See Ya Target Eh!

[Boom_70]

Target closing in Canada. Done in by the admirable Canadian idealism of
supporting the ma/pa's

Target Canada shuts down - Jan. 15, 2015

 

[Iron_chet]

My wife was hired for startup before her entire team was let go. She recruited and hired many of the store managers across the country. I e-mailed her this article which she could have written as she had said the same things for over a year.

International Assignees or IAs - these are key Team Members from the U.S. at various levels of leadership who came to Canada for a "limited timeline" under the guise of helping set up the stores and teams for success. Instead, we found that these folks were not guides or resources, as much as they were obstacles to progress. If it didn't come from/work in the U.S. then it was not a discussion point. To come to a country as large, demographically and regionally different as Canada, and assume that the same "playbook" used in the U.S. would work in Canada was incredible. The inability of the "IAs" to think and work beyond this led to us attempting to Xerox the U.S. store culture (for Team Members and Guests) instead of develop one that is tailored to Canadian tastes and attitudes. As things began to go downhill, the IAs were extremely pointed, and openly opined that the Canadian Team Members worked "differently & less hard" and overall "took less accountability" than they were used to in the U.S. That was an exact quote that came from my boss (an IA himself). Many of these IAs were scheduled to return to the U.S. this year... And most have been asked to remain. So much for the claim that the Canadian Target business be "run and operated by Canadians".

Why Was Target Canada Such a Disaster?

 

[JR]

1) The Zellers stores they took over were in second tier malls.
2)Stores were smaller than Target US stores. As a result, stock selection wasn't nearly as broad as in the US
3) Pricing was all wrong..Universally perceived as far too high
4) Chain supply system was a disaster. Stores had empty shelves.
5) They opened 133 stores in a year. Way too aggressive with little planning
6) Cultural differences. As Iron mentioned above plus corporate **** like calling customers "guests" .
7) Immediately after their launch they were behind the 8 ball and never recovered
8) Arrogance

 

[Vombatus]

How do they pronounce Target up there?

Tar-get, as in something you aim at, or like the French, Tar-zhay?

 

[Boom_70]

How do they pronounce Target up there?

Tar-get, as in something you aim at, or like the French, Tar-zhay?

"CLOSED"

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Isn't Target headquartered in Minnesota? That's practically Canada already.

 

[canucklehead]

You have to have some pretty exceptional crap to get my family to switch from Walmart, where we have gone to buy our crap for years.

 

[JR]

You have to have some pretty exceptional crap to get my family to switch from Walmart, where we have gone to buy our crap for years.

The problem at Target wasn't whether it was exceptional crap. It's just they didn't have enough to buy.

 

[Boom_70]

You have to have some pretty exceptional crap to get my family to switch from Walmart, where we have gone to buy our crap for years.

I was under the impression that Canadians preferred to pay more to support the local ma / pa operations instead of
supporting the big US box stores and that is why Target failed.

 

[exmediahack]

"People start off stories with, 'I was shopping at Target and..' "

No one ever says, "I was shopping at Walmart and...'.""

 

[User 1019]

"People start off stories with, 'I was shopping at Target and..' "

No one ever says, "I was shopping at Walmart and...'.""

I would submit there are far better stories that star with, "I was shopping at Walmart and ..."

The peopleofwalmart site is proof.

 

[JR]

I was under the impression that Canadians preferred to pay more to support the local ma / pa operations instead of
supporting the big US box stores and that is why Target failed.

Read my post above. Big box stores do well in Canada. Home Depot, Costco and Walmart are examples. Target failed because they got just about everything wrong. It's got nothing to do with why lots of people support independent stores.

 

[Beef03]

Read my post above. Big box stores do well in Canada. Home Depot, Costco and Walmart are examples. Target failed because they got just about everything wrong. It's got nothing to do with why lots of people support independent stores.

I agree completely. People go where they can get the best deal and where they can get the products they want. I would argue the big box stores are actually growing more than anything. Target was mismanaged from the day they entered the Canadian market and did not position themselves to be competitive at all. In fact they were worse than the stores they were replacing -- Zellers -- and that's saying something. The only place where you see the ma and pa stores really have a foothold are in the small towns, but then it comes down to a lack of options and their own monopoly on the market. I know very few people who follow through on their sentimentalities for supporting the little guy over Corporate 'Merica. I hear people voice their issues with Wal-Mart and the like, but then they still go there because they know they can still get what they want at a better price, even if it hurts their soul to walk through those doors. Target couldn't follow through on anything they promised as competition to Wal-mart.

 

[JR]

There are a lot of so called "ma & pa store" in large cities because they can create a niche that the big box stores can't address and they have the market.

An I generally find the "ma & pa stores" term condescending and insulting There are lots of indies in all sorts of categories that do well. And many of them are run by young, dynamic entrepreneurs who understand what running a business entails.

 

[Boom_70]

Read my post above. Big box stores do well in Canada. Home Depot, Costco and Walmart are examples. Target failed because they got just about everything wrong. It's got nothing to do with why lots of people support independent stores.

JR good to see that your opinion of box stores has evolved since 2008 :

First of all, Target isn't in Canada so I don't have a point of reference.

Yeah, the Pepsi and all that brand name crap is cheaper--but not if you watch the competition and check their "specials".

And Zeke is right. When price is the only variable in the price/quality equation, you end up with ****ty crap.

Look, I don't care if anyone shops at Wal-Mart or not. Most of the people I work with do and my siblings do. I don't just beause it's my line in the sand---however rational or irrational it might be. If people ask me why, it' simple--" I don't like their corporate policies" If they want more, they get it.

Their stores are a blight on the landscape--as are most of the other big boxes--and I don't shop at a lot of them if I don't have to.

But in the case of Wal-Mart, nope.