Target Canada Co. was the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

subsidiary of the

Target Corporation Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compo ...

, the eighth-largest retailer in the United States. Formerly headquartered in Mississauga,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, the subsidiary was formed with the acquisition of

Zellers Zellers was a Canadian discount department retail chain and is currently a brand name owned by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Founded in 1931 in London, Ontario, in later decades it was based in Brampton, Ontario. Zellers was acquired by H ...

store leases from the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trade, fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake b ...

in January 2011. Target Canada opened its first store in March 2013, and was operating 133 locations by January 2015. Its main competition included

Walmart Canada Walmart Canada is the Canadian subsidiary of Walmart which is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario. It was founded on March 17, 1994, with the purchase of the Woolco Canada chain from the F. W. Woolworth Company. Originally consisting of disc ...

and the local

Loblaws Loblaws Inc. is a Canadian supermarket chain with stores located in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Loblaws is a subsidiary of Loblaw Companies Limited, ...

and

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in nine provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist Murray Koffler in 196 ...

chains and Canadian Tire to some extent. Target Canada was ultimately unsuccessful, with an overly-aggressive expansion initiative, in addition to higher prices and a limited selection of products compared to Target stores in the United States and its Canadian rivals, particularly Walmart. The retail chain racked up losses of $2.1 billion in its lifespan, and was widely viewed as a failure, termed a "spectacular failure" by Amanda Lang of

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.c ...

, "an unmitigated disaster" by ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

'' magazine and "a gold standard case study in what retailers should not do when they enter a new market" by the ''

Financial Post The ''Financial Post'' was an English Canadian business newspaper, which published from 1907 to 1998. In 1998, the publication was folded into the new ''National Post'',"Black says Post to merge with new paper". '' The Globe and Mail'', July 23, ...

''. Target Canada commenced Court-supervised restructuring proceedings in January 2015, and finally shut down all of their stores by April 12, 2015, amid the retail apocalypse. Various other businesses since then occupy the spaces originally occupied by Target Canada.

History

Target store Scottsdale Centre in Delta, BC

Trademark issues before 2010

In the absence of the Target Corporation chain in Canada, a number of retail companies, without any affiliation to the American company, made use of the "Target" name for various purposes. A regional

variety store A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, automotive parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, home furnishings, and a selection of groceries. It ...

chain in

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

operated under the Target banner during the 1980s and early 1990s. There has also been a

liquor store A liquor store is a retail shop that predominantly sells prepackaged liquors – typically in bottles – usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence (i ...

named Target Liquor in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anc ...

, and a Target convenience store chain based in Toronto. Before it entered Canada, Target Corporation attempted to solidify its rights to the "Target" brand name in Canada by buying the Canadian

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from oth ...

rights of some of these existing users, in addition to filing new applications of its own.

Target Apparel trademark agreement

Target's expansion into Canada was threatened by one other party that claimed the Canadian rights to "Target" with respect to clothing. The Canadian trademark "Target Apparel" was registered in 1981 by Dylex Ltd., a Canadian retailer defunct since the early 2010s, covering "men's clothing, namely suits, pants, jackets, and coats". The rights to the mark were acquired in 2001 by Fairweather Ltd., part of the INC Group of Companies owned by Isaac Benitah. Target Apparel originally served as a private-label clothing brand, and not as the name of a retail store, and Fairweather would not apply to extend its trademark to cover retail services until April 2011. INC Group opened a small Target Apparel retail store adjacent to the company's head office in December 2003. In late 2010, soon after Target's announcement that it planned to expand into Canada (but before the Zellers announcement), INC began expanding the banner to other higher-profile locations, including conversions of some of its existing Labels stores. Target challenged INC's rights to the Target Apparel trade name on numerous occasions; INC had succeeded in retaining those rights, but faced a further court challenge with a trial set to start in 2012. On February 1, 2012, it was announced that Fairweather Ltd. and Target reached an agreement concerning the use of the Target name in Canada. Under this agreement, Fairweather would cease use of the Target Apparel name by 2013, giving Target Canada complete ownership of the Target brand in Canada.

