# Target coming to Canada



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Target will be moving into Canada shortly. They will replacing all current Zellers outlets. 

Target to buy Zellers' sites, to open in Canada by 2013


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## vds5000 (Apr 14, 2008)

Finally! They have their acts together, unlike Zellers. I can't count how many times I've gone to Zellers to pick something up on the first day of an advertised sale from their flyer, only to be told they don't have any in stock and won't be getting any in until the following week. Rubbermaid food containers, Energizer rechargable batteries, oak file cabinets, Creative MP3 players, Froot of the Loom t-shirts, you name it.

Good riddance.


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

I've done a lot of my shopping at Zellers over the years, mainly because my aunt was one of the head managers at the store for almost 20 years. When she retired the "extended" sales stuff went out the window and I barely saw myself going there. For the most part I've found it to be a junk store, although some decent clothing goes on sale there sometimes.


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

My sister in law works at The Bay (same owners as Zellers) and her store started receiving product with Target price stickers on it about 3 or 4 years ago. 
There was all kinds of takeover talk back then. 
Seems it was in the works.


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## Accept2 (Jan 1, 2006)

Its been in the works since 1998...........


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I think I may have mentioned on here in a thread or two over the years about the stores in the states. That's one thing I miss (actually there are two) about being over in Michigan about 12 days a month was the shopping. I don't know what these Target stores will look like in Canada but they are big stores across the border. They were not my first stop though. I used to do most of my shopping at Meijer's where you could basically find anything you needed including groceries, beer , wine and liquor. Places like Walmart that are now here in Canada are still not the same as they are in the States. The selection and the amount of products is no comparison. Places like Home Depot are the same. No comparison in terms of the selection and product lines. 

There was virtually never a thing I ever wanted that I could not find somewhere in that small area we stayed. The shopping was endless. The other thing I miss is the restaurants. Virtually any kind of food you could ever desire and there would be at least 5 different places you could go that specialized in it. Over here, how many "steak houses" can you name? The only one I can think of is The Keg and the odd Outback. I mean a real "steak house" not a place that serves steaks as part of the regular menu. I could name off probably 20 that I knew of within a 10 mile radius of where we stayed. 

So we will see what Target brings. Zellers, as many have pointed out has been going downhill for a very long time.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

All I know about Target is the name. I didn't even it was a Zellers or Walmart type of store. 

What the hell, Canada is now totally an economic and cultural colony of the US, 

(though, both of us are economic colonies of Eastern Asia,)


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Well, I buy almost nothing from Zellers or Walmart, though that doesn't mean I don't get rooked into the same kind of goods elsewhere on occassion. I doubt whether Target will affect my buying habits. My groceries come from Zehrs, clothes from Mark's Work Warehouse, music stuff from L&M and some mom'n'pops, tools from Lee Valley, general stuff from Home Hardware or Canadian Tire, and as much as possible from small local shops. I hate shopping unless it's music or fishing stuff.

I walked around Zellers before Christmas and saw nothing desirable. The only time I've been in a Walmart was to be able to say I've seen the anti-Christ and lived to tell the tale.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

Mooh said:


> Well, I buy almost nothing from Zellers or Walmart, though that doesn't mean I don't get rooked into the same kind of goods elsewhere on occassion. I doubt whether Target will affect my buying habits. My groceries come from Zehrs, *clothes from Mark's Work Warehouse*, music stuff from L&M and some mom'n'pops, tools from Lee Valley, general stuff from Home Hardware or Canadian Tire, and as much as possible from small local shops. I hate shopping unless it's music or fishing stuff.
> 
> I walked around Zellers before Christmas and saw nothing desirable. The only time I've been in a Walmart was to be able to say I've seen the anti-Christ and lived to tell the tale.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Mark's Work Warehouse makes some of the best cloths I've had to date, durable and long lasting. I buy my disposable (painting) cloths at Wal-mart and zellers but for outdoors it's all from Mark's Work Warehouse. I'm in the process of changing over all my snowmobile gear to Dakota because I've had so much luck with their work wear and it's definitely going to last longer than my Choko stuff.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

sweet. I dig my trips to Target.
Now we just need Trader Joe's and In 'n' Out Burger to come north!!


