The Energon Pub

News Credits: 4877 · Thu Jan 15, 2015 4:28 pm

A sad day for Canadian consumers and TF fans. Target, one of the countrie's biggest retailers will be closing all of it's 133 stores across Canada. This si after less than two years of the stores being open for business.

More than 17000 people will lose their jobs and this is the biggest economic impact.

However, this being a Transformers site, it is worth mentionning that this will also mark a major impact for collectors. Target was the third biggest toy retailer in the country, ideally on the same league as Walmart and Toysrus for its Transformers offering. This gives one less venue for Canadian transformers fans to find their figures.

Granted, a big problem with Target's Canadian expansion was how it was an unsatisfying experience for Canadian consumers and it had a hard time providing the same products it had in the US at the same price. This was the case for their Transformers offerings which were often the last to be updated among the three big box stores. However, it did act as a big competitor to the other retailers, making sure prices were in check and providing another venue for price matching (although it was usually getting a Walmart price matched at Target than vice versa).

Also, Target provided another venue for Canadians to get exclusive Transformers toys such as the Age of Extinction Exclusives and the Predacon Rising figures, no longer requiring stateside visits or e-bay to obtain them (at a premium). One of the highlights was their adoption of the language laws by adding French on their boxes, letting their exclusives be sold in Quebec as well (something Toysrus still does not do to this day) and selling the exclusive AOE G1 Grimlock and Silver Optimus two pack at 16.99$ across Canada.

However, those days are now over. It is to be seen if this will result in massive liquidations (a last hurrah for Trans fans) or redistribution of the products to the US or selling their inventory to a discount retailer like Winners.

Thu Jan 15, 2015 4:53 pm

I don't live in Canada, so this doesn't directly affect me, but wow, that sucks.

Thu Jan 15, 2015 5:56 pm

wow, more than 17,000 people will lose their jobs.. that's insane. i feel bad for them. hopefully they'll all get their feet back under them in short order.

News Credits: 9 · Thu Jan 15, 2015 6:17 pm

As a condition of the pull-out, it will be a liquidation. Sadly judging on the couple locations I've been in lately, as they had already started clearing older stock a couple weeks ago, i doubt they will have much left in their supply chain for us to take advantage of.

News Credits: 402 · Updated Oct 21, 2022

Not unexpected really, but disappointing nonetheless.

News Credits: 293 · Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:29 pm

this supremely sucks. they were a good resource. though id be lying if i said i wasnt looking forward to the going out of business sale... :-?

News Credits: 1 · Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:59 pm

To the editor of this so called sad story, being Canadian I can truly say, with no hesitation, Target stores here in Canada sucked!
I, for one, could care less for their so-called Target Exclusives as Toys R Us provided the figures adequately.
When walking through their isles there was never anything new or interesting.
If you walked through their store during Christmas hours it was bleak with hardly anyone in the store.
It's a shame the jobs will be lost but as a transformers fan, we're truly not missing much.
Someone says they were a great resource? I have to completely disagree.
If Walmart or toys r us did not have the item they stocked up within a couple of days. Target on the other hand would have the item but would be for $3-$5 more. I'm sorry but I can wait to save that money and put it towards groceries.
With Target their stock was so out dated and ridiculously priced I'd use their store to pick up baby clothes for my kid. (That aspect I will miss - great selection for baby merchandise)

Did we miss much.....yes for the job market but not for its merchandise.

News Credits: 9 · Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:04 pm

shajaki wrote:id be lying if i said i wasnt looking forward to the going out of business sale...

Only works if they stuff to sell.

They may have a few things show up in the next week or two but after that all bets are off.

The nature of the papers they filed for creditor protection basically says if they haven't signed to receive the product in one of their facilities from Hasbro already, that any open orders have been immediately cancelled. That would include anything pending that has not arrived in a Target facility.

Anything from Hasbro manufactured but not delivered will be sent to Hasbro, and anything awaiting production will be reassigned or cancelled.

