Here's the post from the Minneapolis newspaper.
http://www.startribune.com/business/288671531.html
18 replies (most recent on top)
Well everyone else is doing it so we should to.
The entire retail marketplace is going through massive change. The problem with Target Canada is that Target Management wanted to open up to Canada in such a massive push, that they couldn't maintain inventory, they never identified Canada shoppers from US shoppers, they never took the time to figure out why Canada was a good investment. Canadians will still shop at Target, at cross-border towns where they don't have to buy Canadian Tax, get goods duty free and have a wider variety of goods they can take back home.
no one got fired? CEO/CIO and almost every EVP and director, CEO of Target Canada, whole raft of people got fired. board members - well, that remains to be seen.
Canadians liked shopping cross border at Target Stores and bringing back their goods duty free. No extreme tax. Why Target Corporate couldn't figure that out is beyond me. I was part of the original Target Canada Team. And was asked to be the dept expert on Canada tax. The tax on goods in Canada adds at least 15% to the bottom line on the cost of the goods. Why would Canadians pay that much more, when they can just shop across the border duty free?
http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/target-leaving-canada-losing-money-every-day-1.2189973
http://www.businessinsider.com/targets-canadian-expansion-2014-8#ixzz3OuI59Igh
This makes me sad... Yes Canadian Target didn't have the same selection or prices of the US Target, but they weren't terribly priced compared to Wal-Mart here. I also found the quality of products at Target was above Wal-Mart in general as well. Target here was always clean, well presented, with helpful employees. Wal-Mart on the other hand is always filthy, the shelves are always a mess and feel picked over, and for the most part, employees are less than helpful.
I gladly paid the slightly raised price tag at Target for the experience of shopping. Need to figure something out, cause Wal-mart is just terrible.
Has anybody else noticed that Targets in Canada are VERY empty? At least the one I go to in Toronto is very very empty most of the time, and I'm talking stock not people. I find this is the most frustrating when I shop there.
The prices aren't terrible, especially when things go on sale. I like the products, it's fresh and clean inside and has lots of room to shop. My shampoo, Live Clean is only $4.94 there, where it is $8.99 at Shoppers, usually 5-6.99 anywhere else. But I want selection! I always feel like it's like a boutique with only one of each size on the shelf and that's all there is. EVER.
Purely a result of their poor supply chain management. For us the slightly higher prices weren't an issue as their stores were clean and usually empty (duh) but lack of stock is what took us back time and again to Wal-Mart.
Canadians expected it when the US and Canadian dollars were pretty much in parity with one another. And it's not an unreasonable expectation either.
Yes, there's tariffs, economies of scale with regards to logistics, etc, but all of those things taken into account, Canadians were and still are being price gouged.
It has recently changed a little due to the US and Canadian currencies slipping away from parity. That said, Canadian retailers have been all too happy to increase prices when the value of the Canadian dollar slips, but will fight tooth and nail to avoid dropping prices when the value of the Canadian dollar increases. Which is why it's been easier for many Canadians to take a shopping trip across the border.
Target store locations in Canada are less than ideal. Target bought more than 120 Zellers stores from Canadian department store chain Hudson's Bay Co. in 2011 and "many were in rundown shopping centers that were hard to access," according to the Wall Street Journal. "The locations were smaller than Target's typical U.S. formats and took more money than expected to expand and convert to its trademark red-and-white layout."
Canadian customers have complained that Target's prices are lower in the U.S. "Canadians along the border find it a better overall value proposition visiting Target stores in the U.S. or buying online," writes Brian Sozzi, chief equities strategist at Belus Capital Advisors.
Target Canada's store shelves are disorganized and empty and selection is limited. In an interview with the Journal, a former Target employee complained of having to fill half of an entire aisle with Tide detergent when the store had nothing else to fill shelves.
They bought out Zellers cause Zellers wasn't doing to good, they ended being a 'Zellers in red'. So.. Why didn't they perform well?
Oh yeah, cause Zellers is still Zellers and no one wants that.
Oh yeah, a more expensive Zellers too. If there was one thing I like about Zellers is that they were cheap and had a good diner. Target took both of those away.
This was probably one of the biggest problems. Literally dozens and dozens of empty or near-empty shelves, they had inventory and shelving issues from the start of their Canadian launch.
People in the US are willing to spend a little more at Target so they don't have to put up with peopleofwalmart.com type people. Plus the Super Targets actually have decent selections so it's not too bad. Walmart is just awful to be in sometimes.
Target's plans in Canada were flawed from the get-go. Canadians were familiar with Target's low prices and wide selection of items that they sold in the states but not in Canada, so when Target announced that they were coming to Canada, that's what Canadians expected. What we got were higher prices than Wal-Mart, with less selection, giving zero reason to shop at Target.
Anonymous57921: You are right. I was part of the original Target Canada team, and then transitioned to another position at Target. But this should not be put on the shoulders of anybody who was part of that original team. We worked our rear-ends off to open those stores on time. Working multiple tasks, just to get stuff into stores. I am really sad to have my hard work thrown down the toilet. Erin worked her rear-end off, so did Ben, Julie, Josiah, Patty, Jodie, Stephanie, Allison and many many many others. What a shame.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102292447
Target has acknowledged it took on too much too fast in Canada and the disastrous launch spurred the exit of top executives both in Canada and the United States.
So $6 billion wasted. Very nice move. And nobody got fired yet? How about all strategic planners, how about board members that approved it, how about endless cohorts of yes-sayers who supported the decision?