[narduch]

Canada Computer's are great.

It my go to place for electronics and accessories. They usually have the best prices as well.

 

[Skeezix]

It's been a really really bad year for Canadian retail.

It really is a bad time for retail in Canada. Part of that is the economy and part of that is the shift to online.

I don't entirely agree. On a micro level, perhaps. It has been a very bad year for the staff at Target and Future Shop. The loss of a banner unique to Canada is a bit of a drag. Some malls, and retailers located in those malls, will suffer. And some neighbourhoods will lose these amenities.

But on a macro level, the loss of two foreign-owned chains ≠ a bad year for Canadian retail. Existing retailers will pick up the slack, and new retailers will enter the market (both from abroad and home-grown). From the perspective of Future Shop, we're not really seeing a loss of competition because it was owned by Best Buy. As far as Target is concerned, I'm not convinced it offered much competition in the Canadian marketplace in the first place. The history of retail in Canada is one of chains coming and going. Our retail sector has endured flat economies and the falling dollar before, and will again. Some power centres might even be redeveloped with more desirable uses, including retailers. This is nothing new. Target and Future Shop disappeared because Canadians had moved on to other choices and options (or, to be entirely precise with Target, had never arrived in the first place). I don't think the losses of a terribly-managed chain and a chain reflective of 80s/90s shopping patterns means that it's been a bad year. It means Canadians had already moved on.

 

[MetroMan]

The FutureShop at 10 Dundas East is permanently closed. They're keeping the BestBuy at Dundas/Bay.

This opens a lot of possibilities for 10 Dundas East. FutureShop never used their Yonge-Dundas Square facing windows. What wasted potential. I expect we might see restaurants on that floor as they've been very successful on the top floor and have expanded to the food court floor as well.

10 Dundas East may turn out to become a giant restaurant mall which certainly complements the Eaton Centre rather than trying to compete in a lost cause for retail.

 

[gabe]

I don't entirely agree. On a micro level, perhaps. It has been a very bad year for the staff at Target and Future Shop. The loss of a banner unique to Canada is a bit of a drag. Some malls, and retailers located in those malls, will suffer. And some neighbourhoods will lose these amenities.

But on a macro level, the loss of two foreign-owned chains ≠ a bad year for Canadian retail. Existing retailers will pick up the slack, and new retailers will enter the market (both from abroad and home-grown). From the perspective of Future Shop, we're not really seeing a loss of competition because it was owned by Best Buy. As far as Target is concerned, I'm not convinced it offered much competition in the Canadian marketplace in the first place. The history of retail in Canada is one of chains coming and going. Our retail sector has endured flat economies and the falling dollar before, and will again. Some power centres might even be redeveloped with more desirable uses, including retailers. This is nothing new. Target and Future Shop disappeared because Canadians had moved on to other choices and options (or, to be entirely precise with Target, had never arrived in the first place). I don't think the losses of a terribly-managed chain and a chain reflective of 80s/90s shopping patterns means that it's been a bad year. It means Canadians had already moved on.

It's not just Target and Future shop, In the past year we have lost smaller retailers with lots of stores such as... Bowring, Mexx, Benix, Bombay & Co, Sony Store, Smart Set, Jacob Inc, Parasuco, TigerDirect,

Sears is on life support and Nordstorm and Saks will probably kill Holt Renfrew in a few years.

 

[syn]

This was a long time coming. Having two brands 'competing' against one another worked in their favour for many years. Best Buy has had some trouble recently, but I think the biggest factor in all of this is the growth of online shopping. Having as many large physical stores as they currently have (under both brands) just isn't practical anymore, especially when you factor in the cost of maintaining those two brands.

They're both similar, but I enjoyed the Future Shop store design more than Best Buy's (and found the service better too). I think it might actually be a more popular brand in Canada than Best Buy, though I guess none of that matters now.

 

[Johnny Au]

Perhaps too many people visited Future Shop just to take a look around, then buy the product at a lower price online, which in other words, just "showrooming."

Perhaps Future Shop cannibalized Best Buy to the bone and decided to close off all Future Shops near Best Buy.

It would be interesting to see what happens to the 10 Dundas East location. There were plans to open a DisneyQuest at that location, but plans fell through. It would have been interesting if that space became a LaserQuest or similar (with the Yonge Street entrance being converted to an emergency exit).

Perhaps the Future Shop in Leaside becoming Canadian Tire was a foreshadowing of Future Shop's fate.

 

[Skeezix]

It's not just Target and Future shop, In the past year we have lost smaller retailers with lots of stores such as... Bowring, Mexx, Benix, Bombay & Co, Sony Store, Smart Set, Jacob Inc, Parasuco, TigerDirect,

Sears is on life support and Nordstorm and Saks will probably kill Holt Renfrew in a few years.

