Target is shutting down its Canadian operation.

[Boges]

Breaking News!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/target-killing-canadian-operations/article22458161/

I know most people didn't like Target, and I know we'll hear tropes about how this American company thought it could come up here and peddle it's cheap Chinese crap to Canadians and they've failed! As if Canadian retailers don't do the exact same thing and ignoring that Walmart is still wildly successful in Canada.

I liked the apparel in Target, I would buy clothing there often. I would go in there on occasion but it still just seemed to be a spruced up version of Zellers. And the fact they didn't have full grocery services kind of made it pointless to shop there unless you specifically wanted clothes. IMHO the appeal of Walmart is that you can go there for pretty much everything at once.

17,000 jobs lost is huge though. And the question of what happens to all these former Zellers locations?

Like with many things, the internet ruins a lot of industries, retail is no different and brick and mortar retail is yet another industry that the internet is killing. That's gotta be another factor.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Boges

[Shady]

Once again, the left gets what it wants. Take that big corporation! I'm sure they're hoping WalMart is next.

[Mighty AC]

Like with many things, the internet ruins a lot of industries, retail is no different and brick and mortar retail is yet another industry that the internet is killing. That's gotta be another factor.

A friend of mine was an executive with Target. He saw the writing on the wall 6 months ago and left the company. While there he routinely complained that despite recruiting experienced Canadian retail execs like himself, Target refused to listen to their recommendations. Apparently, they even refused to alter order quantities and continually purchased merchandise based on sales targets that we absurdly high and not at all tailored to specific markets. Anyway, the liquidation type stores certainly benefited from the endless stream of unsold merchandise purchased at 1/3 the cost.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Mighty AC

[kimmy]

I did some of my Christmas shopping at Target. Tons of parking, no lineups!

The reason I seldom went to Target is that the inventory was crap. Dismal selection of mostly crappy merchandise. I feel sorry for the people who work there, but as a shopper losing Target isn't much of a loss.

-k

[Argus]

Target was an example of how highly paid people can be totally clueless. Targets model is big box stores. But when they came to Canada they located in the same space Zellers used to occupy. Zellers model is the intermediate sized department store, not even as big as Sears or the Bay. Also, the things which work for a big box store, like having big grocery sections to draw people in to one-stop-shopping, work much less well when most of your stores are in shopping malls which already have big grocery stores with a better selection. Still, Target refused to change their model, including big, wide aisles. The results was, it seemed to me at least, the Target stores in the old Zellers locations had far less selection than even Zellers used to have. There was just no real reason to go to Target. If I needed almost anything I'd drive past the Target store and go to the Bay or Sears or Canadian Tire or Future Shop. All had comparable prices and much better selections of goods. If I was in that mall, which I am fairly frequently, I'd buy my groceries at the grocery store, and any pharmaceuticals at the pharmacy. No reason to go to Target. I think I bought small stuff there two or three times since it opened, maybe a toaster and a cordless phone. That was it.

I don't know what the malls are going to do with that space, though. There really aren't much in the way of intermediate sized stores around any more. K-mart, Zellers and Woolworth all left long ago. My brother in law works in a distribution centre which caters to Target. He said they were all screwed up, and could never decide what they wanted, or how much or when they wanted it. So just about every aspect of Target's operations in Canada was a big fail from the standpoint of really bad management.

[Accountability Now]

I would go in there on occasion but it still just seemed to be a spruced up version of Zellers.

I completely agree. I shopped at our local Target the other day for the 4th or 5th time since it opened and I made the comment as I walked in about it being a 'cleaner' Zellers. I wonder if Zellers will come and buy it back at 1/3 the price.

[Argus]

I completely agree. I shopped at our local Target the other day for the 4th or 5th time since it opened and I made the comment as I walked in about it being a 'cleaner' Zellers. I wonder if Zellers will come and buy it back at 1/3 the price.

The only reason it seemed cleaner was because they did major renos on all the stores before opening and of course, those huge wide aisles (which means lots of empty space where you don't have goods for sale). The local store near me was closed for almost a year for renos but I couldn't for the life of me notice any difference when they opened other than the looks of the cash register aisle and a much bigger grocery section. Oh, and much less selection overall. Zellers maximized its use of space to cram in more shelves. Target just had wider aisles.

[BubberMiley]

As a representative of the left, I couldn't be more pleased. Except I like having choices beyond the soul-crushing experience of Walmart shopping. I don't see how they thought making it just like Zellers only worse, with no e-commerce and poor presentation, was a viable strategy. Even worse, it appears they have no exit strategy either, so we'll likely be faced with a whole lot of empty stores for a long time to come, given the current retail landscape.

Edited January 15, 2015 by BubberMiley

[bush_cheney2004]

As a Target Corp. stockholder and loyal customer with a Target Red Card (5% off all in store purchases), I am glad this debacle in Canada is coming to an end. Pointing at Zellers just reminds me that Zellers failed in Canada long before Target.

