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JANUARY 16, 2015
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Vol. 64, Issue 11
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200 affected in Cranbrook when Target pulls out U.S. retailer announces the closure of all Canadian operations, including Cranbrook
TRE VOR CR AWLEY
Target has put a plan in place to discontinue Canadian operations, announced the company on Thursday morning, after filing for creditor protection in Ontario
Supreme Court. The company has 133 stores across the country, including a location in Cranbrook, which employs approximately 200 people. Mike Keogh, store man-
ager for the Cranbrook location, declined to comment on the announcement, however, a company spokesperson said closures will begin in the next four to five months.
“We also don’t yet know when each store will close, but it will vary by store,” said Molly Snyder. “The stores will all likely be closed within 16-20 weeks. And we don’t provide details on specific
store locations, but I can confirm that none of the stores were profitable.” It’s a stark turnaround after only two years in operation, when the company—to much fanfare—announced
COURTESY JAKE JACOB
B.C.’s Mining Minister Bill Bennett, Gavin C. Dirom, CEO, Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AMEBC), Karina Briño , President and CEO of the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) join representatives from British Columbia’s mining industry at the Toronto Stock Exchange ringing in a new year for mining in British Columbia. While in Toronto, Bennett delivered a key note speech to the Toronto Regional Board of Trade where he told a group of investors, explorers, developers, lawyers and large banking firms that B.C.’s untapped resources offer some of the best investment opportunities for resource development over the coming decade and beyond. See more, Page 5.
Cranbrook council looks for cuts to 2014 carry forward projects A R N E P E T RYS H E N
The new Cranbrook city council had its first stab at budget matters as it looked over a number of items, chief among them the 2015 Roads program and 2014 Carry Forward projects. The meeting took place on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at city hall and drew a big
crowd that stayed for the three hour meeting. The majority of the meeting involved Charlotte Osborne, Director of Finance and Computer Services, going through the Carry Forward items and having city department staff answer any questions that mayor and council had.
The Carry Forward Projects are projects that weren’t complete in 2014, and had to carry through to 2015, however with a new council eager to cut spending in certain areas the there were a lot of questions. At the end of the section, city staff asked for a resolution to pass the carry for-
ward items, Osborne noted that council could ask for more information on projects it was not yet knowledgeable on. The list of objections ranged too long, however, and the carry forward items had to be put off until the next meeting. “If we approve to continue on with some of them,
when do we decide the ones we’re not going to (continue)?” Mayor Lee Pratt asked, noting there were more than the three or four items that Osborne had heard objection on.
See COUNCIL, Page 3 Related story, Page 4
it was expanding into Canada. The Cranbrook location in the Tamarack Centre opened up on May 7, 2013 after completing renovations in a space previously occupied by Zellers. “When I joined Target, I promised our team and shareholders that I would take a hard look at our business and operations in an effort to improve our performance and transform our company,” said Brian Cornell, Target Corporation CEO, in a press release. “After a thorough review of our Canadian performance and careful consideration of the implications of all options, we were undoable to find a realistic scenario that would get Target Canada to profitability until at least 2021. Personally, this was a very difficult decision, but it was the right decision for our company.” No dates have been provided for store closures, but Target is providing $70 million for 16 weeks of compensation, including wages and benefits, to 17,600 employees across the country. “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 stepchange 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.” Target Corporation expects to report roughly $5.4 billion of pre-tax losses on discontinued operations in the fourth quarter of 2014, driven primarily by the write-down of the company’s investments in Canada.