So? Chains come and go. Nothing unusual. Benix/Bowring/Bombay are the same company, so not separate examples, and I believe they are still in operation, albeit with fewer stores. The issues with Sears, Mexx and Sony have very little to do with Canada (and Sears is a particularly sad tale since it was doing well in Canada until the U.S. parent decided to bleed it dry). Parasuco and Tiger Direct barely had a dozen stores between them - the former still makes jeans, and the latter should have stuck to online. Not sure what your prediction about Holt Renfrew has to do with this allegedly being a bad year in Canadian retail. And wouldn't the expansion of Saks and Nordstrom point to a good year in Canadian retail?

The loss of Smart Set and Jacob point to an increasingly competitive environment, and how some Canadian chains are having trouble competing with global chains. An issue of concern for me personally, but again not a new thing.

I'm just not convinced this has been a particularly bad year for retail in Canada. The loss of weak performers does not make it bad. It is, however, a year of change.

 

[TheKingEast]

Canadian retailers are getting hammered. Can't compete with the American retailers without government intervention. Rogers and Bell would be gone too if the government didn't shut down any foreign competition.

Just made a big purchase at Futureshop. I wonder if the staff knew anything back then. It's weird that they closed today and not on a weekday.

 

[urbandreamer]

I bought my Galaxy Camera 2 at the Dundas Square FS. Otherwise, I used it for showrooming--then bought online for lower price.

Good riddance: staff were rude and always trying to upsell their useless warranty package.

 

[Johnny Au]

futureshop.com had been updated to let customers know that they are gone for good and tell them to visit bestbuy.ca instead.

It also list a FAQ with regards to items purchased at Future Shop.

 

[Jonny5]

So? Chains come and go. Nothing unusual. Benix/Bowring/Bombay are the same company, so not separate examples, and I believe they are still in operation, albeit with fewer stores. The issues with Sears, Mexx and Sony have very little to do with Canada (and Sears is a particularly sad tale since it was doing well in Canada until the U.S. parent decided to bleed it dry). Parasuco and Tiger Direct barely had a dozen stores between them - the former still makes jeans, and the latter should have stuck to online. Not sure what your prediction about Holt Renfrew has to do with this allegedly being a bad year in Canadian retail. And wouldn't the expansion of Saks and Nordstrom point to a good year in Canadian retail?

The loss of Smart Set and Jacob point to an increasingly competitive environment, and how some Canadian chains are having trouble competing with global chains. An issue of concern for me personally, but again not a new thing.

I'm just not convinced this has been a particularly bad year for retail in Canada. The loss of weak performers does not make it bad. It is, however, a year of change.

Smart Set is a great example of you are talking about. It's just another Reitmans brand, and they still have over 700 other stores in their collection. The brand is tired and it will be replaced with something new. Similar weepy-eyed, hand-wringing stories of the death of Canadian retail at the hands of American happened when Eaton's went under. They were wrong then and are wrong now. These stories are created entirely by mass media looking for cheap filler opinion columns that have zero facts.

 

[James]

I would attribute the demise of Future Shop, and other bricks and mortar retailers like it, to simple showroom-ing. Plain and simple. When it comes to electronics which are very specific, with precise model numbers, you know exactly what you are getting after you've checked it out at the physical store. Other consumer goods, like clothing, are much more difficult to buy solely online, which is why clothes shopping is still very much a physical activity.

The physical store will always have greater overhead costs versus a pure online retailer. Ask anyone why they bought their electronics online and not in a store and they'll tell you "price." People will cut out the physical store for pennies and dollars. Based on pure pricing alone, the online retailer will win every time.

 

[NorthYorkEd]

I enjoyed the Future Shop store design more than Best Buy's (and found the service better too). I think it might actually be a more popular brand in Canada than Best Buy, though I guess none of that matters now.

My experience was completely the opposite. I went to the Future Shop at Empress Walk several times over the past couple of years, just because it was there. Each and every single visit was fraught with frustration as staff were either not available, unable to help, or just not interested (except for one of the cell-phone guys who really knew his stuff and wanted to help). It was a terrible place to shop. Not to mention that most savvy consumers already know more about the item they are interested in than the person working, and the warranty hard-sell was always a major turn-off for me.

Best Buy, on the other hand, was a much better experience. On the bright side, the Empress FS is converting to a Best Buy.

 

[James]

Same here. My experiences at Best Buys have always been better than those at Future Shops. Of course, this is all relative. The last time I was at Best Buy and wanted to know where they keep a certain product, I wandered around a practically empty store for what must've been 5 minutes before I saw an employee walking by. Naturally, what I was looking for was placed in the oddest of places which I would've never looked but I digress.

 

[khris]

I went to Best Buy yesterday, and asked where I can find compressed air, and the guy points me to a laptop cooling pad for your lap...