Community Chat

[straykatz]

Target didn't last long in Canada.....most Canadians were frustrated with large stores/empty shelves and overpriced goods. They expected this store to replace the iconic Zellers store that had been a Canadian department store for decades but closed its doors unable to compete with Walmart. It's sad to see Canadian businesses falling to the wayside as American ones move in and take over. I wonder what's next? Canadian Tire is another iconic store but is still surviving despite the Walmarts/Targets and other US based stores.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/target-pulling-out-of-canada-after-failed-expansion-1.2189973

[Madisson]

Hard to believe that Target could not survive in Canada! I don't think that their prices are overpriced...although sometimes they are just a tiny bit higher than Walmart. On the other hand, the general ambience in Target is nicer than in Walmart.

[brii]

That's surprising that Target couldn't make it in Canada.

[straykatz]

Many of my friends and family were excited to hear Target was coming to Canada...they had shopped in them when visiting the US....however....the pricing structure in Canada was much higher than the US and from my friends perspective they felt like Target was not treating them fairly with higher price tags.....one of my cousins even said she felt Target must think they are fools who can't see the higher pricing compared to the US stores....interesting that Target opted to price higher because right now the Canadian dollar is higher than the US dollar so I would have though the prices would have been the same or lower.

[straykatz]

I also think the closure of Zellers was still too fresh of a wound for most Canadian's.....so that added to the difficulty of Target making its mark in Canadian retail....too many people were expecting a Zellers type atmosphere/quality and Target didn't bring it.

[WenGirl42]

Maybe it costs them more to operate in Canada, so their pricing must be higher to maintain profits?

[JuJu Squeezie]

I worked at Target in ND and the Canadians were terrific customers. They came on holidays and shopped till they dropped.

[traveler]

And yet we could find a Walmart in a lot of "remote" places like Whitehorse, Yukon.

[Lacey1]

That's kind of surprising but I'm not really crazy about Target either. There's a brand new one near me. I don't like the stark red & white décor, and it's nearly impossible to find your way to the exit. They have it set up like a maze to keep you shopping! I like the idea of going to grocery store for food, a clothing store for clothes, etc. When they try to sell everything, quality suffers.

[NoelSeven]

Every time I've been to Canada, I noticed their prices were higher than ours for the same products.

I just can't see Target scalping people up there. I'd assume if pricing was a problem they would lower theirs, if only to stay in business. It will be interesting to see what comes of this.