Retail meltdown: Target Canada goes belly up

[KeithTalent]

Not always, we laid some peeps off and they got jobs in a 3-4 weeks, and were still collecting severance.

Yeah severance we pay here they still get no matter whether they find a job the next week, or 6 months down the road.

KT

 

[KMFJD]

This sort of comes as a surprise. The Target here in Victoria hasn't even been open for a year. Probably closer to 6 months. They built a brand spanking new one at the Hillside Mall and it quickly became a go to for us since it was right next to our grocery store. I have no clue what will go in there now... it'll just be a dead space along with the soon to be gone Sears.

Same here, been open maybe for 14 months or so, rebuilt the old Zellers/KMart store and the rest of the strip mall, never seemed busy.

 

[Imp]

Yeah severance we pay here they still get no matter whether they find a job the next week, or 6 months down the road.

KT

Damn. Really? I was hoping to get laid off or fired without cause so bad before I left my last place.

 

[Ayrahvon]

Same here, been open maybe for 14 months or so, rebuilt the old Zellers/KMart store and the rest of the strip mall, never seemed busy.

Ours was fairly busy, never packed. Its prices weren't as good as walmart, but for housewares I would say Target has always been nicer...

 

[KeithTalent]

Damn. Really? I was hoping to get laid off or fired without cause so bad before I left my last place.

Yeah. Me too; that would be great.

KT

 

[waffleironhead]

I was salesfloor/electronics and I worked part time during college. Hated that place...still refuse to shop at Target because of how much I couldn't stand working there.

Only good memory I had was making out with one of the managers after hours :wub:. She was cute.

Then we're are like red team brothers! I worked flow team in Fort Collins. Many many years ago. Wanna see my team member of the month award? Wonder where that thing went...
Sometimes in wonder if my connect four game is still in the break room there, helping people while away their short breaks, but I digress.

 

[Ns1]

Then we're are like red team brothers! I worked flow team in Fort Collins. Many many years ago. Wanna see my team member of the month award? Wonder where that thing went...
Sometimes in wonder if my connect four game is still in the break room there, helping people while away their short breaks, but I digress.

I was cashier/cart attendant in 1999 :biggrin: permanent no rehire status for quitting with 1 week notice.

For a company that required mandatory drug testing before hire, I sure worked with a lot of people who did drugs.

 

[moonbogg]

Any takers? I can buy and ship from Target USA to Targetless frozen north.

 

[KMFJD]

Ours was fairly busy, never packed. Its prices weren't as good as walmart, but for housewares I would say Target has always been nicer...

I think more people went in there for the Starbucks than to shop to be honest.

 

[sdifox]

Any takers? I can buy and ship from Target USA to Targetless frozen north.

shipping plus exchange kills the deal.

 

[BoberFett]

So pretty much the US F--- Canada's Economy.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That did not take long.

I never even went to a Target before. Guess it will be quite a while before that happens.

Funny thing is there was rumors at one point that Sears was going to close here and be replaced with Target, but that did not happen. Or maybe it was Zellers... Zellers is gone though. They just split off that section into smaller stores.

The sad reality is all the jobs that will be affected by this though. Our unemployment rate already is high, it's going to be worse now. Not enough jobs for everybody.

 

[BoberFett]

They opened 133 stores in 2 years? What kind of idiot planned their expansion?

If you're doing all the work to expand into a new international market, and expect to be successful, it makes sense to go big. There would be a lot of overhead just to open in a new country, and a smaller presence would make it harder to establish a brand, not giving you a good idea of demand. Of course 20 stores in a smaller geographic region may have still been appropriate as a test...

 

[Imp]

That did not take long.

I never even went to a Target before. Guess it will be quite a while before that happens.

Funny thing is there was rumors at one point that Sears was going to close here and be replaced with Target, but that did not happen. Or maybe it was Zellers... Zellers is gone though. They just split off that section into smaller stores.

The sad reality is all the jobs that will be affected by this though. Our unemployment rate already is high, it's going to be worse now. Not enough jobs for everybody.

Sears has dumped a lot of stores. They even got rid of the one at the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto. It's being replaced with a Nordstrom. They still have stores in smaller malls though, I think. Target bought out Zellers' leases and renovated their stores if I remember right.

Canada's done. This is probably what pessimists (like me) have been waiting for. Housing market's one of the most overpriced according to a number of international organizations, oil price is killing well paying jobs, retail's going, and everyone's forgotten that Canadians are among the most indebted (debt to income ratio of over 1.60). And what is it? Something like 20% of GDP is construction related? A leads to B leads to C...

 

[Red Squirrel]

Sears has dumped a lot of stores. They even got rid of the one at the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto. It's being replaced with a Nordstrom. They still have stores in smaller malls though, I think. Target bought out Zellers' leases and renovated their stores if I remember right.

Canada's done. This is probably what pessimists (like me) have been waiting for. Housing market's one of the most overpriced according to a number of international organizations, oil price is killing well paying jobs, retail's going, and everyone's forgotten that Canadians are among the most indebted (debt to income ratio of over 1.60). And what is it? Something like 20% of GDP is construction related? A leads to B leads to C...

Yeah things arn't looking too good. Kind of scary really. My city is mostly mining, and revolves around gold. If the price of gold drops I know this city is probably screwed, at least temporarily. We've been lucky that gold has been high for a while now but that's going to burst eventually too.

 

[Sonikku]

In 30 years the only stores left will be Walmart and amazon.

 

[Rudee]

The company came in under the impression that they were going to have US style pricing.

Um, no. It was some ignorant consumers who believed that would be the case.

 

[JEDI]

Canadians are among the most indebted (debt to income ratio of over 1.60).

huh?
the avg Canadian citizen has 160% debt?!

 

[SKORPI0]

http://www.target.ca/en/locations

A lot of the stores are mostly city to city. Poor planning IMHO, to open 133 stores in such a short time (<2 years) without checking how the early stores panned out.

6 stores in the Edmonton area alone, all within 3-5 miles from each other.

 

[RossMAN]

Is it true that Canadians still love crossing the border to shop at Target USA?

CostCo even more so.

 

[sportage]

Something is going on in retail. And beyond just retail.
While Wally World complains about their drop in sales, the others simply go belly up.
And gas will soon be under a dollar a gallon.
MAybe, just maybe, this idea of screwing the middle class out of existence, as well as the unions that build the middle class, just maybe that philosophy isn't working out as well as politicians and the Fox Newsed brain washed had expected?

Restaurants are empty, stores are empty, movie theaters are empty, and while more and more people are finding jobs, just as with car technology for saving gas, consumers are saving resources as well. Staying home, and conserving money, reducing debt.

Technology re-built cars to get better mileage and consume less gas.
And that is reflecting in lower gas prices because the need just isn't there, not like before.

And consumers were told to save, pay off credit cards, and get out of debt because the financial future was unknown, so people did exactly that.
Retail, like the oil companies, are feeling the pain.
Cars and consumers are doing exactly what was instructed they do. Strive for efficiency.
And it all makes sense.

If employment is on the rise, with people finding those much needed jobs, then naturally people are going to change their spending habits this second time around.
Less impulse buying, reducing debt, fewer credit cards, less technology addictions, and maybe that new iPhone purchase can just wait for another time.

When you have a strong middle class with a reasonable safety net in place, and unions in place to ensure a level playing field when it comes to wages and benefits, then you will have more people out there in the stores with cash in hand.
Just like those good ole days.

But when politicians demonize all that made the middle class what they are, or once were, and strip and chip away at their core, we get exactly what they wanted.
A middle class in poverty, a great divide in wealth, and that snowball effect.
I think Reagan called it that trickle down economics theory.

Isn't it wonderful how their short termed greed can turn around into their long term misery.
And they wonder why...

 

[zerocool84]

Here in the states I vastly prefer Target to Walmart. I hate shopping at Walmart. Always mad chaos, tons of people, and the worst type of people shop there, make the whole experience horrible. I gladly pay slightly more to shop at Target, nicer, cleaner, none of those Walmart shoppers, a better overall experience.

 

[mmntech]

Canada's done. This is probably what pessimists (like me) have been waiting for. Housing market's one of the most overpriced according to a number of international organizations, oil price is killing well paying jobs, retail's going, and everyone's forgotten that Canadians are among the most indebted (debt to income ratio of over 1.60). And what is it? Something like 20% of GDP is construction related? A leads to B leads to C...

Hard to say. The feds are taking a cautious approach. Mismanagement at the provincial level is a worsening problem though that's fuelling the decline.

Alberta put all its eggs into one basket. Even if the oil drop is temporary, they won't meet fiscal goals for this year. It's dangerous and stupid to rely a banana republic economy. Political turmoil there between the PCs and Wild Rose hasn't helped things.

Ontario is all but broke after years of fiscal mismanagement, corruption, and pork barelling by the Liberals. There will be big tax increases that will drive even more jobs elsewhere, like their high energy rates collapsed the resource industry. The job market here is getting rough again. But hey, as long as public employees keep making six figures, and are getting guaranteed raises, they'll keep voting for them. Everyone else will just have to put in more hours working at the local Tims.

The housing market is my biggest concern though. It's the only thing propping up the economy in a lot of cities. Every outside economic agency and think tank has said that homes here are over priced between 10-30%. Due to cheap debt, a lot of people got themselves in way over their heads. When those rates go up, it's going to push a lot of people over the edge. I don't buy this soft landing BS either. That's why the feds have been tightening mortgage rules. They're scared shitless of a US style collapse. It doesn't seem to be cooling things off much though.

My other big concern is that the dummies elect Justin Trudeau as PM. He's an ass who's only there because of his father. IIRC, he was also the only idiot who actually wanted the job as Liberal leader. It was basically handed to him. I don't think he has the stones to effectively manage a McDonalds let alone run a country. Canada is severly short on strong leaders, which is why we're in so much trouble.

 

[OverVolt]

My work phone has become a subprime auto loan collections hub lately.

 

[Imp]

huh?
the avg Canadian citizen has 160% debt?!

Cheap money, expensive houses, why not borrow more? Rates never go up and jobs never get lost.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/06/19/canada-economy-debt-idINL2N0P00FG20140619

The housing market is my biggest concern though. It's the only thing propping up the economy in a lot of cities. Every outside economic agency and think tank has said that homes here are over priced between 10-30%. Due to cheap debt, a lot of people got themselves in way over their heads. When those rates go up, it's going to push a lot of people over the edge. I don't buy this soft landing BS either. That's why the feds have been tightening mortgage rules. They're scared shitless of a US style collapse. It doesn't seem to be cooling things off much though.

I was thinking that rates going up would crash the economy or burst the bubble, but then oil seemed to come out of nowhere. Now Target cut 18k jobs -- probably not high paying, but jobs that paid money, and a lot of them. Apparently, a lot of people who work in Alberta are from other provinces, possibly because they couldn't find employment at home. Factories have been shut down in Ontario over the past few years, moved back to the US, China, or Mexico... Oh, and rates are still probably going to go up. How is this not going to crash and burn?

Not that big a fan of JT, but no way I'm voting for the guy in charge now.