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.
They lost 1.5 billion in 2 years and didn’t see a way to make it profitable until at least 2021. Damn.
Target is the latest retailer to go under in what’s becoming an increasingly tough retail environment in Canada.Fashion shops Mexx, Smart Set and Jacob have all announced plans to close down in recent months. Montreal-based Le Chateau hasn’t officially closed, but the clothing chain has been in a tough spot of late.
I wish the reporter would have dug a little deeper there because that’s where the real story is. WHY is the retail environment so tough in Canada? My guess is the taxes brought on by your social programs that send such a large percentage of your shoppers over the border to shop in the US.
Canadians plan on taking advantage of US deals this holiday season – in store and online: Almost two thirds (60 percent) of Canadians plan on taking advantage of US deals during the holiday season. Of those who plan on spending money with US retailers, 20 percent will only shop in-store south of the border, 30 percent will shop online only, and almost half (48 percent) plan to both shop online and in-store south of the border.
I had no idea it would be as high as 60% when I went searching for some data to back up my guess. I knew it would be high since such a large percentage of Canada’s population lives so close to the US border and anyone who’s been to a WNY mall knows they come over here in droves but 60% is huge.
But your prices up there are insane on everything. Your cars & houses are outrageous and as that trickles down across the board, I don’t blame any one for coming over here to consumer goods.
Jay… both of those are great info… thanks. your googling skills are strong.
I didn’t know Smart Set or Jacob were shutting down. My wife shops quite heavily there.
I would be a part of the problem actually. I buy the majority of my purchases from the US and very rarely consider buying Canadian. We have 13% retail sales tax on top of much higher prices on most things.
However, if any of you followed my new home thread we found that property taxes in WNY are about 2x - 3x as expensive as they are in Ontario.
In general though… the trends mentioned above (target, sony, jacob, mexx, smart set) combined will be 25,000+ jobs lost and when combined with the halving of the price of oil it is going to be troubling times for Canadians for a bit. Fortunately it will keep interest rates low for a while
Flight to safety? Dollar strong because crude is being tampered with? Need moar maple syrup!
If it makes yall feel any better Radio Shack is rumored to be going bankrupt and JCPenny is closing a bunch of stores.
(I haven’t been to BC since the dollar drop.)