Target Closing All Stores in Canada

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Re: Target Canada In Store Clearance

Post by dulait » Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:15 pm

Stragus wrote:
harry99 wrote:This was surprising - you'd think that after all the money that they invested they would have stuck it out a bit longer...
Some critical mistakes have been made, and they somehow decided it was cheaper to pull out than to fix them.
Yes, they are taking the short cut out due to being pressured by their investors. Instead of digging themselves deeper for another 6-10 years before any real profits, mind them, Walmart did not start out with big profits back then either. But they decided they would rather cut their lost and tuck their tail and run. Second largest NA retail, really? No wonder they will always be second, and with acts like this, they will eventually be surpass. In the meantime, Walmart will rule, we will see less clearance sales. Good news is, places like TRU will get to stick around longer now Target is gone.

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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by Brick & Blue » Fri Jan 16, 2015 8:31 am

Target was incredibly stupid. They built all their stores in only locations that an other department store... that went bankrupt. So their whole Canada operation was going to be a failure from the start.

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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by hatcher » Fri Jan 16, 2015 11:03 am

Zellers didn't go bankrupt. Technically, the parent company just decided to shut them down. They were not doing well that is true.

Target made several mistakes. They opened too many stores at once. They gave their competition 2 years to prepare for their arrival. They didn't take the time to understand their target customers. They didn't get their supply chain organized. They didn't have an online presence. They laid out their stores in a screwy way. The list goes on.

They just finally opened a location in Barrie. I go in from time to time. Most of the shelves are nearly empty. The seasonal department is at the far back end of the store. I am not a business major by any stretch, but when its Christmas time, you stick your Christmas stuff right at the front (like Walmart does) since you are more likely to say "hey, we could use some more tinsel" if YOU CAN SEE IT. $2 Billion is a very expensive lesson, but the good news is, Canadian business schools can use this as a case study for their MBA students for the next 20 years.
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Re: Target Canada In Store Clearance

Post by Blacknight » Fri Jan 16, 2015 11:38 am

dulait wrote:
Stragus wrote:
harry99 wrote:Good news is, places like TRU will get to stick around longer now Target is gone.
How is this good news? Tru hardly had any Lego sales this year.

I miss Target already and they haven't even left yet. Shopping there was one of the bright spots throughout 2014. Us stupid Canadians will get what we deserve - a Walmart monopoly.

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Re: Target Canada In Store Clearance

Post by Piece_of_Evil » Fri Jan 16, 2015 11:52 am

While the selection throughout the store was lacking, the Lego shelves had a decent deal or two often enough. Can't say the same for our local Walmart though.

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Re: Target Canada In Store Clearance

Post by joelones » Fri Jan 16, 2015 11:53 am

Agree with Blacknight. This hurts the Canadian economy on many fronts. Not only will close to 18,000 people lose their jobs, but large monopolies serve only to dictate prices at the registers. Ultimately less competition means less choice, equating to higher prices, for all of us - yeah, I know in Walmart's case that's a bit of an oxymoron.

More so, I think the news is just as damaging. News of Target bowing out serves to signal to other retailers/businesses comtemplating entering the Canadian market to think twice.
Last edited by joelones on Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Target Canada In Store Clearance

Post by mrbean » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:06 pm

I agree less competition is bad for prices, and I'll miss being able to shop at Target.

On the news front I do hope that other businesses take note of the things that Target did poorly. Number 1 being not having a functional website. Number 2 I also feel that they could have offered more frequent sales and had a better price match policy. Often times I wanted to shop there to get the additional 5% redcard savings but wasn't able to price match a website because I don't have a phone with a data plan, and they wouldn't check for me.

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Re: Target Canada In Store Clearance

Post by joelones » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:21 pm

Well, let's hope that future businesses entering Canada study the soon-to-be business case Why Target Failed in Canada before entering the market. Being a pessimist at heart, the following may still sway big business away.

Not sure if it was the lack of a fully functional website/bad price match policy that did them in. I think the Canadian market is so diverse when it comes to tastes, buying habits and regulations. The Maritime, QC, ON, out-west markets need to all be treated differently - on all counts. Think of the amount of market research required. More so, Canadian suppliers are not as numerous compared to US suppliers which explains why the shelves were so barren at most Targets. They had to source their inventory from US suppliers which lead to delays. Furthemore, you eluded to the Website as being a big problem, although I don't see it as the major cause, the retailing landscape no doubt is changing as well. Ultimately the relatively small Canadian market, being a fracition of the size of the US market, may prove to be more trouble than it's worth. The cost/benefit analysis may be skewed in favour of the former.

But let's hope I'm wrong.

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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by pdaaat » Fri Jan 16, 2015 1:16 pm

hatcher wrote:Zellers didn't go bankrupt. Technically, the parent company just decided to shut them down. They were not doing well that is true.

Target made several mistakes. They opened too many stores at once. They gave their competition 2 years to prepare for their arrival. They didn't take the time to understand their target customers. They didn't get their supply chain organized. They didn't have an online presence. They laid out their stores in a screwy way. The list goes on.

They just finally opened a location in Barrie. I go in from time to time. Most of the shelves are nearly empty. The seasonal department is at the far back end of the store. I am not a business major by any stretch, but when its Christmas time, you stick your Christmas stuff right at the front (like Walmart does) since you are more likely to say "hey, we could use some more tinsel" if YOU CAN SEE IT. $2 Billion is a very expensive lesson, but the good news is, Canadian business schools can use this as a case study for their MBA students for the next 20 years.
You've the most intelligent notes on their issues I have ever read so far. I thank you.

