S. I came out empty handed. Their prices were really out there compared to Canada. I liked the Targets in Canada better!

i strongly believe that it targets prices were equal to or same as walmart on opening day people would still complain about it being "too expensive" and "wildly over priced" people expected a big box store with super ultra low American/it fell of the back of a truck prices and thats not what we got so they became miffed.. personally i found they were about on price.. some items were a tad higher some a bit lower... and after a bit things adjusted "new lower price" on many things made it on par or cheaper then walmart off the top of my head a bag of chocolate chips (brand name) 2.29, that's cheaper then walmart or any grocery store! and that's regular price

[Mulveyteach]

Totally agree with this. When I went to Target in the U.S. I came out empty handed. Their prices were really out there compared to Canada. I liked the Targets in Canada better!

I lived in the US and prices never got as low as they did here.


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[Wizerman]

I am going to miss Target a lot...... sad....

[flash67]

Wow.. this doesn't seem right.. the media claims Target Canada lost over a billion dollars.. surely as the owner of a target, this person should've noticed the negative balance sheet for their own store? Don't see how it could be a complete blindside?? A billion dollars lost across Canada..

Except the Shoppers World location was profiting... This is the reason to open another store.. However, not all Targets were at this point yet.

[whypaymore]

I don't believe it will work but I've signed the petition 'save target Canada' on change org

[torontogal12]

Wow.. this doesn't seem right.. the media claims Target Canada lost over a billion dollars.. surely as the owner of a target, this person should've noticed the negative balance sheet for their own store? Don't see how it could be a complete blindside?? A billion dollars lost across Canada..

The media doesn't "claim." This was a fact in Target's public financial statements for shareholders. This is all regulated by US and Canadian governments. No one was blindsided by anything.

http://investors.target.com/phoenix....cle&ID=1903678

The line is: During fiscal 2013, Target’s Canadian Segment generated sales of $1.3 billion at a gross margin rate of 14.9 percent and EBIT of $(941) million. Canadian operations reduced Target’s full-year 2013 GAAP EPS by$(1.13)6.

EBIT means earnings before interest and tax. The bracket around $941 million means it's negative. So that line explains that Target lost $941 million

[torontogal12]

I am sad to see Target go. I wish they had either rolled out slower, or kept 5 or so of their top stores open while they figured out the inventory problems. But really, they've had inventory problems for 2 years. How long does it take to figure it out?

We may think about lost access to products and the nice, clean stores, but we need to also remember the 17,000 Canadians who will lose work. That's huge.

[Decaf]

I am sad to see Target go. I wish they had either rolled out slower, or kept 5 or so of their top stores open while they figured out the inventory problems. But really, they've had inventory problems for 2 years. How long does it take to figure it out?

We may think about lost access to products and the nice, clean stores, but we need to also remember the 17,000 Canadians who will lose work. That's huge.

More than 5 years...I have been slowly coming back to T&T supermarket (owned by Loblaws), the price is still higher than before (not due to inflation, just price increase after Loblaws took over). When they took over, they ruined the place by getting rid of the best sushi bar in town, got rid of ethnic and deemed expensive food in favour of generic found at every other market. Produces section also suffered. Pastry goods also shrink in size (made smaller). After they noticed the lack of customers...they renovated the sushi bar (although the sushi there is still not edible). They start carrying more unique products in limited quantity, some nice Japanese / Korean personal care beauty products. Last but not least I noticed that they also bring in some novelty items during festival and holidays...It's a very slow process but I am coming back and shop there ocassionally. That's what set T&T from other asian grocery store apart is I can find these product there (I call this bait merchandises) . Foolish Loblaws if the business model work don't change it. T&T went from the busiest grocery store in town to #2 or 3, haven't recover to it's former glory.

As for Target's inventories problems...it's takes longer than a few years but due to aggressive expansion they can't afford to test the market anymore.

[immac2947]

so sad. Was in my favourite Target today --east end Ottawa-- for the first time since they made the announcement. Gone were the friendly faces I saw each time I was shopping-- usually got a hello from most of them. The cashier was a floor manager who was on cash-- she called me by name but could hardly look at me-- I know they are devastated.

[tjthemanto]

May 16 is apparently the last date for all store closure. Some will probably close down before that.

Target was the destination store or anchor store for some malls. I see even some other smaller stores closing in some of these malls, due to lack of foot traffice, if some other big store doesn't move in soon.

Copied from the SC Blog:


There were a lot of questions in the forums and in reply to our post on the news of Target closing its Canadians stores so we got some answers for you:


Store closings: First, do not expect sales right away. They expect the liquidation process to take 16-20 weeks in total with actual sales starting in 2-3 weeks (once they get a court approval for a liquidation firm). While they are in the process of cancelling orders made for Canadian stock, they have warehouses with items and agreements for orders in place so stores will be getting that stock in the coming weeks. Some stores will be closing sooner than others, once we get a list of store closings, we will share it!


