TARGET Closing all stores in Canada

CBC ^ | 1.15.2015 | CBC Staff

[golux]

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 as customers faced higher-than-expected prices, and empty shelves as the retailer had problems with its distribution chain.

Executives repeatedly promised they would get it right, but ultimately decided to pull the plug.

"After a thorough review of our Canadian performance and careful consideration of the implications of all options, we were unable to find a realistic scenario that would get Target Canada to profitability until at least 2021," CEO Brian Cornell said in a release Thursday, explaining the justification for the shutdown.

[ctdonath2]

Huh? What makes you think The Bay is going under? Startling news indeed if it is, indeed having a very long and very storied history.

[Darksheare]

I got “laid off”, then our manager got caught giving customers his employee discount, they canned him right before his stock options kicked in.
They also finally noticed that he was abusing the commission system, he was stealing everyone’s commission.
[The system was such that you could split commission, he’d snake 100% of it off of everyone. Then pontificate at us about not meeting commission or sales numbers.]

[Mom MD]

I usually shop at Target. Went into a Walmart and had the misfortune of having to try something on. I’m not a germaphobe, but the dressing rooms were filthy - I didn’t want to take my clothes off to try on a pair of jeans.

Also couldn’t find anyone who habla Inglais in the store to help me. I have never gone back to a Walmart - I’d rather go to a third world country but Im being redundant.

My favorite store is Kohls, but occasionally have to go to Target for some things Kohls doesn’t carry.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I wonder what the real problem is.

[ltc8k6]

133 stores in ~2 years?

[dfwgator]

Le fin pour Le Target.

[Squawk 8888]

Ironically that’s the kind of advertising that helped kill them; instead of prices in the ads & flyers everything was listed as “save xx%”, which conveyed no useful information. Combine that with the fact that nearly all sale items were out of stock (they once advertised a printer when they only had three in stock in all of Toronto) and you guarantee that shoppers will stay away in droves.

[golux]

A few things went wrong. (And no, Target wasn't and isn't anything like Zeller's, which was more of a "dollar store" environment.) First, Target never fully understood how Canadians would perceive a retail outlet whose in-store prices were drastically different from (US) online prices. (Canada is a BIG country and even without all the taxes and tariffs, it adds to the price of a widget when you have to truck it from China to [Los Angeles to] Montreal to Edmonton...) Second, Target never properly differentiated itself in the mind of the Canadian consumer from Wal-Mart. I am a professional marketer and was watching this very serious positioning problem from the beginning. Finally, frankly, Canadians do not like Americans and American things. They simply don't. They do not like you. Period. No matter what you think is going on, no matter about your "friend in Montreal," they do not like you. To be a Canadian is to not be an American. Frankly, all of this could have been avoided with a few more maple leaves plastered here and there, fewer loud, fruity Madison Avenue creatives, and an effort, like the Hudson's Bay Co. and others made, to hire men like me to help guide public perception.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Apparently Target in Canada was an epic fail.
They failed to grasp many things unique to Canadian
consumers and the Canadian market. Plus their shoppers
had already set their price expectations based on shopping in their US stores, which were impossible to match in Canada.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Canadians do not like Americans and American things. They simply don't. They do not like you. Period.

I'd say that's a bit unfair. Do they want an identity distinct from Americans? Sure. But I have always found the majority of Canadians to be very nice, polite people, who if they had any criticism of the US, offered it in respectful tones, and never got in my face with harsh anti-US rhetoric.

[old and tired]

I haven't set foot in a Target since they filed that gay marriage amicus brief. I can't say that I'm boycotting them since I know it's only a matter of time before I break down and run in there for something. But right now I'm still so angry that they couldn't just sell me reasonably priced yogurt and underwear and stay the heck out of politics.

Target was my go to store for quite a few years when I needed both groceries and some other household or clothing item. Now when I'm in that situation, I drive the extra 10 minutes to Walmart even though their clothes are crappier than Target's.

I'm sorry for all the Target employees - most of whom have seemed like nice people to me. But their employer should have minded its own business instead of foisting its vision of the world on its customers.

[Dr. Sivana]

Finally, frankly, Canadians do not like Americans and American things. They simply don't. They do not like you. Period.

You mean my wife doesn't like me?

[Rinnwald]

All I know is if Tim Horton’s invades the U.S., I surrender!

[Paladin2]

I still stop by RS to get nickel and dime electronic parts. I am typically delayed at checkout by morons complaining about the cell phones they acquired there.

[Seruzawa]

HOSERS!

[dfwgator]

Fry’s pretty much replaced RS.

[Beagle8U]

What Canada ( Ontario ) needs is stores that sell sporting goods at reasonable prices.

Last time I was there on a fishing trip I couldn’t believe how expensive basic tackle was. Prices were 10-15X the cost of what they are in the US, and that wasn’t some remote area, it was about 50 miles from Toronto.

I gave some locals some plastic grubs that were working well on Walleye and they didn’t want to accept them without paying. I found out it would have cost them $50 for that bag of 100 plastic grubs that I had paid less than $3 for!

[Proud2BeRight]

Been to Radio Shack once in the past 2-3 years. Purchased a specialized audio cable.
Walked into a Target once in the past year and that was only because I was walking along with someone else and they wanted to get something.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

All I know is if Tim Horton’s invades the U.S., I surrender!

Tim Horton's has been in the U.S. for decades, mostly in the northeast.

[Paladin2]

I don,t have a local Fry,s. Internet vendors work when I can plan ahead.