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Morkolo said:


> Mark's Work Warehouse makes some of the best cloths I've had to date, durable and long lasting. I buy my disposable (painting) cloths at Wal-mart and zellers but for outdoors it's all from Mark's Work Warehouse. I'm in the process of changing over all my snowmobile gear to Dakota because I've had so much luck with their work wear and it's definitely going to last longer than my Choko stuff.


There was a place I used to go to all the time in Michigan that had a Carhartt section that would make any working man drool. I picked up a lot of gear there over the years. Great stuff. I have this one sweater from Carhartt that is basically for use working outside in very cold weather. That thing is ultra thermal


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I've bought a few items in Target stores in the US. The prices seemed pretty reasonable.

Of course, that will probably change when they come here.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

I am simply surprised Zellers has hung on as long as it has. I fully expected them to have folded by the mid 2000's. I had to shop there when we came to Burlington; mix of cost and ease of access. Bought my son boots the first winter, with their "guarantee" and in the course of the next 4 months 6 pairs wore out, snapped in half, or otherwise failed.

We buy them GEOX by preference now from Kiddie Kobbler (sp). Those will last the kids 2 winters if their feet didn't keep growing.


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## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

I have only been in a couple of target stores, and unlike zellers they were clean. Zellers has just become a slum. Wal mart, or as I call them the evil empire is not much different.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

> *Unfortunately, Target has a problem. Its name is Target.*
> 
> A Toronto entrepreneur already owns the right to the Target brand. *This Target* is run by a Canadian retail
> OOPS! Same Name - Same Font!
> ...


A Bigger Bullseye – Target’s Double Trouble In Canada « ThoughtTech – On The Horizon


HAHAHAHAHAHA I laugh so loudly!


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

I seldom shop at Zellers, and if I do it's for something disposable, or single use. Walmart, I think I've been in there twice. So I really don't care about Target, except that I hope they will clean up the Zellers store near me. What a dump. Fortunately there is a Mark's at the other end of the same plaza.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

"I tried to walk into Target, but I missed. I think the entrance to Target should have people splattered all around."
Mitch Hedberg


And to be on topic somewhat--I used to go to Zellers many years ago--but they went downhill quickly a number of years ago.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

I can remember exactly WHEN Zellers tanked. There was a BIG NEWS STORY that they had a new advertising firm and the firm was causing some friction. They wanted to (and did) eliminate the slogan "where the lowest price is the law" as well as the benefits of finding a lower price else where. That same year when the "points" catalog came out, you needed to do things like pay 50,000 points for a toaster OR you could pay 40,000 and 20 bucks cash for the toaster. That same toaster on the shelf was 20 bucks on its on. About three years later they more or less did away with that catalog entirely. However, that is the exact moment in time when the tanking began, when customer service started to crumble and merchandise price went up and quality went down.

For a "tax loss right-off" it was neatly done and I am sure some corporate execs got a good bonus on it


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

zontar said:


> "I tried to walk into Target, but I missed. I think the entrance to Target should have people splattered all around."
> Mitch Hedberg
> 
> 
> And to be on topic somewhat--I used to go to Zellers many years ago--but they went downhill quickly a number of years ago.


Bless you for mentioning the wonderful Mitch Hedberg. Someone who always makes me smile.

There have been a bunch of Canadian box store retailers aimed at the budget-conscious market over the years. Towers, Woolco, and Miracle Mart come to mind, in addition to Zellers. There's also a bunch of small-town budget retailers, like Rossy, Giant Tiger, the Bargain Shop, and the ill-fated store of my youth, Beamish. That market will, of course, never really go away, but Wal-Mart seems to have a Rottweiler grip on its neck on this side of the border, outside of those markets deemed too small to warrant a Wal-Mart.

Will the Wal-Mart factor that undermined all those other Canadian retailers ultimately be the stumbling block that trips up Target? Or will Target try and position itself in the same league as Sears and the Bay? At a number of shopping malls, Zellers forms one or both of the anchor stores. Where is is the principal anchor store, it might do okay. But I think of the Bayshore Mall near us here in Ottawa. There's a Bay at one end, and a Zellers at the other. In general, the mall is leaning towards fashion, housewares, and amusement-related shopping, having no grocery store or hardware store. Though it seems to be understaffed, that Zellers is one of the better Zellers in town, with respect to stock, organization, neatness, and a low dreariness factor. But it is clearly targeting (no pun intended) the immigrant crowd living in the nearby townhouses and apartments. If Target moves in and tries to capture that crowd, they go head to head with a Wal-Mart 5 minutes away. If they try to go head to head with Old Navy and the Bay, I'm not sure the market can support that many retailers aiming for the same bunch (Les Ailes de la Mode was in there briefly, but tanked).