Gift cards: Target Canada will continue to accept gift cards through the liquidation period.


Returns: Target stores will continue to accept returns of merchandise purchased at Target Canada stores, according to pre-existing policies. Once Target Canada begins the liquidation process, all previously purchased items as well as those purchased during the liquidation process will be final sale and will be marked as such.


Protection plans or warranties: Guests should call the company that issued the warranty for additional questions.


Red Cards: Will be honoured until the close of stores and you must pay all balances by the date listed on the final purchase.


Pharmacies and your information:  Target Canada pharmacies are operated by franchised pharmacists. Target Canada is not responsible for the custody and control of patient files. Guests should contact their pharmacy franchisee for additional information. Note that pharmacy staff are often not Target staff and will not be getting the severance package mentioned before, a few forum members have said that this is the same for other staff in Target, such as wireless experts and Starbucks staff. Since the pharmacies are independently operated, they may close earlier than stores, so it is worth checking now to move your information to another pharmacy.

If you have any specific questions, you can contact Target's customer relations team at 1.800.440.0680 or [email protected] - note that they have not been answering any questions on social media, so contacting directly is the only way to get answers.

[tjthemanto]

I think the wind down will be similar to the Zellers wind down. They were even selling store fixtures & equipment in Zellers..sad to see

Almost like vultures & hyenas circling the prey

[Meeeks85]

Target in Surrey is pretty much close to empty. I was there the night before the announcement and I told my friend, i think its happening... A few days before that i was in Langley and i overheard the manager talking about how there's not much inventory. Surrey Central has their clothing section all on clearance. None displayed on the wall. All the wall fixtures in the womens clothing area has been taken down. I think they will be one of the first stores to go.

[Lyssia510]

Just came back from Target....was walking around wanting to cry, women's clothing was getting bare. The place was full of vultures. I over heard a few people comment about how much nicer the store was than Walmart(no s**t you idiots!). Check out lines were long and people had carts filled with home decor items(don't think they were clearance either), clothing, household appliances etc. If only these people had gone to Target in the beginning.
Oh and I heard one guy who asked about a price of a crib and when they told him the price, he started yelling and screaming that they could do better on the price because they were closing and he wanted it for 75.00...security ended up escorting him out lol.

[torontogal12]

@Lyssia510 waaahh. . I've been wanting to go back to Target since we got back from vacation on Monday. Then they announce this closure and DH doesn't want to go because he doesn't want to deal with the crowds.

All I wanted was to get a new sweater and some of their bake-it-yourself buns

[theweave3162]

Well there is quite a selection of comments in here. Here are a few of mine that I did not read in the thread.

1. This should really come as no shock. There was talk of Target Can. bleeding red ink since the first day they opened. The gap only widened, not shrink. There was talk before last BF that it had better be a huge one to "save" the stores in Canada. Obviously that did not occur.
2. When Target came to Canada, they swallowed Zellers in one gulp. I do not believe that went bankrupt. According to Wikipedia, Target acquired the assets of Zeller's . It was a takeover.
3. When Target took over Zeller's it fired every single Zellers employee. Why? Simple. They were unionized. Target stores are not. Target and WM are both as big of union busters as you will find in North America. So they shut down stores, reopen under the new name and voila, no union!
4. The Target in the USA and Target in Canada are just NOT the same. When the Target name came to Canada, most people (myself included) expected the same low prices as found in Target USA. That did not happen. Things just are not the same here as in USA. Point blank. We are different, costs are higher, transportation is higher, taxes are higher. I don't think they took that into account.

So after much fanfare, Target will disappear into the abyss and be another part of our history in Canada. I think I can sum it best by saying:

They saw, they came, they faltered, they folded the tent and went running for cover!

Sad to see yes? First time it has been done, nope. Last time it will happen, hardly.

Oh and for the people talking about Sears, they have been in doo doo for years. I did see an article where they will honour Target employee discounts in their stores for a while (nice I think). May help Sears a bit. Also I read somewhere in this thread about stores where the Target are located being hurt. In what I read, a lot of them have clauses in their leases where they can break their lease if the "anchor tenant" becomes insolvent (bankrupt). With Target getting protection from creditiors, they are now insolvent. It is now part of the protection that those tenants cannot break those leases for the time being. One big legal mess which means, as always, lawyers will win while consumers get the shaft!

Bye Target, don't forget to turn off the lights when you leave us. Stay home next time.

#bringbackZellers!