Two years after entering the Canadian retail market, Target says it will begin the process of pulling out of Canada.
There are two Target stores in London, one in Chatham and one in Windsor. The company currently has 133 Canadian locations employing 17,600 people.
In a statement this morning, company Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell says they could not come up with a scenario that would see profitability in its stores in Canada before 2021. He calls it a difficult decision.
"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 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."