Skip to main content
NewslettersWatchlist
Retail retreat: Target isn't the only chain closing up shop in Canada
Jeremiah Rodriguez

This article was published more than 9 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

Thursday marked the end of Canadian operations for discount retailer Target Corp., which announced it was closing 133 locations in Canada and leaving the country. But the big U.S. retailer isn't the only chain to close shop in Canada. Since summer 2014, we've bid adieu to a slew of others, too. Here is a list of some of the closures The Globe has reported on recently.

(J.P. Moczulski for The Globe and Mail)

Sony

Just a few short hours after Target announced their planned departure, Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. said it too planned on closing all of their locations in Canada. Sony has 14 retail stores from Vancouver to Quebec City and plans to shutter them all by the spring. The company is trying to turn around its slumping business amid high-profile data breaches and tough competition in the smartphone space.

(The Canadian Press/Rachel Verbin)

Mexx Canada

The Dutch-based fashion retailer filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada at the beginning of December, 2014 after unsuccessfully trying to restructure its operations. Mexx Canada plans to close all 95 stores by the end of February. Parent company Mexx has 315 stores worldwide and had declared the bankruptcy in Amsterdam the day before the Canadian announcement.

The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

Smart Set

Women’s fashion chain Smart Set is closing all 107 locations after a November, 2014 announcement by parent company Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. Reitmans also announced that it would convert 76 former Smart Set locations into Reitmans as well as its other smaller chains, Penningtons, Addition Elle, RW&Co. and Thyme Maternity. The Smart Set chain was created in 1945 and opened its first location in Ontario in 1970.

(Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail)

Jacob Inc.

Montreal-based women’s clothing retailer Jacob Inc. announced in May, 2014 it would close 92 stores across Canada after abandoning restructuring efforts. Jacobs was founded in Montreal in 1977 and had been under creditor protection since November, 2010.

(Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail)

Bombay, Bowring & Co. Inc. and Benix & Co. Inc

All three retail chains, owned by a member of the Isaac Benitah family, filed for bankruptcy protection on Aug. 11, 2014. Between the three home décor chains, 110 outlets will be closing. The week before the announcement, the three companies received court protection from creditors, whom they owed $86.6-million.

With files from Marina Strauss and Iain Marlow