Target shutting down in Canada

[Wormius]

A little off-topic, but along the line of American retailer invasion attempts - how has Nordstroms been faring since it opened? Is it filling a niche that The Bay or Holt Renfrew don't?

The only reason I could see it doing well in some locations is the lack of any competitors in the same mall. Is it going to flop miserably once it tries to expand.

[RedMileDJ]

Originally Posted by Wormius

A little off-topic, but along the line of American retailer invasion attempts - how has Nordstroms been faring since it opened? Is it filling a niche that The Bay or Holt Renfrew don't?

The only reason I could see it doing well in some locations is the lack of any competitors in the same mall. Is it going to flop miserably once it tries to expand.

Echoing this, I have the opinion that the day of the department store is dead. At least in Canada. The exception being Walmart, which does much more (optical, prescriptions, food, etc).

It's just a matter if time (maybe tomorrow?) before we see Sears fade away.

Personally, I dislike department stores. The Bay is awful with the way they have it setup with brands, rather than category.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

on a similar note:

Sony to close all its stores in Canada

Edit: whoops I see there's a thread for it already. My bad.

[Hack&Lube]

This is pretty depressing for me. I despise Wal-Mart and Superstore. The Canadian Target stores had a nice upbeat, clean, and modern feeling to me with their bright red and rounded shopping carts and plastic baskets. Not the chicken wire shopping carts and filthy crate baskets of Wal-Mart, etc. They also had wipe-downs to disinfect and clean carts like at Ikea. The stores were clean, bright, friendly, and made me happier in general.

The Market Pantry line of food and Targer toiletries, etc. were good too. They had the best cheap house-brand Chocolate Mint Ice Cream out of anybody I've tried. I also liked that they would have things on sale from time to time and the thing with the coupon receipts was cool.

I wish Target had a more strategic roll out than 100s of stores at once. They could have stood a chance and focused on high profitability areas to build a brand and build desirability. There was no need to replace so many Zellers all at once (I know they already avoided a few problem locations at the start). If they had built the brand from a few locations, they wouldn't have bled so much money from unprofitable ones and the scarcity of them would have created that desirability that Canadians felt when they went to the U.S. to shop.

The 5% cash back card was nice as well if you did most of your shopping at Target.

Finally, with Wal-Mart getting out of the self-checkouts as well I was extraordinarily pleased to see them at Target because heck...sometimes I don't want to go to the check out with the TMNT pajamas that I bought for myself for fun.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by automaton 3

Ditto. I avoid Walmart like the plague.

So do I, but I've found a solution: Marriage.

I dont go to Walmart, my wife does.

Originally Posted by Teh_Bandwagoner

I think people in Canada don't hate Walmart as much as Americans do. Not enough for Target to swoop up the Walmart demographic anyway. Walmarts in Canada are generally decent. In the US, Walmarts are pretty trashy, and Target is a clear step above them. Here in Canada, it was pretty much the opposite.

I dont know, I've found that most Americans love Walmart whereas you couldnt get me in there at gunpoint.

[FlamesFanStrandedInEDM]

They did have some stupid good video game deals. I bought Grand Theft Auto 5 a month after it was released for $17

[Drummer]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Random story: I was in a Target in Chicago and they didn't have the barriers around the "regular" escalator (i.e. to block out the carts). Somebody on the second floor accidentally pushed a shopping cart full of plastic bins down the "regular" escalator (instead of the shopping cart escalator), which proceeded to go crashing down to the bottom (with bins and lids flying everywhere). Fortunately there was nobody else on the escalator at the time or else they would have been pretty seriously injured by this 40 pound shopping cart barreling down from 25 feet above...

Bass Pro at Cross Iron Mills has the same issue. The stairs by the elevator doesn't have any barricades if someone wanted to go for a ride down the stairs in a shopping cart.

[GreenLantern]

So this means they will be blowing out their inventory like Zellers did before them?

I actually didn't mind Target, some stuff was OP but I didn't mind paying a bit more to not feel like vomiting every three steps like I would in Wal Mart.

[morgin]

Originally Posted by Wormius

A little off-topic, but along the line of American retailer invasion attempts - how has Nordstroms been faring since it opened? Is it filling a niche that The Bay or Holt Renfrew don't?

The only reason I could see it doing well in some locations is the lack of any competitors in the same mall. Is it going to flop miserably once it tries to expand.

No idea. I wish they would figure out their Canadian shipping to make it cheaper than borderfree charges though. I went into the store once to try and get some bedding stuff they had online, only to discover they are a "small footprint" version of nordstroms and don't carry home items.

[Locke]

I never set foot in one.

Is it still pronounced 'Tar-jay?'

[Acey]

The Wal-Mart in my area of Edmonton is disgusting all the time, just filthy. I hate going in there. I go out of my way up to Target because I don't feel like I need to bathe afterward.

[btimbit]

Hm. Never even went to a Target.