The stores I go to were among the first to open. After the first few months I didn't see much in the way in stock issues. I work for a manufacturer that actually supplies them. So many things they did seem so poorly done.

I liked the clean, new stores and I will miss them. I enjoy shopping there but to be honest it's because it's never crowded.

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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by Bertramtalespinner » Fri Jan 16, 2015 3:24 pm

I know someone who worked in a stock room for a short while and there were definitely problems. Mostly though, we were used to Walmart and those who had been to US stores were expecting the same, and it wasn't. I'll miss their clearance policy and the possibility of exclusives as well as the Pecan cluster cereal. Not sure what could take their place. Or how long we'll have Sears for that matter.

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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by suckerpunch83 » Fri Jan 16, 2015 6:01 pm

Brick & Blue wrote:Target was incredibly stupid. They built all their stores in only locations that an other department store... that went bankrupt. So their whole Canada operation was going to be a failure from the start.
Gee I guess looking at it from your point of view Walmart should have been a huge failure in Canada when it took over the Woolco Department stores. Just because one company fails in a certain location doesn't mean another will. :crazy:

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Re: Target Canada In Store Clearance

Post by Blacknight » Fri Jan 16, 2015 10:11 pm

Eh, are Walmarts across the country really particularly different in terms of the stock they carry? All the same American/Chinese junk.

I think Target just went too big too fast. They should have started with a quarter of the number of the stores and concentrated their supply chain resources on making sure they were well stocked, with cut throat prices that helped build their competitive reputation in Canada. It was arrogance all around that doomed them: Target management arrogance that they could just waltz into Canada and take over without first building much of a foundation, not to mention the general arrogance of Canadian consumers that makes them reluctant to shop at new places, no matter how clean the stores are and how good the customer service is.

Walmart is a trash heap with poorly laid out stores and indifferent employees; they just stuck it out long enough for the notoriously conservative Canadian consumer to become familiar with them. Sure their everyday prices on most merchandise is better, but only by like 6 cents (is anyone really fooled by that?). Meanwhile their discounts are weak compared to Target 30/50/70% off clearance sales. However, taking advantage of such Target sales required the Canadian consumer to do a bit of leg work which is apparently too much to ask of people in the great white north if they can't browse a website that tells them where to go to hoard things.

I'll never forget the experience of walking into a largely empty Target in the first week of Dec. 2013 and coming upon my first mass 50% off Target sale. Shelves full of untouched half price Lego. What a Christmas feast, I was like a kid in a candy shop. Knowing what a once in a blue moon opportunity finding 50% off Lego was here in Canada, I loaded a whole shopping cart full of Lego (over $300 worth). That's something I had never ever done before and will probably never do again in this country with its crippling Lego prices. It was a better than boxing day bonanza, at a leisurely time of my choosing in the evening, without the crowds (or heck, really anyone else).

Sure scalpers can still use their bots to troll Walmart and buy their stock in the first 30 seconds, but it's not the same thing as personally loading up a shopping cart yourself, sending streams of pristine boxes down the checkout counter conveyor belt, and paying for it all with cold hard cash at the end. Getting crushed boxes and credit card bills in the mail is sad in comparison.

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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by Joseywales » Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:14 pm

I liked shopping at Target, my biggest problem with them closing is that Wal-Mart is now going to become even worse, they can raise the price on their goods and slash employee hours.... as if the line-ups there aren't long enough as it. They can do all of this because they no longer have a direct competitor so it's really going to suck for us now.

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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by SpaceNinjaDino » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:21 am

This is terrible news. My sympathy to all the losses involved.

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Target Canada

Post by Tessa » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:47 pm

Hi everyone, I'm sure most people have heard Target Canada will be closing. I'm wondering if we are going to see some really good Lego deals??! Currently they have a few discounted sets but only around 30% off.

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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by timtosino » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:53 pm

Not much LEGO left on the shelf at mine.. in fact people were pulling $80+ sets off the shelf that weren't on sale.. Whether they actually bought them at full price is a mystery.

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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by Tessa » Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:35 pm

Just found out today the Metrotown (Burnaby) Target has NO Lego left. It was completely cleared out Saturday. Every store is priced differently. My local Target is still at only 30% off a few sets.

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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by darbee » Tue Jan 20, 2015 11:45 pm

Tessa wrote:Just found out today the Metrotown (Burnaby) Target has NO Lego left. It was completely cleared out Saturday. Every store is priced differently. My local Target is still at only 30% off a few sets.
They had a bit of lego on the shelf at around 8:00ish tonight, but not a lot and nothing really on sale.

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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by hatcher » Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:52 am

Barrie Target is pretty sparse as of Wednesday night. Lego aisle has one or two copies of sets, next to no Friends, no minfigures. Read somewhere that they are cancelling any orders that they haven't already paid for. I think there will be very little LEGO left when they officially start liquidating. The electronics department was looking pretty sad too. My kids love Skylanders, and they had next to none. Disney Infinity was cleaned out too.
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Re: Target Closing All Stores in Canada

Post by jamessergon » Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:30 am

The thing is: it seems like the announce of Target closing has attracted a LOT of resellers. I went to the local Target last Sunday, but i had to go back on Monday early afternoon. Sunday, there were a whole "row" (5-6) of boxes of some Marvel Legos, a whole "row" of Artic/City with the helicopter, and another one of Star Wars (the one with General Misgrievous), all gone by Monday (they were about the only Lego sets missing from Sunday when i was there). So i guess a reseller picked them all and is hoping to make a few bucks each. I mean, come on. I so freaking hate resellers who have no love for Lego but are only looking to create a rarity and raise up the price for those who care.

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