Top Ten Stores That Canadians Want (Back)

Yes, I know we all were, more or less, satisfied with the idea that Target was replacing Zellers as the No. 2 box store in Canada. Well, guess what? That didn't work out very well. In fact, it was a massive step backward. Target Canada (as any Canadian shopper will tell you) was a complete failure. The prices were higher than both its current competitor Walmart and its predecessor Zellers, and the selection and stocking was a joke. I was able to go to the grand opening of the Target in Welland, Ontario only to discover a mess of a store and a bunch of unimpressed employees (one even admitted to it being worse than Zellers). But I digress. Zellers, unlike Target, had cheap prices (competitive with Walmart) and could properly stock their store shelves. Their issues, compared to Target's, looked like a scuff on the floor. Honestly, Zellers was better and we all know it. Who knows? Zellers resurrecting themselves could actually work right now.

Kmart used to be quite common in Canada up until The Hudson Bay Company bought up their 112 locations in 1998 and converted most of them into Zellers. It's a real shame since Kmart (unlike the newly dead Target Canada) was the last true competitor to Walmart Canada. To this day, Walmart still reigns supreme.

We need something else than Wal-Mart...please bring us something.

I loved Kmart fashions and prices.
Here in Cambridge and Kitchener Ontario.
I miss it.

Loved Kmart and wish we'd get back in Ontario.

It's been gone for a week and one day and already you can hear Canadians calling out for its return. Best Buy first started opening stores in Canada back in 2001 and decided to buy up their primary competitor in the process. Seeing how they just got up and decided to close every single store out of nowhere (without even telling their own workers - who drove in to work on March 28th to find out, only then, that they had lost their jobs), it wouldn't be a surprise to hear that they had been planning this from day one. Now, while half of the 131 stores are being converted into Best Buy locations, the other half are staying closed. And that hurts my town. BIG TIME.

Sears Canada is not doing too well, let's just say. They may soon find themselves added to the Canadian business graveyard that is ever increasing. But who do we want as a replacement? Probably the first thing anyone here in Canada will think of is Macy's. The American high-end juggernaut would be welcomed with open arms, no doubt, at a time when the only news surrounding businesses in Canada is about them closing. And now that Hudson's Bay has begun to bring Saks Fifth Avenue to Canada, now might be the time to make the move, Macy's.

This primarily-Californian grocery chain has been talked about for a while now, here in Canada. Apparently people really want it to cross the border. I'll be honest when I say that I know almost nothing about this whole ordeal but the people have spoken. We want Trader Joe's.

Just this past January (2015), Sony closed all of its 14 stores across Canada. I certainly wasn't happy to heat the news and I'm sure very few people were.

What? You don't get Sony there anymore? That's just unbelievable, particularly with Sony being the enormous market king that it is.

Canadian shoppers probably recognize the stores, Bluenotes (formerly Thrifty's) and Tip Top Taylors. Well, BiWay used to be their brother. It was a discount apparel and general store that was once quite abundant before 2001. I liked it growing up so I don't really see why they closed.