Based on this any products that have left the factory for our shores are more likely to end up at a Winners, TRU or Wal-Mart then end up on a Target shelf.

News Credits: 3 · Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:22 pm

Target has been a steady disappointment since the initial novelty of having them in Canada wore off. There were a few items I found for cheaper than other retailers, and would be lying if I said I didn't take advantage of that brilliantly priced Silver Prime/Grimlock pack, but the overall experience of shopping at Target was not that great. I'm sad so many are losing jobs, that is terrible, but we're not losing a great retail outlet.

News Credits: 293 · Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:39 pm

i wonder what this means for target USA? they lost a lot of money coming to canada only to walk away from it all... would there be any kind of ripple effect?

Thu Jan 15, 2015 10:34 pm

I don't mean to sound rude, I love target and would hate for it to just go away like that, not to mention the job lose, but hopefully this means Target will be able to open up here in my town. We just lost Kmart over the summer and rumors have been spreading like wildfire for the last couple years that if Kmart ever closed Target would be taking over the building.

News Credits: 122 · Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:04 pm

Interesting commentary on the Target pull-out:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/01/15/target_closing_in_canada_these_pictures_show_why_it_failed.html

News Credits: 4877 · Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:15 pm

shajaki wrote:i wonder what this means for target USA? they lost a lot of money coming to canada only to walk away from it all... would there be any kind of ripple effect?

I dont think so, their stock price just rose 3 points today due to the news that they would leave Canada.

News Credits: 122 · Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:19 pm

william-james88 wrote:
shajaki wrote:i wonder what this means for target USA? they lost a lot of money coming to canada only to walk away from it all... would there be any kind of ripple effect?

I dont think so, their stock price just rose 3 points today due to the news that they would leave Canada.

Yea... Target Corporate is much healthier financially now that Target Canada is dunzo.

It actually might have a positive ripple effect in the US... MORE TOYS FOR US!!! :michaelbay:

Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:47 pm

I'm in Ohio, and there are any exclusives or anything that some of our buddies to the north might want, drop me a line and I'll do what I can for you-

News Credits: 5 · Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:53 pm

Just heard about this on the radio this morning. I'm with you guys, Target Canada was kind of a disappointment. It was so boring in the stores from every aspect, and I think they had trouble competing with Walmart supercenters, which offers produce.
If you guys want to know a little more of the story, it's pretty neat. Canadian stores in general have less product, later, and more expensive. I remember that crossing the border was always cool because US stores like Target were there. Now for years there has been a store analogous to Target in Canada, called Zellers. I have many fond memories of Zellers, as it often had sales, and carried older stock sometimes, which allowed me to hesitate on decisions. Not to mention the fact that they carried Target exclusive products in Canada. However the stores were a mess. They were among the most rough looking stores I've ever been in. I suspect that poor management is why they were ripe for a buyout on Target's part.
Nowadays, Targets were clean stores that had comparable products to everywhere else for a small percentage more. For whatever reason they were often empty relative to places like Walmart. My personal opinion, I preferred Zellers. I can't remember buying anything from an advertised sale in Target, because they never had them (for Transformers that is). So basically I lost a major source of sales for a poor-man's Walmart. All I hope at this point is that some chain consistently picks up their TF exclusives :roll:

Fri Jan 16, 2015 1:20 am

Terrible. I wonder how this will affect the US stores. The Target near me tendso have a better seletn TFs than the Toys R Us across the street. My condolences to the men and women who will soon be without employment. I hope you can find fulfilling work soon.

Fri Jan 16, 2015 8:00 am

mesh wrote:To the editor of this so called sad story, being Canadian I can truly say, with no hesitation, Target stores here in Canada sucked!
I, for one, could care less for their so-called Target Exclusives as Toys R Us provided the figures adequately.
When walking through their isles there was never anything new or interesting.
If you walked through their store during Christmas hours it was bleak with hardly anyone in the store.
It's a shame the jobs will be lost but as a transformers fan, we're truly not missing much.
Someone says they were a great resource? I have to completely disagree.
If Walmart or toys r us did not have the item they stocked up within a couple of days. Target on the other hand would have the item but would be for $3-$5 more. I'm sorry but I can wait to save that money and put it towards groceries.
With Target their stock was so out dated and ridiculously priced I'd use their store to pick up baby clothes for my kid. (That aspect I will miss - great selection for baby merchandise)

Did we miss much.....yes for the job market but not for its merchandise.