Canadians who want an American shopping experience (lower prices and more variety) will do as they always have done....cross the border to shop.

Edited January 15, 2015 by bush_cheney2004

[Boges]

Canadians who want an American shopping experience (lower prices and more variety) will do as they always have done....cross the border to shop.

Walmart does very well in Canada. Target thought Canadians would pay anything just to be part of this cool new brand. This was a failure of management, not Canada.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Boges

[BubberMiley]

It's just another case of people in Minnesota, because they're so close to the border, thinking they have a clue about what goes on in Canada. They never really do.

[bush_cheney2004]

Walmart does very well in Canada. Target thought Canadians would pay anything just to be part of this cool new brand. This was a failure of management, not Canada.

I agree...Target Corp. never should have gone into Canada. Still, Zellers failed for a reason, no ?

[bush_cheney2004]

It's just another case of people in Minnesota, because they're so close to the border, thinking they have a clue about what goes on in Canada. They never really do.

Yeah...mostly we don't care what the hell goes on in Canada, until it begins to hurt our Target stock price.

[Argus]

I agree...Target Corp. never should have gone into Canada. Still, Zellers failed for a reason, no ?

Probably the same reason as Target failed, incompetent management.

[BubberMiley]

Yeah...mostly we don't care what the hell goes on in Canada, until it begins to hurt our Target stock price.

Yes, I count over 36,000 posts of obsessive disinterest.

But it's no surprise at all. When they opened, I didn't think they could possibly be worse than Zellers. But lo and behold, they achieved the impossible.

[GostHacked]

Once again, the left gets what it wants. Take that big corporation! I'm sure they're hoping WalMart is next.

Target's failure was their own. They even admitted they don't understand the Canadian market as well as they do in the US. I am surprised you did not blame Obama for Target's failure.

[Boges]

I don't think Zellers every "officially" failed. It was part of this HBC chain. (Bay and Home Outfitters) They shared the rewards program.

It was the low end brand and the stores showed it, but I don't remember Zellers ever being as dead as I saw Targets being.

HBC just saw a good deal because Target was willing to take the stores off their hands.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Boges

[BubberMiley]

Probably the same reason as Target failed, incompetent management.

Zellers didn't fail. They sold the business for nearly $2 billion. Now they can pick it all back up for pennies on the dollar from the Minnesota rubes if they choose. But they probably understand retail is different in the 21st century and won't bother.

[Topaz]

I know in my area, we still have high unemployment and most people who are working are low-incomers so they shop at the discount stores or Wal-mart. I heard some many say bad things about Target, I never went into the store to shop. For whatever reason out there, Canadians can't get the deals that the can in the US and Target over promised and under delivered on that.

[Michael Hardner]

Two pages on this already ? I didn't think people cared so much.

[BubberMiley]

Since I bought my house, the anchor store in the neighbourhood mall has gone from Woolco to Walmart to Zellers to Target. Now I suspect it will be empty for a long time.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Target in the U.S. go the same way. They can't be trusted with your Visa card and they don't understand e-commerce at all. Once the losses start, it's a tough ball to stop rolling.

[Shady]

Target's failure was their own. They even admitted they don't understand the Canadian market as well as they do in the US. I am surprised you did not blame Obama for Target's failure.

I'm surprised you didn't blame Mitt Romney.

[BubberMiley]

I'm surprised you didn't blame Mitt Romney.

I wouldn't bother with a comeback if I didn't have a very good comeback.

But Mitt Romney might have helped Target stop some of the bleeding. It seems they gave up too soon to me. In Winnipeg, we have a fancy big new Target with under-the-store parking that they just finished building and only opened about two months ago. If they just fixed their distribution system to keep stuff in stock and included some wearable clothes (rather than the Zellers clearance crap they were peddling), they could have turned it around.

I was looking for jeans there last week and all they had were Wranglers. Seriously, that was it: Wranglers, which advertises how they are made just for fat people. I'm sure there's a market for that, but you're not going to distinguish yourself from Walmart by that kind of fashion-forward marketing.

The rest of the shelves were disorganized or empty or filled with dollar-store crap at $5-store pricing. It's unfortunate, but it seems they had this idea that their name would sell itself and they didn't have to actually compete to get people to buy from them.

Edited January 15, 2015 by BubberMiley

[Derek 2.0]

Two pages on this already ? I didn't think people cared so much.

I'm certain the 17000 workers care.........My only experience with the store was cutting through it from the parking lot into the mall....my wife went their several times to shop, but found it nothing to jump up and down over......still feel sorry for those that lost their jobs.

[bush_cheney2004]

Yes, I count over 36,000 posts of obsessive disinterest.

But it's no surprise at all. When they opened, I didn't think they could possibly be worse than Zellers. But lo and behold, they achieved the impossible.

We're talking about Target...an American corporation. That's why I am here....the forum is obsessively slathered with America ! Target's exit from Canada helps to restore some balance in The Force.