Sears closing five stores in Canada, including Richmond Centre location

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      Sears Canada Inc. will close its Richmond Centre store by February 28, 2015.

      The department store chain announced this today (October 29) as part of its plans to shut down five locations in Canada

      In Ontario, Sears Canada will shutter its Toronto Eaton Centre, Sherway Gardens, and London-Masonville Place stores by February 28, 2014, and its Markville Shopping Centre store by February 28, 2015. (The company will retain its head office in Toronto Eaton Centre.)

      In a news release, Sears Canada said it will gain $400 million in return for terminating the five leases. Sears Canada employs 965 workers at the five stores.

      "When proposals such as this one are presented to us, we must weigh the value of the transaction against the value we will obtain from continuing to operate those stores in their current locations," Doug Campbell, president and CEO of Sears Canada, said in the release.

      After the five stores close, Sears Canada will still run 111 "full-line" department stores in the country.

      The Richmond Centre store opened in 1989.

      Comments

      25 Comments

      james

      Oct 29, 2013 at 11:15am

      They should close them all

      Arthur Vandelay

      Oct 29, 2013 at 12:55pm

      Where are all the 70 and 80 year olds going to shop now?

      Why hate?

      Oct 29, 2013 at 2:00pm

      @James
      What a mean spirited comment.
      Sears being open impacts you negatively how? Probably not at all.
      Give a little thought for the hundreds that will lose their jobs, and even for those that enjoy shopping there.

      Nella

      Oct 29, 2013 at 3:52pm

      We'll end up with Walmarts instead.

      Lola

      Oct 29, 2013 at 8:22pm

      Sears is one of the stores that garanties the products that you buy even clothes which is good brand and not seconds like most of the other stores.Sorry too see them close.

      Naturalmystic

      Oct 29, 2013 at 9:59pm

      The people running Sears don't have a clue what they are doing. It's pathetic how they ran the company into the ground.

      Old Timer

      Oct 29, 2013 at 10:18pm

      I've never really been much of a Sears shopper but it was one of the few games in town when I growing up. Sears, The Bay, Woodwards and Eatons were the big ones and going to them was an event when I was a kid.

      Sears biggest problem is that it can't compete with the bare-bones approach of Walmart and other modern mega stores. Its operational model depends on a professional, long-term sales staff, which is expensive. The quality of the service and presentation has degraded significantly in Sears for many years now.

      Tanya

      Oct 29, 2013 at 11:15pm

      I'm by no means elderly but I've always enjoyed shopping in Sears, they have a wide range of items and they're high quality.

      I have no idea what is going to replace Sears but likely some super high end store. There are less and less decently priced stores these days, and with Sears gone I won't have a department store to shop in anywhere close by, besides The Bay, which is far more expensive.

      458 Speciale

      Oct 29, 2013 at 11:45pm

      Sears has the lowest prices for brand name underwear, socks, & jeans. Only foolish shoppers will pay higher prices elsewhere for the exact same item that can be found at Sears.

      ACMESalesRep

      Oct 30, 2013 at 12:05am

      Wal-Marts? I think it more likely that at least a couple of those locations will become Nordstroms as the Pacific Centre location will. The real estate is too pricey for the Walton clan and they can't build their typical giant store surrounded entirely by parking.