CORNWALL Ontario – Is Target in trouble in Canada? The US retailer’s bold move into the smaller Canadian market has had some bumps and grinds from language laws for product, to higher cost for labour and different regulations than the US.
With most Canadians within an hour drive of the US many shoppers are used to cross border shopping also leading to some negative pricing comparisons.
Cornwall Ontario is the home of their Eastern Canadian Distribution Centre. Owned by Genco and managed by Eleven Points Logistics Inc. the city eagerly expected 700+ jobs to be filled, but those numbers have never been reached.
In fact while several workers left SCM (Wal-Mart’s distribution Centre in Cornwall) and local success story,The Benson Group, slowly some workers have drifted back after Eleven Points started making their hours irregular. It’s estimated that Eleven Points staffing numbers are between 300-400; but some are complaining of not getting regular full time shifts.
SCM recently held a job fair where it was reported several former staff were seeking to return as they are expanding due to Wal-Mart’s Super Centre growth.
After losing two Call Centre’s Cornwall’s employment scene was expecting Eleven Points to be a solution to help fill the void of those lost jobs.
Are you an Eleven Points employee? You can post your opinions below.
Another empty warehouse? or perhaps a warehouse the next distribution centre won’t have to build.
No Target will not make it in Canada. I have been to Target Store here in Ottawa and didn’t buy a single item. The place is like Zellers but much cleaner. {MODERATED} She went in to get some things and looked at the prices and left the things behind without buying. Many people have said the same things about that store. The Target stores in the US sell better things and at cheaper prices from what I gather from others but Target is a failure in Canada because shoppers who go to the US come out mighty disappointed in the Canadian stores of that name. “NO Tanks” I stay with Wally World and always have.
Hugger1 . . . agreed . . . . If Target closes their doors in Canada, Cornwall will have a large warehouse that the next distribution will not have to build. Possibility of Cornwall gaining access to barge transport carrying containers to the city’s doorstep from future container super-ports on the Gulf of St Lawrence, at competitive transportation costs to truck an railway transportation, adds to Cornwall’s future attractiveness as a location for a distribution centre.
I have a family member working at a recently opened Target store in BC. She and most of her co-workers are actively looking for jobs where they will be treated with fairness and respect.
Target will survive in Canada. They will do what Walmart did, adjust to the Canadian landscape. Big U.S. stores come up here and discover the economy and how stores operate is not the same as the U.S. They will eventually adapt and become a WallyWorld competitor.
Furtz you are right about the Target employees looking for work. When we went to Target the store was pretty well empty except for a few people and you can’t make a business on just a few people. The only good side about Target is that it is very clean and very good lighting. Other than that the store is as garbage as Zellers. People in Canada are fed up of high prices and poor quality. You should see Sears and The Bay and other stores here in Ottawa. People look around but rarely purchase anything. The Bay is the most expensive of all and no longer Canadian but American. Again Target doesn’t have long left before its doors close.
Target is not going anywhere soon. They have very deep pockets and are #36 in the Fortune 500. They will figure Canada out.
How many “big box” stores selling low quality junk can survive in our economy? That market was saturated years ago.
What’s Target?
@Furtz…apparently 2….Walmart and Target.
ive been with eleven points since they opened and maybe 3 canceled shifts total so far im still working 40 hours a week
My husband works for 11points and yeah they still have some bugs to fix but it ain’t all bad..they are new and I believe in giving them time which is what people should do about the stores. I have been to several different stores and since they opened they have gotten better in shelves being filled and so forth..omg people it has only been a year since the 1st stores opened and only been about 6 months in eastern ontario. As for walmart their quality is not anywhere near what you get at target especially in clothes. Has anyone checked out their home decor department, beautiful stuff plus easy to find matches and so forth, as for a lot of their other stuff prices are pretty much the same, yes some the prices need to come down to draw the people in but they will realize this. Why give all your business to one store so that only they can be rich not to speak of all the jobs that could be lost if people don’t give them a chance I say shop there take advantage of the target debit card and save 5% on your purchase. Between all the store and warehouses they employ a lot of people and omg don’t compare them to zellers either that was worst junk then walmart. Rant done
I work there and so far it’s been good.. a few cancelled shifts but still 40 hour weeks… Consumer is right with everything that she said.. just give it time to gets things going.. it will be a success in time..
The amount of hours lost has been very minimal. EPL is a great place to work and we’ve been fairly busy. Sure there’s quiet me. SCM just recently underwent a shift change where most 10 hr shifts were dropped to 8hrs. Why? Because stores have slow seasons. All stores. Target will make it and all of us EPL staff will continue to work in our beautiful building.
Oh and as for the quality of Target’s products…. Higher end than Walmart. This is why the prices are a bit higher. Just because it resembles a Walmart or Zellers on the outside doesn’t mean that’s what you have to compare it to on the inside.
Quiet time*
Target is much better than Wal Mart, for a lot of reasons.
1. They treat their staff better, and generally pay higher (according to my friends in retail)
2. A lot of products they carry are made in North America, unlike Loblaws or wal mart, where I swear everything including their food is made in China
3. Clean, bright buildings
4. I always am greeted, and asked if I need help finding anything.
5. Prices are a bit higher, but I prefer being treated better, and being in a cleaner store, so I don’t mind paying 10 or 20 cents more for a product.
6. No wal mart white trash people shopping in there, seems to be more middle and higher class people
7. Newer items that I can buy for my house. I see the same decorative pictures and lamps in wal mart from 2 years ago.
8. Better clearance items for cheap.
9. Faster check outs, never have to wait 30 minutes to get thru a line
10. Exclusive, Target only items that you can’t buy anywhere else.
So that’s my opinion, take it as such. I haven’t stepped in a wal mart in about a year, and I don’t plan to ever again.
Oh oh I better stop buying any food at Wally World since it is made in China. I might go one day and check out clothing at Target. I can buy other things at Wally World but I will go back there one day and look around. There were only a few people in the store when I went. Yes lots of “white trash” in Wally World here in Ottawa. Where my daughter is working the same thing is true and the customers are mighty rude to the cashiers. I have to meet her at work so as to shop there and the cashiers that are older are the best. It is the young cashiers that are the problem in the stores with no manners.
I have to agree with Jules. The younger cashier have no manners, that’s if they show up for their shifts. They have to get their priorities straight…..do you want the job or do you want to party / spend all the time with their friends??
I work at the EPL in Milton, Ontario. I’ve always had 40-hour weeks. And about 50% of the weeks have been offered overtime shifts. I’ve been there since January 2012… target isn’t going anywhere. It isn’t easy to come into a new country and open up 126 new stores in under 2 years that’s ALOT of logistics and EPL is doing a great job! To my Cornwall brothers and sisters. You are doing a great job! You too Calgary 😉
well TARGET did not survive in CANADA lot of people going to be unemployed
Its too bad Target did not have a successful time in Canada. Its is hard to move in where Walmart already established itself as a good supplier but there would still be a need for competition at some areas in the store that would have helped. Unfortunately we cannot make the decisions for the ones putting their money in the business. I feel sorry for the Employees who are losing their jobs and their families. It is never easy for anyone going through this and keep your heads up high because you are not to be blamed on this economic decision. Support each other. Thank you Target for give it a try. Employee of EPL.