Totally agree. Target stores around here were often mostly empty no matter when you went there, and the selection and prices left a LOT to be desired. But it is definitely a "sad" story as a lot of people are now out of work and that sucks even more.

News Credits: 3 · Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:52 pm

megatronus wrote:Interesting commentary on the Target pull-out:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/01/15/target_closing_in_canada_these_pictures_show_why_it_failed.html

That's pretty much it, right there. The stores were always barren. Like they'd get a shipment of stock, and for the next three months or more, that was what they had. As it sold out, they'd have less and less, with nothing more coming in to supplement what was sold. Numbers were not down because they couldn't sell things, numbers were down because after getting their initial stock, they had nothing left to sell in the months following. This is true of every Target I've visited out here which, let's be honest, is only like... five... but for such a problem to be consistent between five separate stores within a chain?

I wanted Target to do well, even if we do have other stores that carry their exclusive toys here in Canada, but I think whoever was calling the shots on this project really dropped the ball, and now a buncha people are gonna be out of work as a result.

News Credits: 4877 · Tue Jan 20, 2015 12:50 am

Samsonator wrote:
megatronus wrote:Interesting commentary on the Target pull-out:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2015/01/15/target_closing_in_canada_these_pictures_show_why_it_failed.html
That's pretty much it, right there. The stores were always barren. Like they'd get a shipment of stock, and for the next three months or more, that was what they had. As it sold out, they'd have less and less, with nothing more coming in to supplement what was sold. Numbers were not down because they couldn't sell things, numbers were down because after getting their initial stock, they had nothing left to sell in the months following. This is true of every Target I've visited out here which, let's be honest, is only like... five... but for such a problem to be consistent between five separate stores within a chain?

I wanted Target to do well, even if we do have other stores that carry their exclusive toys here in Canada, but I think whoever was calling the shots on this project really dropped the ball, and now a buncha people are gonna be out of work as a result.

Do we still?

News Credits: 9 · Tue Jan 20, 2015 11:42 am

william-james88 wrote:
Samsonator wrote:I wanted Target to do well, even if we do have other stores that carry their exclusive toys here in Canada, but I think whoever was calling the shots on this project really dropped the ball, and now a buncha people are gonna be out of work as a result.

Do we still?

I'd love to know which store these's are. The only place around here beyond resellers (Ages 3 and Up, Metropolis C&G, Toy Traders) I know I have ever seen Target exclusive tags beyond Target, is at the Zellers they replaced.

News Credits: 3 · Thu Jan 22, 2015 7:33 pm

I have, on occasion, found cases of Target Exclusive toys at smaller, lesser known chains. For example, "Fields" in the town I used to live in, back in DoTM I was shocked to find HA Leadfoot, complete with Target logos all over him. I thought that might change when Target came here, but according to friends back home, they saw at least the Predacons Rising stuff which was after Target Canada opened it's doors. They are out there, but they are definitely hard to find. Getting them from Target was definitely an easier solution, at least when Target had any stock, but as far as I know, they'll make it into the country with or without the store.

News Credits: 9 · Thu Jan 22, 2015 8:01 pm

Fields? Interesting. now this is just a hypothesis but....

Fields was formerly a division of HBC that has been sold off a while ago but still maintained some connections to assist in some communities. It's highly likely that due to those connections that they were able to take advantage of agreements already in place during the shut down, or had the Bay push items in the supply chain already agreed to purchase over their way once the majority of Zellers closed, rather than... oh... I don't know..... Reopening the toy departments in actual Bay locations?

But I digress. I doubt Fields will be a very solid option moving forward.

CRAP! You're in Surrey? :shock: