How did Target possibly screw up the Canadian expansion?

Just needs a Swiss Challete in every store instead of McDonalds. And maybe serve some hot cups of maple ham glaze instead of popcorn. For the aromatic effect.
 
JosephDredd said:
Yeah. If you're there less than... 24hours?... you don't need to pay duties. It's NAFTA, baby.
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Sweet. I've wanted to venture into Canada but I've always been leery of how I would be treated if I tried to bring any goods back into the US.
 
We have a target here in my city.

Everyone here hated zellers.

Everyone here says target remindes them of zellers.

They no likey that.

Prices arent competitive with walmart.

Shelves are empty a lot of the times.

Target needs to fix this shit fast or they will be out of canada faster then krispy kream and quiznos
 
Target in Canada is basically Zellers with lipstick and a wig.

More expensive than Walmart but shittier brands than Winners.
 
Banchan said:
1. Target Canada doesn't carry the brands American Target has.

2. Distribution issues led to bare shelves for much of existence in Canada so far. I still see bare shelves at my local Targets.

3. They can't compete with Walmart.
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Not sure about 3, but 1 is correct.

there is a target near my daughter's gymnastics, and we will zip over to it when she is in class. My wife is always complaining about #1.

It seems to me that Target is just a crappy zellers/walmart type store.
 
I bought my wife a winter coat at Target for Christmas last year. The coat was too tight so on January 6th we went back to exchange it for a bigger one but target must have thought everyone buys the right size the first time and Christmas exchanges don't happen because there were only a few coats left and they were all xs in size and on clearance. When I questioned this practice I was told they were already clearing out winter inventory to make room for spring..... on Jan 6th...... in Canada.... talk about dropping the ball on market research. Sorry Target but January 6th is still deep in winter with many months to go before spring. There were literally no more coats in the whole damn store larger then small and only a few in stock for each style. I wanted my money back, they wonted to give me an in store credit. I told them I plan on never stepping foot in a target ever again, they still wanted to give me an in store credit. After many calls to the store manager and head office a few weeks later I finally got a refund and have never been back and never will.
 
Monsteer said:
We have a target here in my city.

Everyone here hated zellers.

Everyone here says target remindes them of zellers.

They no likey that.

Prices arent competitive with walmart.

Shelves are empty a lot of the times.

Target needs to fix this shit fast or they will be out of canada faster then krispy kream and quiznos
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This.

It was funny when Zellers was closing everyone went apeshit trying to "save" it via fb, etc. when in fact no one shopped there since the product's quality is worse than Walmart and more expensive

For Target, out of everything at the store, only 2 things were decent for me. Sometimes I see brands they carry that Walmart also carries except its more expensive at Target.
 
JosephDredd said:
They've got cool stuff we don't have in Canada. 300 brands of cereal. I remember looking at a bean bag matress and seriously wondering if I could strap it to the roof of my car and if border agents would cut it open looking for drugs. It would was totally square and as long as my car, so the sides would have hung down and totally blocked all the side windows. I'm sure front and back visibility would have been effed as well.
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In Canada a bean bag mattress is cool?
 
odog said:
I saw a news story the day they opened and they were interviewing people that showed up the first day. Everyone was saying that their prices were kinda high and that they probably wouldn't be back. Never actually seen one of their stores.
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Have you gone to the one at Metrotown lately? Dead shithole.

I went Xmas shopping with my wife a few weeks ago and target was empty save for a handful of people sitting around not really shopping.
 
Target Canada has numerous problems.

  • They offer the exact same goods that you can get at other department/big box stores such as Wal-Mart, Future Shop, Staples, Costco, Rona, Canadian Tire, etc.
  • Their prices are identical to those other stores.
  • They had major distribution issues when they first opened, leading to empty shelves, low stock, and disorganized stores.
  • The shopping experience is not dramatically better at Target than it is at any other store.
  • Their website is terrible. You can't shop online or even browse merchandise. All you get is tombstone detail and a link to their flyer.
  • Their initial ad campaign was terribly patronizing and condescending.

Basically, Target has given Canadian customers absolutely zero reason to actually shop at their stores. They coasted by entirely on their US reputation, which they earned for specific reasons that they didn't attempt in Canada. They just showed up, opened some stores, and then acted shocked when people didn't flock to them despite not doing anything to actually earn business.

The only reason I ever find myself in a Target is because they're the closest department store to my house, and even then, I typically don't go there because it's not close to the other amenities that I typically require when running errands - it's usually only on an emergency basis.
 
I don't work directly for Target, but I do work at a Target location selling cell phones as part of their "Target Mobile" operation. So I'm in Target all the time. Honestly, I'm pretty surprised to hear all this Canadian love for the place. Before I started working there, I would step into a Target once or twice a year at best. And even now that I work there, I don't really shop there.
 
Sonny said:
Have you gone to the one at Metrotown lately? Dead shithole.

I went Xmas shopping with my wife a few weeks ago and target was empty save for a handful of people sitting around not really shopping.
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I didn't even realize that there was one at Metrotown. I try not to go there very often, but luckily when I do, the stores I go to are all in same area. I haven't been to the eastern side of the mall in a long time.
 
CoolB said:
Walmart was sold out of anything bean bag related in my town 2 weeks before Christmas.
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maybe I'm out of touch. But in good old white trash america I haven't seen anything bean bag related since the early 90s..
 
JosephDredd said:
I don't understand it.

Thousands of Canadians cross the border JUST to shop at target. All they needed to do was bring their inventory to Canada and they had a massive consumer pool slobbering at the chance to buy from them.

But they purchased Zellers, a Canadian retail chain losing marketshare for years, and just kept selling Zellers products. People expected... and, I have to emphasize, slobbering at the chance to spend money on... Target products at Target prices.

They would have had to actively try to screw it up. Can someone explain to me how it happened?
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Zellers was an awesome store with great prices. Target's came in and everything cost more and their is never anything in stock. Also the customer service was not great and wal mart is much cheaper. Fuck Target! Superstore is the best though
 
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