2010: Consideration of Canadian operations

Regular rumours surfaced since at least 2004 that Target was interested in expanding into Canada by acquiring

outright. In January 2010, Target publicly indicated long-term plans to expand internationally, likely including Canada, but that those plans would not take effect until 2013 at the earliest.

2011–2013: Leaseholds acquisition and partnership

On January 13, 2011, Target announced that it would purchase the lease agreements of up to 220 Zellers stores for C$1.825 billion.John Tilak
"UPDATE 2-Target to enter Canada with Zellers deal, own plans: Target plans to open up to 150 stores in Canada"

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

January 13, 2011. Under the agreement, Zellers would sublease the properties, and continue to operate them as Zellers locations until at the earliest January 2012 and at latest the end of March 2013. Target did not buy the Zellers chain, which was left with 64 stores in less desirable locations. HBC failed to find a buyer for the remaining stores and planned to continue operating Zellers as a smaller chain. However, the geographical constraints of serving these far-flung Zellers outlets meant that operating them was no longer economically viable, so HBC announced on July 26, 2012, that it would close almost all of these stores. In May 2011, Target revealed its first 105 selections and stated that the vast majority of those in this first group would be converted to Target outlets. In September 2011, Target unveiled 84 additional selections, bringing the number of Zellers leases acquired to 189 below the prospective upper number of 220 announced in January. The first store opening cycle would be in March/April 2013, followed by four additional cycles later that year. Zellers locations to be converted were typically closed for six to nine months for significant remodelling and renovation. Target announced plans to hire 27,000 new employees to support its expansion into Canada, including 5,000 in Quebec, and that its food and grocery items in Canada would be supplied by

Sobeys Sobeys Inc. is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales o ...

. After the Zellers stores at the selected locations closed, Target planned to renovate between 125 and 135 of them, and reopen them under the Target banner. Target would sell the remaining 64 to 74 acquired locations to other retailers, including 39 already resold to

. Unlike Walmart's entry to Canada with the acquisition of the Woolco stores in 1994, Zellers employees were not retained by Target nor Walmart, and they had to re-apply for their position to continue working in their same locations. Target Canada stated that former Zellers workers were guaranteed an interview though not a job; however, the

United Food and Commercial Workers The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...

of Canada complained that many Zellers employees were not hired, including those with long years of service. Target confirmed the list of its locations in July 2012. The chain finalized its 127 stores to open in 2013. Of this total, 125 were converted former Zellers stores. The other two locations in

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

and

Centre Laval Centre Laval is a shopping mall located in the Chomedey district of Laval, Quebec, Canada, at the corner of Saint-Martin West and Le Corbusier boulevard. It is a 10-minute walk from the Montmorency metro station in nearby Laval-des-Rapides. Cen ...

were sites that had been occupied by Walmart stores. The first Target stores in Canada were opened on March 5, 2013, in the Ontario communities of

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...

, Fergus, and Milton, being close to one of Target Canada's three distribution centres.

2013–2015: Years of operation

Target Canada had supply chain problems, but its parent company did not want the planned opening date to be delayed, since they did not want to continue paying rent on unopened stores. On March 5, 2013, three Target stores in Milton, Fergus and Guelph, Ontario, were opened to the public and operating as test stores, and a further 17 stores in Ontario opened on March 19, 2013. Four additional stores in Ontario were opened on March 28, 2013, followed by a number of openings in three western provinces on May 6, 2013. On July 16, 2013, Target opened more stores in four provinces, including in the cities of Regina and

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...

. Target opened more stores between September 17 and October 18, including in the provinces of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

. It opened 33 locations between November 13 and 22, including in the provinces of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

and

. On March 14, 2014, Target opened three stores in the cities of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

and Victoria. On August 1, 2014, it opened three stores in the cities of

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

, Mississauga and Candiac, Quebec. Target Canada included smaller

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 ...

stores in the majority of its locations. A notable Canadian clothing brand, Roots, was "temporarily" sold in Target Canada.