[Hugh Jahrmes]

Originally Posted by Acey

my area of Edmonton is disgusting all the time, just filthy.

Fyp

[FlamesFanStrandedInEDM]

Originally Posted by Acey

The Wal-Mart in my area of Edmonton is disgusting all the time, just filthy. I hate going in there. I go out of my way up to Target because I don't feel like I need to bathe afterward.

Ha! 137th ave?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Acey

Edmonton is disgusting all the time, just filthy. I hate going in there.

Originally Posted by Hugh Jahrmes

Fyp

Fyp

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by Wormius

A little off-topic, but along the line of American retailer invasion attempts - how has Nordstroms been faring since it opened? Is it filling a niche that The Bay or Holt Renfrew don't?

The only reason I could see it doing well in some locations is the lack of any competitors in the same mall. Is it going to flop miserably once it tries to expand.

I think if Nordstrom's stays more on the exclusive side and doesn't expand at a great pace, they could do pretty decent here. They seem to have kept a lot of the same stock that the US stores have, which is something I think people look for when the US chains come up here. I think it's a small part of why Target failed - I think a lot of people were expecting to see some of the same sort of merchandise available and it just wasn't. I think Marshall's is going to crap the bed in Canada. The one just south of Chinook is pretty lacklustre, IMO. It really just looks like a Winners dressed up a little, and more expensive.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Minnie

I think if Nordstrom's stays more on the exclusive side and doesn't expand at a great pace, they could do pretty decent here. They seem to have kept a lot of the same stock that the US stores have, which is something I think people look for when the US chains come up here. I think it's a small part of why Target failed - I think a lot of people were expecting to see some of the same sort of merchandise available and it just wasn't. I think Marshall's is going to crap the bed in Canada. The one just south of Chinook is pretty lacklustre, IMO. It really just looks like a Winners dressed up a little, and more expensive.

I guess I honestly wasn't sure what to expect when Target was opening. My assumption was that it was basically Zeller's rebranded from what I knew about it. I didn't mind Zellers myself. It was a Canadian brand, and it was an alternative to Wal-Mart, which like others, I despise everything about.

I think another interesting one to watch fail will be Cabelas. It is mind boggling that they will open a store at the Deerfoot Outlet Mall, less than a few km away from Bass Pro. I went to one in the states to see what it was about, and it is almost a direct copy of Bass Pro. The only reason I would probably venture only out to Deerfoot Outlet Mall and not all the way to CrossIrons is if I had a very specific need.

What disappoints me tremendously to this day is that Krispy Kreme didn't succeed here. It had almost everything going for it. It should have been able to succeed. I don't know why people didn't flock to it.

[HarryH93]

Originally Posted by Wormius

What disappoints me tremendously to this day is that Krispy Kreme didn't succeed here. It had almost everything going for it. It should have been able to succeed. I don't know why people didn't flock to it.

Same, I loved that place. But this is Tim Hortons territory!

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I think another interesting one to watch fail will be Cabelas. It is mind boggling that they will open a store at the Deerfoot Outlet Mall, less than a few km away from Bass Pro. I went to one in the states to see what it was about, and it is almost a direct copy of Bass Pro. The only reason I would probably venture only out to Deerfoot Outlet Mall and not all the way to CrossIrons is if I had a very specific need.

After being to the Cabelas in Edmonton, it has 10x the selection for firearms that Bass Pro has (they sell pistols and have an amazing selection). You'll get the gun enthusiasts there for sure. It will do well for that reason alone.

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I guess I honestly wasn't sure what to expect when Target was opening. My assumption was that it was basically Zeller's rebranded from what I knew about it. I didn't mind Zellers myself. It was a Canadian brand, and it was an alternative to Wal-Mart, which like others, I despise everything about.

I'd been to a Target in the US a few times, before they came to Canada. I didn't find their clothes to be much of anything, and they really just looked the same as Zellers stuff to me. But I know some people really liked it. When we would go down there, we were looking at a lot more of their house stuff. They have (or had, it's been a while since we were in the US) some really different things, which we liked. The Target stuff here mostly looks exactly the same as something you could find at Wal-Mart or Canuck Wheel, for cheaper. I think a lot of people were hoping the stock would be like it is in the US. When it wasn't, and the prices were silly, then people just wouldn't bother.

I think there was a fair amount of arrogance on Target's part too, with the move into Canada. I think they didn't do any kind of market study or if they did, they did a pretty crap one, to see how the Canadian market differed from the US, and what parts of the US Target experience people wanted here, and what they didn't. I think they were banking on everyone going "ZOMG! Target! Yes!" and rushing in. I have heard from a friend who works in distribution for Target in the US, that distribution was an issue in Canada and probably played quite a large part in the failure - especially at the beginning, when the shelves always seemed to be mostly empty.

What disappoints me tremendously to this day is that Krispy Kreme didn't succeed here. It had almost everything going for it. It should have been able to succeed. I don't know why people didn't flock to it.

Loved Krispy Kreme. I wish it had done well here too.