Maybe I'm wrong, but the current zeitgeist of attempting to be an "everything" store may ultimately be everyone's undoing. Loblaws sells clothes, and yard accoutrements, Wal-Mart sells groceries. Canadian Tire now sells groceries, and how long will it be before the dollar stores install a cooler to start selling milk and eggs? How can they all try and sell the same stuff to a market as limited as Canada, and attempt to do so on so large a scale?


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

Something about the Zellers air...
I’ll never take a better shit than the days when I could walk into Zellers and just breath that air.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Always12AM said:


> Something about the Zellers air...
> I’ll never take a better shit than the days when I could walk into Zellers and just breath that air.


I just miss the Zellers diner


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## HD2000 (Jul 24, 2008)

Always12AM said:


> Something about the Zellers air...
> I’ll never take a better shit than the days when I could walk into Zellers and just breath that air.


If I recall it had that odd smell that I equate with cheap rubber boots.... Army & Navy had a similar stench.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I'll never forget the smell of discount shoe stores from when I was a kid. That strange combination of rubber and commercial flooring.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

cboutilier said:


> I just miss the Zellers diner


That's where I ate almost daily in high school. Big Z burger? I ate my share of them


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Woolworth's had a dinner bar when I was a kid. Mrs. Burke worked there and she was great.

This thread is as old as the fucking dinner.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Here's a fascinating article that provides a great analysis and fills in many of the blanks regarding Target's arrival and quick disappearance. There are a great many parallels between what happened to Target, and the Phoenix debacle in the federal payroll system; something I'm still affected by (3-1/2 years later and I'm still waiting on my money).









The Crazy Story of What Really Went Wrong at Target Canada


Target pulled the plug on its massive Canadian expansion less than two years after opening. This is the incredible untold story of how it all went wrong.




www.canadianbusiness.com


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

_Business analysts (who were young and fresh out of school, remember) were judged based on the percentage of their products that were in stock at any given time, and a low percentage would result in a phone call from a vice-president demanding an explanation. But by flipping the auto-replenishment switch off, the system wouldn’t report an item as out of stock, so the analyst’s numbers would look good on paper. “They figured out how to game the system,” says a former employee. “They didn’t want to get in trouble and they didn’t really understand the implications.” _

I knew a couple of people that worked in the Milton distribution center. They were the floor staff that did the physical, hands on work. They had a combined 15 yrs warehouse/distribution/SAP experience between them. They could see the errors building up from their first day on the job. The problem, as they perceived it, was that no one in management listened to the experts on the floor. 

'What do you know. You're just a grunt'.
So, they just stood back and enjoyed the chaos while doing very little work because the warehouse system constantly froze up.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

HD2000 said:


> If I recall it had that odd smell that I equate with cheap rubber boots.... Army & Navy had a similar stench.


Army and Navy had some crazy sales. Depending if the tide was out the A&N in New West had it's own very dis stinked smell. Quite different from the downtown Vancouver store.


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## oldjoat (Apr 4, 2019)

sounds all too familiar when it comes to executives making decisions .... 
and they always fall flat on their faces when they make choices on things they DON"T understand.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

The systems being operated these days are an assault on my aging IT senses. I've got a thing going right now with Wayfair and an item that I ordered over a month and a half ago. After numerous "back n' forths" my item's status got changed online to "delivered". I sent them a few messages after this and finally called them yesterday. According to their rep, international shipments (US to Canada) are flagged as delivered as soon as they hit the international distribution center. So, no one there cared until I called yesterday. Now it's flagged as "destroyed in shipping" and a replacement will be shipped out immediately - except it's currently backordered until April 3rd.

For the life of me I could not get that rep to concede that the item had never been delivered though - because "that's not how our process works".

She was a sweetie though, and she was in the call center in Texas - so I felt bad for her.