Early results

Target Canada president Tony Fisher expected that some Canadian consumers would continue to cross the border and shop at Target stores in the United States. Fisher acknowledged that the Canadian stores would not have price parity with their U.S. counterparts, saying "Transportation costs are higher, distribution costs are higher, fuel costs are higher, wage rates vary across the country, the tax rates are different, cost of goods are different, the duties — I think the scale we have here in Canada is quite different from the incredibly different, densely populated U.S. marketplace." Because of complexities and other legal requirements, Target's existing distribution network could not be used to service Target's Canadian locations. In addition, Canadian Target stores did not have local authority to order their own merchandise; this resulted in the

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

, stores stocking

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Divi ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

apparel, instead of that of the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, which were more popular in Windsor, given its proximity to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

across the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Det ...

Supply chain In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, activ ...

and demand issues also led to situations where some of the early locations were not adequately stocked in certain product categories, resulting in empty shelves. The supply chain problems were blamed on using a brand new SAP inventory software and not giving sufficient time for staff to work out the system's problems, as the parent company refused to push back the planned launch date as they did not want to keep paying rent on unopened stores. Target Corporation's expansion into Canada hoped to capitalize on Canadian shoppers who frequently crossed the border for its U.S. stores. However, this may have backfired as Canadian shoppers felt that Target Canada stores failed to meet the high expectations set by their U.S. counterparts. Target Canada enjoyed a strong opening, but subsequent results were disappointing, dragging down its parent company's second-quarter results. Despite the initial high traffic at Target's new stores, customers were not returning frequently enough to these stores to buy the basic household items, as that market was dominated by entrenched Canadian grocery and drug retail chains such as Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Walmart Canada. In addition, while Target Canada aimed to have its customers do "one-stop shopping", Canadian consumers generally pick and choose between different retailers' strengths. While Target Canada stores were said to be an improvement over the untidy Zellers stores, some Canadians lamented that they missed the deals found at Zellers. Paul Trussell, retailing analyst at

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

, suggested that "traffic has slowed below expectations in recent weeks, driven partly by Canadians’ perception that prices are too high, both relative to Walmart Canada and Target's U.S. locations. While shoppers appreciate the higher quality assortment, especially in discretionary categories, the complaints on pricing were alarming." Target failed to anticipate that Canadian consumers would expect the retailer to match the lower prices in its U.S. stores, leading to some alienation and confusion, although Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel defended this practice saying "trying to compare prices at Target Canada with that of certain Target stores in the U.S. would be like comparing prices in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

to prices in rural

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

". Deutsche Bank's pricing survey on 31 health, beauty and food items at Canadian Target and Walmart stores found that while Target had a cheaper basket of goods by 19 cents, Walmart had a pricing advantage of 65 percent of the popular items in the basket thanks to its own "Rollback" prices, likely furthering consumers’ current price perceptions. Other American chains operating in Canada did not suffer a backlash from Canada–U.S. pricing disparities as much, likely as Target had hyped its Canadian stores to provide the same experience as their U.S. counterparts. Target projected for its Canadian operations to bring in ten percent of its profits by 2017. However, experts suggested that it wanted too much and too quickly from Canadians, while underestimating the domestic competition. The disappointing results from Canadian stores were said to be a major reason, along with the January 2014 major security breach, for the resignation of parent company CEO Gregg Steinhafel, though Target reiterated its commitment to the Canadian market. Two weeks after Steinhafel's abrupt departure, Target Canada president Anthony S. "Tony" Fisher was dismissed and replaced by Mark Schindele, who had been serving as Target's senior vice-president of merchandising operations. Subsequent commentators did not blame Fisher, "the odds were stacked against him from the start, given the extremely tight timeline and the thin margin for error." Around the time that Mark Schindele took over, Target Canada had largely sorted out its inventory issues. However, Brian Cornell, who replaced Steinhafel as CEO of the parent company, was a company outsider who had reportedly pushed for Target Canada to be shut down if its financial performance did not improve.

2015: Closure

On January 15, 2015, Target Canada announced that it had commenced Court-supervised restructuring proceedings under the '' Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act'' and that it would close all 133 of its Canadian stores. Two planned new store openings, one at the Harbour Plaza condo project in the South Core of

downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont St ...

, and the Bayshore Shopping Centre in the west end of Ottawa, were cancelled due to the closure. Likewise, plans to open a smaller Target store in the former Zellers location in Lawrence Square Shopping Centre (later renamed Lawrence Allen Centre in late 2019) in Toronto similar to the CityTarget format were also cancelled and were replaced with an additional public mall entrance,

Marshalls Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. M ...

