Stores That May Disappear From Canada

Target Canada

You were probably expecting to see this one on the list, so we put it first. Target has so far lost $1.5 billion on its foray into Canada, largely on consumers’ disappointment in its Canadian pricing and complaints about empty shelves. Many retail analysts are urging the company to bail on the Great White North and focus on its home market, the U.S., but Target says it’s in Canada for the long haul. We shall see.

Jacob

A few months ago it looked like Jacob was already gone, with the Quebec-based fashion boutique filing for bankruptcy and announcing plans to close all 92 stores. But a Quebec court has given the retailer until later this month to come up with a plan to save some of its stores.

Sears Canada

The Canadian division of Sears has been bleeding money and has tried to stanch it by selling off leases to some of its highest-profile locations, not to mention layoffs by the thousands. But those moves didn’t stop the retailer from doubling its losses in the most recent quarter. The chain’s Chicago-based parent company is mulling selling the Canadian division. But in this era of big box department stores struggling against online retailers,  it’s hard to see who would buy Sears Canada.

Reitmans
Montreal-based Reitmans said a few years back it wasn’t worried about Target’s arrival in Canada -- it had survived Walmart and The Gap, after all. Two years later, the retailer that owns numerous fashion chains, including Smart Set, Addition Elle, RW & Co. and Penningtons, is shrinking. The company last year opened 25 new stores, but closed 58. that still leaves it with 878 stores. Profits for the 2013 fiscal year shrank by nearly 60 per cent.

Chapters Indigo
If you've stepped into an Indigo recently, you can be forgiven for wondering whether the retailer still sells books. With e-books and online book retailers putting big-box bookstores under pressure, Indigo is busily diversifying its product offerings to include "lifestyle items" such as candles and gifts, but will it work? Indigo is growing its online sales by the double digits, but they still only account for some 10 per cent of total sales. The U.S. big box bookstore Borders closed a few years back. The idea that Canada's last remaining big box book chain could follow seems less unthinkable with every passing day.

Aeropostale Canada
Aeropostale was a growing brand in Canada until about 2012, opening an average of nine new stores per year. But last year it began shrinking, and now has 51 stores in Canada, down from 58. The chain appears to be suffering from a potentially fatal problem: Teens don't think it's cool anymore.

Best Buy Canada
Layoffs at Best Buy Canada and its sister chain Future Shop have numbered in the thousands over the past few years. The CEO of the Minnesota-based company described Canada this spring as a "very, very soft" market for electronics. Best Buy doesn't break out numbers for Canada, but its international division (Canada, Mexico, China) saw sales plunge 10.5 per cent in the first quarter, with same-store sales down 5.8 per cent. The chain is one of the most prominent victims of "showrooming" -- customers coming in to check out products, then buying them at lower prices from an online competitor.

Le Chateau
Le Chateau is shrinking. The chain opened one store last year, and closed seven. It now has 228 retail locations, down from 243 in 2011. The company's shares were trading at $15 as recently as 2010; they are now hovering around $1.50.