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non chain toy stores aren't so bad. Stores like Phat Collectibles and Toy Arena are great

I have to say I am actually impressed by Targets speed at removing signage after closing a location. My local mall has every bit of Future Shop signage intact and in place still, but overnight from the last day the target closed, all neon signs inside and out were taken down, the cart corrals were dismantled and removed. All in all super efficient. Only the signage controlled by the mall itself still refers to the Target being there. If only their management was as efficient restock shops instead of shuttering them, we wouldn't be in this position.

W-J88, I was more referring to that now as stores are vacated by Target, we hopefully will start seeing various lease holders show signs of the plans they have, or if the shops are being taken over soon, to see new signage start showing up. It is assumed, that Loblaws will take a few of them, it's just a question of which locations work for their expansion plans.

In the case of the one closest to my house, it's unlikely Loblaws will take it as there is a Shoppers Drug Mart and a T&T Supermarket already in the same mall (both owned by Loblaws) and two Real Canadian Superstores within a 10 minute drive.
For the one closest to my work, there is a RCS across the road, a T&T and a Osaka supermarket (also Loblaws owned) in walking distance. The only way these are acquired by Loblaws is if they were to look at opening Joe Fresh shops but the space is much larger than their standards.

Well in the past week we have had a few big updates, seeing the big asset dispersal meetings have started.

So we now know the actual fate of 80 of the 133 locations from a few announcements.

1) While technically old news, on March 2nd it was announced that Target would sell back leases to 11 stores. Technically this should be 10 stores and one vacant property as they never opened at Oakridge, as they were waiting for a planned mall expansion/renovation that has yet to occur. The 11 properties were identified by the The Globe and Mail as (and sold back to):

Square One Shopping Centre, Mississauga, Ont. (Oxford/AIMCo)
Upper Canada Mall, Newmarket, Ont (Oxford/Canada Pension Plan Investment Board)
Place Laurier, Quebec City, Que (Ivanhoe Cambridge)
Oakridge Centre, Vancouver, B.C. (Ivanhoe Cambridge)
Metropolis at Metrotown, Burnaby, B.C. (Ivanhoe Cambridge)
Mic Mac Mall, Halifax (Dartmourth), N.S. (Ivanhoe Cambridge)
Les Galeries de la Capitale, Quebec City, Que (Oxford/CPPIB)
Hillcrest Mall, Richmond Hill, ON (Oxford/Montez)
Kingsway Mall, Edmonton, Alba. (Oxford)
Carrefour de l’Estrie, Sherbrooke, Que (Ivanhoe Cambridge/CPPIB)
Conestoga Mall, Waterloo, Ont (Ivanhoe Cambridge)

2) On May 6th, Canadian Tire announced they have entered into agreement to buy 12 locations. A report from Global identified the locations as:

Bayers Lake Power Centre, Halifax, N.S.
Northwest Centre, Moncton, N.B.
Place Alexis Nihon, Montreal, Que
Place Versailles, Montreal, Que
Les Carrefours Rimouski, Rimouski, Que
Aurora Centre, Aurora, ON
Sudbury Super Mall, Sudbury, ON
Grant Park Shopping Centre, Winnipeg, MB
Driftwood Mall, Courtenay, B.C.
Tamarack Shopping Centre, Cranbrook, B.C.
Village Green Mall, Vernon, B.C.
Hillside Centre, Victoria, B.C.

Most Canadian Tires I've seen, tend not to carry much in the way of toys, but they have been known to, and they usually stock more around the holidays.

3) The news most have been waiting for broke on the 8th, again I'll refer to Global that Walmart announced they will buy 13 locations:

Scottsdale Mall, Delta, B.C.
Coquitlam Centre, Coquitlam, B.C.
Surrey Place/Central City, Surrey, B.C.
Haney Place Mall, Maple Ridge, B.C.
Southdale Centre, Winnipeg, MB
Guelph, Guelph, ON
Bayshore Shopping Centre, Ottawa, ON
Billings Bridge Plaza, Ottawa, ON
Pen Centre, St. Catharines, ON
Candiac Power Centre, Candiac, Que
Terrarium Shopping Centre, Pointe Claire, Que
Galeries Chagnon, Levis, Que
Place Fleur De Lys, Quebec City, Que

The deal also includes a Distribution Centre in Cornwall, ON.
This comes as great news for me as Surrey Place was my Target, and I'll gladly take a Wallyworld in walking distance.

4) In a move that shows how bad it must be for Target, they have simply handed the keys for a whopping 55 stores back to the landlords of those locations leases after finding they have no interest from buyers for those affected leases. Story here.

Loblaws for now appears to be sitting on the sidelines and have sent some mixed messages. They appear to be sticking with their expansion and renovation plans announced earlier this year without looking at Target locations, but have also admitted they do have a team looking at the options available.

Ikea who is speculated to also be in the hunt, has yet to fully clarify on the potential for expansion they touched on in January.

More news could potentially drop this week, but who knows. If anyone near one of the Canadian Tire or Walmart acquisitions wasn't aware and is happy by these announcements, you're welcome.

The canadian tire in Alexis Nihon is weird because I thought they already had one right close by. Maybe it's a move. I am really not a fan of Canadian Tire, their markup is insane compared to other big box retailers.

As far as mark-up, yhea they can be pretty bad, but they are decent to keep in mind for some things, and as there is one quite near me, we do stop by regularly near the holidays for sales and stuff.

As predicted, more news dropping this week.

We have news today as a few media outlets are reporting that Lowes will be grabbing 13 former Target Canada locations and a distribution centre in Milton, Ont.

No word as to the 13 locations, beyond that they are cross country.

So that is the fate of now 103 locations mentioned with 38 grabbed by Walmart, Canadian Tire and Lowes.

That still leaves 30 stores and at least 1 more distribution centre in Target's possession they are trying to sell, and not dump like the other 55 locations.

At least Lowe's is a decent store for people who customize figures