, HomeSense and

PetSmart PetSmart is a privately held American chain of pet superstores, which sell pet products, services, and small pets. It is the leading North American pet company, and its direct competitor is Petco. Its indirect competitors are Amazon, Walmart, ...

by early 2016 (and

Structube Structube Ltee is a Canadian specialty retailer of moderately priced contemporary and modern home furniture and accessories. It was founded as a family business in 1974 and currently operates over 70 stores across Canada. The Structube head offi ...

a few years later but before the mall's renaming). By 2015, the subsidiary had lost $2.1 billion and was not projected to make a profit until at least 2021. Target Canada would have been unable to meet its employees' payroll for the week of January 16, 2015, if it had not filed for Court protection from creditors. Target St Laurent Blvd Ottawa ON 1 (16862679898)

Target St Laurent Blvd Ottawa ON 1 (16862679898)

Liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistr ...

sales began at the stores the following day; Target began to close stores on March 18, 2015, with 58 locations scheduled to close that week, and 58 in total closed by April 5, 2015. The remaining 58 stores closed on April 12, 2015. In May 2015, the company returned some of its leases back to their landlords, and began the process of auctioning off leases and properties to other new owners. Canadian Tire announced plans to acquire 12 locations,

reached a deal to acquire 13 locations (including the aborted Bayshore Shopping Centre location) and one of its distribution centres, and

Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. (), often shortened to Lowe's, is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States and Canada. A ...

also reached a deal to acquire 13 locations and a distribution centre.

Giant Tiger Giant Tiger Stores Limited is a Canadian discount store chain which operates over 260 stores across Canada. The company's stores operate under the Giant Tiger banner in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island ...

also acquired a part of a Target location. Metro's discount supermarket chain Super C would open stores in two former Target stores in Quebec.

Target International Shopping

In October 2015, Target began offering international shipping on goods sold on their online site, which includes Canada. Prices for Canadian shoppers are converted to Canadian dollars, excluding duties and taxes. As of February 2020, Target has discontinued shipping to Canada and other international locations.

Timeline

2011

* 12 January: Agreement signed. * 13 January: Announcement of sale. * 26 May: Announcement of first 105 site selections. * 23 September: Announcement of final 84 site selections and partnership with

. * 23 September: Walmart Canada announces completion of acquisition from Target Canada of leases for 39 locations occupied by Zellers.

2012

* 31 January: An earliest possible date that Target might require some acquired locations to be vacated by Zellers.

2013

* 5 March: First Target Canada locations opened in Guelph, Fergus, and Milton, all of which are in the Ontario Peninsula. * 19 March: More Target Canada locations opened in Ontario, including

East York Town Centre East York Town Centre is a neighbourhood shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Overlea Boulevard in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood. History The shopping centre was opened to the public in 1960 as the Thorncliffe Market ...

, Aurora Shopping Centre,

Cloverdale Mall Cloverdale Mall is a community shopping centre located in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 250 The East Mall northeast of the intersection of Dundas Street West and Highway 427). It opened in 1956 as an open-air shopping plaza ...

, Cambridge Centre, Centre Mall (in Hamilton), Shoppers World Brampton, Centerpoint Mall, Taunton Road Power Centre,

Masonville Place Masonville Place (known locally as Masonville or Masonville Mall, and corporately styled as CF Masonville Place) is a two-storey regional shopping mall located in London, Ontario, Canada, at the southeast corner of Fanshawe Park Road and Richmond ...

, Upper Canada Mall, Devonshire Mall, and Durham Centre. * 28 March: Burlington Mall (since renamed Burlington Centre),

Shoppers World Danforth Shoppers World Danforth is a hybrid shopping plaza and shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has 40 stores serving parts of East York, Scarborough and The Beaches, near the Victoria Park subway station. Today a moderately sized suburb ...

, Square One Shopping Centre and Trinity Common Mall locations opened. * 31 March: All acquired locations must be vacated by Zellers by this date. * 7 May: More Target Canada stores opened in 9

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

locations, 10

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

locations and 3

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Win ...

locations. * 14 May: Target Canada stores opened in Pine Centre Mall in Prince George and The Shoppes at Shawnessy in Calgary. * 16 July: Target Canada stores opened in two British Columbia locations, two Alberta locations, three

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

locations and 11 Ontario locations including Intercity Shopping Centre in

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its populatio ...

