Target gives up on Canada

In today's fast fail retailing world, few have failed as fast or as spectacularly as Target in Canada. After racking up losses in the area of $2 billion in under two years, the company has announced it will shutter its 133 stores north of the border and liquidate its operations there.

"After a thorough review of our Canadian performance and careful consideration of the implications of all options, we were unable to find a realistic scenario that would get Target Canada to profitability until at least 2021," said Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target, in a statement. "Personally, this was a very difficult decision, but it was the right decision for our company. With the full support of Target Corporation's Board of Directors, we have determined that it is in the best interest of our business and our shareholders to exit the Canadian market and focus on driving growth and building further momentum in our U.S. business."

Target struggled from the very start in Canada. Consumers complained of out-of-stocks and products priced higher than in the chain's U.S. stores.

The chain took steps to get its operational act in gear and had also sharpened its prices heading into the Christmas selling season hoping to demonstrate it had connected with Canadians turned off by its initial effort in their home country. Back in September, a market basket study of 33 identical items by Kantar Retail showed Target Canada's prices were 3.9 percent lower than Walmart's, even without a REDcard discount.

Still, the efforts were not enough to convince Mr. Cornell and the company board to give Target Canada more time to succeed.

"The Target Canada team has worked tirelessly to improve the fundamentals, fix operations and build a deeper relationship with our guests. We hoped that these efforts in Canada would lead to a successful holiday season, but we did not see the required step-change in our holiday performance," said Mr. Cornell. "There is no doubt that the next several weeks will be difficult, but we will make every effort to handle our exit in an appropriate and orderly way."

• Target Corporation Announces Plans to Discontinue Canadian Operations - Target Corporation
• Why Target waved the white flag in Canada - The Toronto Star
• Top 5 reasons why Target Canada was an epic failure - The Vancouver Sun
• How Target Canada's exit is like 15 malls closing at once for the retail world - The Financial Post
• Target to shutter all stores in Canada - USA Today
• Target lowballs Walmart in Canada - RetailWire