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## GuitarT (Nov 23, 2010)

laristotle said:


> _Business analysts (who were young and fresh out of school, remember) were judged based on the percentage of their products that were in stock at any given time, and a low percentage would result in a phone call from a vice-president demanding an explanation. But by flipping the auto-replenishment switch off, the system wouldn’t report an item as out of stock, so the analyst’s numbers would look good on paper. “They figured out how to game the system,” says a former employee. “They didn’t want to get in trouble and they didn’t really understand the implications.” _
> 
> I knew a couple of people that worked in the Milton distribution center. They were the floor staff that did the physical, hands on work. *They had a combined 15 yrs warehouse/distribution/SAP experience between them.* They could see the errors building up from their first day on the job. The problem, as they perceived it, was that no one in management listened to the experts on the floor.
> 
> ...


We use SAP at work. We always joke that it stands for "*S*houlda *A*sked *P*roduction".


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I have an uncle who was a manager for Zellers from the late 60's until 1990, when he was let go due to downsizing right before Christmas. He bought into another franchise and did very well for himself.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

butterknucket said:


> I have an uncle who was a manager for Zellers from the late 60's until 1990, when he was let go due to downsizing right before Christmas. He bought into another franchise and did very well for himself.


which one?


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

vadsy said:


> which one?


Home Hardware. He owns a few stores.


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## Distortion (Sep 16, 2015)

Target coming and Target gone.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

He just might have been in a recent Home Hardware commercial.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

butterknucket said:


> He just might have been in a recent Home Hardware commercial.


 Sounds like he’s a regular Mr. Hollywood now. 

I totally go for a home hardware, they do great in small towns and I could let out my inner Hank Hill and spend hours each morning talking about my favorite nail with customers ..._The three-penny fluted stainless steel.._


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

player99 said:


> Woolworth's had a dinner bar when I was a kid. Mrs. Burke worked there and she was great.
> 
> This thread is as old as the fucking dinner.


I recall hitting the Woolworth's lunch counter in our downtown but for some reason my mom favoured taking us to Kresge's. It was probably cheaper


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

vadsy said:


> Sounds like he’s a regular Mr. Hollywood now.
> 
> I totally go for a home hardware, they do great in small towns and I could let out my inner Hank Hill and spend hours each morning talking about my favorite nail with customers ..._The three-penny fluted stainless steel.._


Absolutely. That's how they've survived in the midst of Home Depot and Lowes.


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

vadsy said:


> Sounds like he’s a regular Mr. Hollywood now.
> 
> I totally go for a home hardware, they do great in small towns and I could let out my inner Hank Hill and spend hours each morning talking about my favorite nail with customers ..._The three-penny fluted stainless steel.._


They always have what I'm looking for. The one in Perth ON is up there as the best hardware store I've ever been in.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

vadsy said:


> I totally go for a home hardware, they do great in small towns and I could let out my inner Hank Hill and spend hours each morning talking about my favorite nail with customers ..._The three-penny fluted stainless steel.._


I agree.

my hit list is 
#1 - Home Hardware
#2 - UFA Co Op
if I can't get what I need at the above places, then and only then, will I go to home Depot


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## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

I have great memories of Army and Navy fishing section, they had an elevator in the Saskatoon store that was operated by a kind old fella that used to let me ride up and down as long as I stood in the corner when people were in there. I grew up in Bumf#€£ SK so I never seen an elevator, I also saw my first black person ever in person, I remember staring at him and he smiled at me, my mom cuffed me and told me I was being rude. He came over and said it was ok and we chatted for a while. That is almost 50 years ago and I still remember that encounter with someone different then what I was used to.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

MarkM said:


> I have great memories of Army and Navy fishing section, they had an elevator in the Saskatoon store that was operated by a kind old fella that used to let me ride up and down as long as I stood in the corner when people were in there. I grew up in Bumf#€£ SK so I never seen an elevator, I also saw my first black person ever in person, I remember staring at him and he smiled at me, my mom cuffed me and told me I was being rude. He came over and said it was ok and we chatted for a while. That is almost 50 years ago and I still remember that encounter with someone different then what I was used to.


They had a good hunting section too. Bought a full wood 303 and a Cooey 410 there with ammo. Working three doors down from the New West one had it's advantages. You could also buy your rod, reel and tackle.....including bait....walk across Front St. and under the car park and go fishing in the Fraser. About the only thing you kept was the Salmon when they were running but you could still go fishing. Sham that they finally closed down. The one here was the only place in town that I knew had a good selection of bigger than size 13 boots and shoes. You could get good deals on work clothes too. Target on the other hand was just the opposite.


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