. * 23 July: The

Cataraqui Centre Cataraqui Centre, (formerly "Cataraqui Town Centre") is a shopping mall located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest mall in southeastern Ontario with over 141 stores. The anchor store is a Hudson's Bay, There is also a vacant anchor s ...

location opened in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toront ...

. * 30 July: The Bramalea City Centre location opened in

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it the ...

, Ontario. * 17 September: Target Canada stores opened in four locations in Eastern Ontario, seven

locations and three

locations. * 18 October: Target Canada stores opened 9 locations all in the province of Quebec. * 13 November: Target Canada opened 31 more locations in nine provinces including

and

. * 22 November: Target Canada opened two more locations in The Pen Centre in

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2016, it has an area of , 136,803 residents, and a metropolitan population of 406,074. It lies in Southern Ontario ...

, Ontario and

Carrefour de l'Estrie Carrefour de l'Estrie is a shopping centre located in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Its anchors include Hudson's Bay, Super C, Toys "R" Us, Shoppers Drug Mart, La Maison Simons, and Marshall's. History Carrefour de l'Estrie opened in 1973 ...

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...

, Quebec.

2014

* 14 March: Target Canada opened three locations in The Stockyards in

, Ontario, Kingsway Mall in

, Alberta and Hillside Shopping Centre in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. T ...

. * 1 August: Target Canada opened three locations in Park Place in

, Ontario, Erin Mills Town Centre in Mississauga, Ontario and Carrefour Candiac in Candiac, Quebec. * 17 October: Target Canada opened one location in Polo Park in Winnipeg.

2015

* 15 January: Target announces it was ceasing all Canadian retail operations and would proceed to close 133 outlets.CTV News
Target leaving Canada: 'Losing money every day'
Angela Mulholland, 15 January 2015Target Canada
Target Corporation Announces Plans to Discontinue Canadian Operations
press releases, Target Corporation, 15 January 2015 * 23 January: Target Canada closed all

outlets in their stores. * 4 February: Target Canada received court approval to begin the liquidation process. * 5 February: All Target Canada stores started liquidation process. * 6 March: Ivanhoé Cambridge and Oxford Landlords purchased back 11 coveted Target store leases at premier mall locations for an estimated $138 million. * 18 March:

Stratford, Ontario Stratford is a city on the Avon River within Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a 2016 population of 31,465 in a land area of . Stratford is the seat of Perth County, which was settled by English, Irish, Scottish and German i ...

;

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly a ...

and

(Bonnie Doon Centre) locations closed. * 22 March: 13 more locations closed. * 27 March–2 April: 62 more locations closed. * 4 April: Bramalea City Centre store in

closed with most other stores left opened. * 12 April: All Target Canada stores were closed by this date. * 6 May: Canadian Tire acquired leases for 12 stores at a cost of $17.7 million. * 8 May:

acquired leases for 13 stores and distribution centre in

Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and the state of New York converge. It is the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry and is Ontario's easternmost city. ...

for $165 million. The new stores would create about 3,400 jobs. * 11 May:

Canadian unit acquired 13 store leases and distribution centre in

Milton, Ontario Milton (2016 census population 110,128) is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Between 2001 and 2011, Milton was the fastest growing municipality in Canada, with a 71.4% increase in popul ...

for $151 million. The stores created about 2,000 jobs. * 15 May: Target US had set up an employee trust fund to guarantee Target Canada team members get paid till May 15 whether the store closed earlier or not. * 15 May:

Rona Rona, RONA or Róna may refer to: Places * Rona (Kristiansand), a neighbourhood in Kristiansand, Norway *Rona (river), a river in Maramureș County, Romania *Rona, Bellevue Hill, a historic house in the Sydney suburb of Bellevue Hill * Rona, Swit ...

bought the lease for one store in

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoor ...

, BC, but on February 3, 2016, an agreement could not be reached. * 30 June: The court-approved real-estate process was completed. * 24 July: Lowe's bought 12 stores and distribution centres in

for $147.75 million.

Post-closure replacements timeline

Source

2016

*25 February:

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

replaced the Central City Target location in

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

. *3 March: Fit4Less opened a portion of the former Bedford Place Mall Target store in

Bedford, Nova Scotia Bedford is a community of the Halifax Regional Municipality, in Nova Scotia, Canada. History The area of Bedford has evidence of Indigenous peoples dating back thousands of years. Petroglyphs are found at Bedford Petroglyphs National Historic ...

. *1 April: Canadian Tire opened a location in the former Target location on Mountain Road in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has earned the nickname "Hub City" because o ...

, NB. *22 April: Lee Valley Tools opened a location in former

Orchard Plaza An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of la ...

location in

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ' ...

, BC. *14 May:

opened a location to replace the Target location in

Fergus, Ontario Fergus is the largest community in Centre Wellington, a township within Wellington County in Ontario, Canada. It lies on the Grand River about 18 km NNW of Guelph. The population of this community at the time of the 2016 Census was 20,767 ...

. *28 June:

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loca ...

and Sport Chek moved into the former Willowbrook Shopping Centre location in Langley, BC as part of the mall's expansion. They opened in the spring and summer of 2017, respectively. *17 July: Stitches Factory Outlet opened a location in former

Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in Edmonton, Alberta, at the intersection of Whyte Avenue and 83 Street in the Bonnie Doon neighbourhood. It has over 60 shops and services including Dollarama, Shoppers Drug Mart, Stitches F ...

Target location in Edmonton, AB. *4 August: Demolition of a portion of the location at Devonshire Mall in

began and was replaced with a

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban ...

supermarket on August 24, 2017 and a relocated food court on June 27, 2018. *12 August: Michaels, Value Village and World Gym replaced the Stratford, Ontario Target store altogether. *29 September: Farm Boy replaced the Pickering Town Centre location. *10 November: Sports Experts/Atmosphere opened at

Place Vertu Place Vertu is a shopping mall in the borough of Saint-Laurent in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on Côte-Vertu Boulevard, at the corner of Cavendish Boulevard. The mall is about in size, and has a high-rise building. Stores Anchor ...

in Montreal. *8 December:

replaced Erin Mills Town Centre Target location in Mississauga.

2017

*5 January: The Rec Room (upper level),

and HomeSense (lower level) replaced

Target in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...

. Later in 2017,

Winners Winners Merchants International L.P is a chain of off-price Canadian department stores owned by TJX Companies. It offers brand name clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, fine jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. Products are at a 20-60% ...

/ HomeSense would take over the bottom floor of the

West Edmonton Mall West Edmonton Mall (WEM) is a shopping mall in Edmonton, Alberta, that is owned, managed, and operated by Triple Five Group. It is the second most visited mall in Canada, after the Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, followed by Metrotown Mall in ...

space formerly leased to Target, half of the second floor would have a Buy Buy Baby location, the other half will be an International Clothiers store. *16 January: The Target store at

was replaced with several stores including

and

Indigo Books and Music Indigo Books & Music Inc., known as "Indigo" and stylized "!ndigo", is Canada's only major English-language bookstore chain. It is Canada's largest book, gift, and specialty toy retailer, operating stores in all ten provinces and one terr ...

. *9 March: Saks Off 5th replaced part of Bramalea City Centre Target store. *9 March: Saks Off 5th replaced Pickering Town Centre Target location. *17 March:

and HomeSense replaced the old Target in Kingsway Mall, Edmonton, Alberta. *28 April:

Safeway Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, de ...

opened a store in a portion of the Target location in Sherwood Park Mall, Sherwood Park, Alberta, which replaced the old location on the north side of the mall. *16 June: London Drugs opened a new store in the former Target's

St. Albert Centre St. Albert Centre is located in St. Albert, Alberta, and is located along the prominent roadways St Albert Trail and Bellerose Drive. St. Albert Centre is home to over 80 Stores and Services which includes a 35,000 sq. ft. Sport Chek/Atmosphere. T ...

location. *14 July:

Sobeys Extra Sobeys Inc. is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales o ...

replaced the Target store at Shoppers Mall in

Brandon, Manitoba Brandon () is the second-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province on the banks of the Assiniboine River, approximately west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, and east of the ...

. It is currently the largest Sobeys supermarket in Canada. *21 October:

opened a back portion of the former Bedford Place Mall Target location in Bedford, NS. *3 November:

opened a store in a portion of Sherwood Park Mall's former Target space. *16 November: Nations Fresh Foods opened Nations Experience, a grocery store and entertainment centre in the former Target location in Stock Yards Village mall in the Stockyards within the northern part of The Junction neighbourhood in Toronto. *The previous Target Canada location located in Park Place within

, Ontario, has slowly been divided into several new businesses such as

X-Play Amusements ''Xplay'' (previously ''GameSpot TV'' and ''Extended Play'') is a television program, TV program about video games. The program, known for its reviews and comedy skits, airs on ''G4 (American TV network), G4'' in the United States and had aired o ...

Ashley HomeStore Ashley (formerly known as Ashley HomeStore and still known as Ashley Furniture HomeStore in some countries) is an American furniture store chain that sells Ashley Furniture products. Opened in 1997, the chain comprises over 2000 locations worldwi ...

and

2018

*22 February:

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washing ...

opened at the former Target location at

CF Chinook Centre Chinook Centre (formally branded as "CF Chinook Centre") is the largest shopping mall in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located near the geographic centre of the city on Macleod Trail, north of Glenmore Trail about south of downtown, and th ...

in Calgary. *3 May: Urban Planet opened at the former Target's Sherwood Park Mall location in

Sherwood Park Sherwood Park is a large hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Strathcona County that is recognized as an urban service area. It is located adjacent to the City of Edmonton's eastern boundary, generally south of Highway 16 (Yellowhead Trail), ...

, Alberta. *16 August:

T&T Supermarket T&T Supermarket () is a Canadian supermarket chain that sells primarily Asian foods. The company is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia. In 1993, the first T&T was opened in Burnaby's Metropolis at Metrotown, a shopping centre in the Me ...

opened a store in the first floor portion of the Target location at

Lansdowne Centre Lansdowne Centre (formerly Lansdowne Park Shopping Centre) is a shopping mall in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It is located on No. 3 Road and is the second-largest mall in Richmond after Richmond Centre. The mall has over of retail spac ...

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the a ...

. *24 August: Hudson's Bay opened at the Carrefour Angrignon in LaSalle, Quebec. *7 September: Market & Co. opened at the former Target at the Upper Canada Mall in

Newmarket, Ontario Newmarket ( 2021 population: 87,942) is a town and regional seat of the Regional Municipality of York in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is part of Greater Toronto in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The name stems from ...

. *11 October:

replaced the former

Metropolis at Metrotown Metropolis at Metrotown (commonly referred to as Metrotown) is a three-storey shopping mall complex in the Metrotown area of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1986, it is the largest mall in British Columbia and the third-largest ...

Target store in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard ...

, British Columbia. *Fall 2018:

/ HomeSense and

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

replaced the

Hillcrest Mall Hillcrest Mall, or Hillcrest, is a enclosed shopping centre located in the town of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, on the northwest corner of Yonge Street and Carrville Road. It has 135 shops, services, and restaurants. History Hillcrest Mall ...

Target store in

Richmond Hill, Ontario Richmond Hill ( 2021 population: 202,022) is a city in south-central York Region, Ontario, Canada. Part of the Greater Toronto Area, it is the York Region's third most populous municipality and the 27th most populous municipality in Canada. Ric ...

. *Late Fall 2018:

, Uniqlo, The Rec Room, and the Food District (upscale food court) replaced the Target location at Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga. All stores and restaurants were opened by Spring 2019.

2019

*22 August: Walmart Supercentre replaced the former The Pen Centre Target location in St. Catharines. *21 November: Marché Adonis replaced the former St. Laurent Boulevard Target location in Ottawa. *14 December: Canada Computers & Electronics replaced the former Target store at Centerpoint Mall in Toronto's north end.

2020

*13 April: St. Michael's Kidney Care opens at former Target location at

in Toronto. *22 September: Canadian department store

opened a new store in

, Ontario, completing the transformation of the former Target Canada location. *Early December: Black & McDonald opens a nuclear training facility at the former Target store in

Bowmanville Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately east of Toronto, and east of Oshawa along Highway 2. Bowmanville was first incorporated as a to ...

, Ontario to support the ongoing refurbishment project at the nearby Darlington Nuclear Generating Station.

2021

*4 March: Save-On-Foods opened a portion of the former Cottonwood Mall Target store in Chilliwack, BC. *May 2021:

and Club 16 Trevor Linden Fitness opened a back portion of the former Cottonwood Mall Target store in Chilliwack, BC. *14 December: Goodlife Fitness opened the largest fitness club in Canada, in the former Hazeldean Mall Target store in Kanata, Ontario.

Gallery

File:TargetCenterpointMall.JPG, The mall entrance to the Target store in Centerpoint Mall in

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a p ...

(store #3609) in 2014. This store closed in 2015 and became a

in 2016 or 2017. However, Lowe's closed in 2019. As of 2020, the space is replaced with a Canada Computers & Electronics location. File:Target Merivale Rd Nepean (Ottawa) ON 2 (16430277613).jpg, A Target store in Nepean,

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

(store #3628) in 2015 during its closing sale. Closed in 2015 and became a FreshCo in 2017. File:Target Canada Shoppers World Brampton SAM 0720 23.JPG, The mall entrance to the Target store at Shoppers World Brampton in

(store #3668), during its grand opening in 2013. Closed in 2015, and later expanded and became a Jysk, Staples, GoodLife Fitness, and a

in 2017 or 2018. File:Target Canada Shoppers World Brampton SAM 0720 20.JPG, The outside entrance of the Target store at Shoppers World Brampton (store #3668). File:Target Cambridge Centre Cambridge, ON, Canada 3 (24718883568).jpg, The abandoned Target store at Cambridge Centre in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

(store #3608) in 2017. The store sat abandoned for three and a half years until

took over the space in 2018. File:Target Cloverdale Mall Etobicoke, ON. Canada 2 (38558394542).jpg, The abandoned Target store at

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

(store #3715) in 2017. , the space still sits abandoned. File:Target Boulevard Newman, Lasalle, QC 3 (16759503571).jpg, The Target at Carrefour Angrignon in

LaSalle, Quebec LaSalle () is the most southerly borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located in the south-west portion of the Island of Montreal, along the Saint Lawrence River. Prior to 2002, it was a separate municipality ...

(store #3595) during its closing sale in 2015. Closed that year and became a Hudson's Bay in 2018. File:Target Boulevard Newman, Lasalle, QC 4 (16140731573).jpg, The mall entrance to the Target in Carrefour Angrignon (store #3595).

REDcard

The REDcard was offered in Canada as either a debit card or a credit card. Around 30,000 Canadians signed up for the REDcard prior to Target's opening in 2013. Like its American counterpart, the cards offered a five-percent discount on almost all Target purchases and the debit card allowed up to a $60 cash withdrawal. The Canadian version did not offer free online shipping (as

online shopping Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the ...

was unavailable in Canada when Target's Canadian operations were active), a 30-day extended return period, a one-percent donation to K–12 schools on almost all purchases, a Visa credit card or a store-only credit card that are available in the United States. Target Canada stores did not accept U.S.-issued REDcards in its stores. Target Canada continued to honour the REDcard throughout its liquidation sales.

Target Canada: The Play

Robert Motum, a Toronto-based playwright, spent two years interviewing and gathering the stories of former Target Canada employees. The words of 60 employees have been compiled into ''A Community Target'' – a verbatim play that examines the human story of Canada's precarious retail climate and depicts Target's whirlwind venture north of the border. The piece, commissioned by Outside the March Theatre Company, is to be staged inside an empty Target store.

References

External links

Official website
(Archive)
Off-Target: How a U.S. retail giant misread the Canadian market
Chris Sorensen, January 21, 2015, ''

''
Target International site (directs to Canadian page when user domain is identified as Canadian)
{{Portalbar, Companies, Canada, Ontario Defunct retail companies of Canada Department stores of Canada Discount stores of Canada Target Corporation Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Canada Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies Companies based in Mississauga Retail companies established in 2011 Retail companies disestablished in 2015 2011 establishments in Canada 2015 disestablishments in Canada Toy retailers of Canada