Target Canada giving up, closing all 133 stores

[PoorGuy]

:doh: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tar...anadian-stores-gets-ccaa-protection-1.2901618 :doh:

A lot of links contained in the report to give you an idea of what lead to their decision.

There's got to be at least 1 perbert who works for Target Canada.

 

[Lo-ki]

I did go to Target and wasn't impressed and never went back.
Have a couple of friends that worked at Zellers before it was bought out by Target.
They weren't even contacted to work there.

So yea...no great loss there other then people being out of work.

 

[dark shadow]

Not impressed with the pricing. Sad to see all the jobs lost.
Too many import taxes by both level of goverments.
Consumers were all caught up in the hype expecting the
Products to be the same as state side.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

I feel bad for all the people who this is going to negatively impact.

This will be a case study in business schools one day on failed cross border expansion. This was a cluster fuck right from the beginning.
They figured that because many Canadians flock to Target on cross border shopping trips, that moving into Canada would be a slam dunk.
They totally miscalculated the Canadian marketplace. Never provided the lower prices Canadian shoppers were used to when they went to the US and could not supply the same products in Canada they did in their US stores.

I can hear the champagne corks flying off the bottles at Walmart's Canadian head office right now.

 

[Larry Storch]

Wow, two years from start to finish. That didn't last long.

 

[escapefromstress]

I did go to Target and wasn't impressed and never went back.
Have a couple of friends that worked at Zellers before it was bought out by Target.
They weren't even contacted to work there.

So yea...no great loss there other then people being out of work.

Zellers was awesome.

 

[Sonny]

Zellers was awesome.

Except that it didn't make money. If it made enough, it'd still be around.

 

[escapefromstress]

Except that it didn't make money. If it made enough, it'd still be around.

Remember Woolco before they were bought out by Walmart? Woolco was my highschool hangout.

 

[badbadboy]

It's weird that a big box store like Target from the USA couldn't make it work here.

If ever I needed anything when I was working down south the Target was usually my first stop.

So Nordstrom's is due to open up in Vancouver later this year and I would bet it does well with the Robson St shoppers. Their stores in Seattle especially Bellevue are quite amazing compared to many department stores. We also have Simon's from Quebec setting up a store at Park Royal. Hopefully, they have done their homework and are able to make it work.

 

[tokugawa]

Been to a Target down in the US but haven't visited one up here in Canada since they opened shop here. Now they're leaving.... have no idea what I am missing.

 

[Five-Guns-West]

Maybe the Americans will figure out we are different next time they try something like this.

 

[italian233]

Sorry for those losing their jobs. Been to the Target at Metro and they seemed to have lots of employees on shift. The store was never very busy even during the Christmas rush. The deals just weren't there for the consumer. Wonder if the Canadian dollar didn't drop so low if Target would have tried to make it work with a new market strategies.

 

[lenny]

I didn't shop at Zellers or Target in Vancouver. But i miss Sears downtown, as they had decent prices on some items i was interested in purchasing. Recently i've been shopping at Army & Navy and am happy with the value i'm seeing there, unlike Hudson's Bay which often costs way more for the same type of items (e.g. shoes, jackets).

 

[westwoody]

Costco does not compete with Target. The two aim at entirely different markets.

 

[princeofdarkness]

Now imagine this: 133 ROSS Dress for Less Stores across Canada BUT, with the same pricing as in the States. One can dream.

Anyways, good luck to the Staff of Target.

 

[escapefromstress]

That's a lot of unemployed people when you add up the oil industry, Target, Sony ...

 

[storm rider]

Target failed because A:lack of product on the shelves and B:non competitive pricing that they did have to sell.

I visited a Target store a total of 3 times in the last year...once whilst looking to buy a specific item(letdown) and once looking for a random bargain but not shopping for it(WIN that I found discounted golf balls) and one when looking for a specifc item but it was sold out.

To be Blunt Target fucked up real bad with it's venture into the Canadian market....crappy supply management issues as well as very bad prices VS the competition with the latter kind of like a somewhat attractive white SP who is highly restrictive up against a far prettier/younger asian gal who will rock your world.

It sucks that those people will be out of a job but they most likely will be getting 4 months of severance pay.....what makes me want to puke is the NDP getting up on the soap box and crying the blues and pinning the blame on Target's failure on the Conservative government....last time I looked the Canadian Government(Conservative) mandate did not include the running of an American big box store expansion....I guess the NDP are worried about Justine and the Libs so they are expanding to pander to the wage slave vote which currently is not included in their socialist Union vote agenda.

A bit of a rant.

SR

 

[sybian]

Targets business model for their Canadian outlets was founded on one simple idea....
And I quote "The Canadian Consumer is willing to pay more for the same item, as their U.S. counterparts"
I think that they didn't realize the average Canadian consumer is very educated about the different products we are buying.....That would also include a price comparison over the internet where you can find Targets American and Canadian prices in about 6 seconds.

 

[canuck33660]

Target failed because A:lack of product on the shelves and B:non competitive pricing that they did have to sell.

I visited a Target store a total of 3 times in the last year...once whilst looking to buy a specific item(letdown) and once looking for a random bargain but not shopping for it(WIN that I found discounted golf balls) and one when looking for a specifc item but it was sold out.

To be Blunt Target fucked up real bad with it's venture into the Canadian market....crappy supply management issues as well as very bad prices VS the competition with the latter kind of like a somewhat attractive white SP who is highly restrictive up against a far prettier/younger asian gal who will rock your world.

It sucks that those people will be out of a job but they most likely will be getting 4 months of severance pay.....what makes me want to puke is the NDP getting up on the soap box and crying the blues and pinning the blame on Target's failure on the Conservative government....last time I looked the Canadian Government(Conservative) mandate did not include the running of an American big box store expansion....I guess the NDP are worried about Justine and the Libs so they are expanding to pander to the wage slave vote which currently is not included in their socialist Union vote agenda.

A bit of a rant.

SR

Agreed 100%.

To add to the comment on the NDP .......... here in BC they are aggressively running a campaign to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. That will definitely help business?

Cannot not ever figure out why socialists are always so stupid.

 

[sybian]

Socialists tend to think they have the majority of the working class, and to some extent maybe they do.........They get into power and spend all the money on social programs.
Eventually doubling back on their promises they can't possibly afford to keep....Still holding onto the impossible dream of unlimited funds coming from the very wallets of the people that voted for them.They then attack the wealthy ,who employ these people, or own the very businesses that support the foundation of the economy they are trying to manage.
They figure if your not a team player....You don't belong.

Maybe more people would vote for you....If you didn't treat us like assholes...Thats my analysis.