U.S. stores in Canada

[Zayre88]

For many retailers, Canada is the first place for "international" expansion.  The market is quite similar to the United States but there are some differences.

Kmart:
Kresge opened a canadian division in 1929.  Most Kresge were gone by 1980 but K-mart had more than 100 stores across Canada.  The chain has been sold to Hudson's Bay Company, a large canadian retailer.  Most stores were re-opened as Zellers.

Sears:
Sears and Simpson's created Simpson-Sears in 1953.  The company expanded to become #1.  The Simpson name was dropped in the 80's.  Sears Canada Inc. now has 123 mall stores, more than 50 Sears Home stores (furniture), dealer stores and a large catalogue business.  Sears Holdings owns 72% of the  company.

Woolworth:
They probably opened stores in Canada years ago.  The canadian Woolco stores stayed in business until 1994.  They had more than 150 stores.  Many Woolworth's were closed before 1994.

Wal-Mart:
They arrived in Canada with the acquisition of 122 Woolco stores.  Most stores were in malls and not as large as the U.S. ones.  Over the years, many Wal-Mart left their old buildings to move into Wal-Mart built stores, off the mall.  Today, the company has 278 stores and 6 Sam's Clubs.  The company now has 7 Supercenters. Most stores are smaller than their U.S. counterparts.

Home Depot:
The company entered Canada in .  They now operate 160 stores in all 10 provinces.  Like Wal-Mart, most stores are similar but smaller than their U.S. counterparts.

Lowe's:
They are supposed to open 3 stores tomorow.  They plan to open 10 new stores in Ontario.

Linens'n Things:
They currently have stores in 3 provinces. (edited: stores are closed)

Bed, Bath & Beyond:
They just opened their first store in Ontario and launched a website www.bedbathandbeyond.ca

Best Buy:
They acquired canadian electronics retailer Future Shop in 2001.  They opened their first store in 2002 but kept the Future Shop brand alive.

Radio Shack:
The Canadian counterpart was run by InterTAN, acquired in 2004 by Circuit City. However, RadioShack sued InterTAN one week after the purchase. In March 2005, a U.S. district court judge ruled in favor of RadioShack and cancelled their agreement, meaning that all 950 RadioShack stores in Canada had to stop using the brand name.  As a result, all of the InterTAN stores were rebranded under the name The Source by Circuit City and RadioShack Corporation opened its own stores in Canada (9 corporate + 16 dealer stores).  The 9 stores were closed in 2007.


More to come...

[Zayre88]

A Canadian Home Depot in Quebec City.  They don't use "The" Home Depot in Canada.

[Zayre88]

HomeSense and Winners in Quebec City: canadian divisions of the Tjx Companies.  They are exactly like HomeGoods and Marshalls.

[Zayre88]

Future Shop in Quebec City: part of Best Buy.  The company operates both brands in Canada.

[ameskmart1]

Originally posted by Zayre88
Future Shop in Quebec City: part of Best Buy.  The company operates both brands in Canada.

Until 1999 Future Shop was one of the biggest electronics chain in Idaho, Montana, Washington and Utah
 
Here's the still vacant location in Spokane, Washington
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<small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&amp;client=safari&amp;q=future+shop+in+spokane&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=future+shop&amp;hnear=Spokane,+WA&amp;ll=47.68493,-117.18558&amp;spn=0.05753,0.529027&amp;t=h&amp;layer=c&amp;cbll=47.657917,-117.196611&amp;panoid=gLOqX8-xyZn946tGW0shAg&amp;cbp=12,274.95,,0,-2.42&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

[jmcnamara96]

I read on the retail blog that linens and things was opening thats kinda stange

[XDeSuEhTX]

I wonder why there aren't more Canadian-based chains that make it into the United States?

[Zayre88]

Originally posted by XDeSuEhTX
I wonder why there aren't more Canadian-based chains that make it into the United States?  

I think that most of them are copies, or inspired from U.S. concepts.  We have a dept. store chain called The Bay that wants to be like Macy's.  Their discount division is like a cheap version of Target.  The same company launched Home Outfitters, a concept like Bed,Bath & Beyond.

Canadian pharmacy chain Jean Coutu acquired Brooks pharmacy buy did not operated under their own name in the U.S. Canadian convenience store chain Couche-Tard bought Circle K but kept the name.

[ameskmart1]

Originally posted by XDeSuEhTX
I wonder why there aren't more Canadian-based chains that make it into the United States?  

At one time where I live we used to have several Canadian retailers (Liquidation World, United Furniture Warehouse, Future Shop are just a couple) but all of them failed and closed their US stores (except for 2 Liquidation Worlds in Washington).

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Toys "R" Us also has stores in Canada.

[Zayre88]

Target now wants to expand to Canada and is looking to open six to 10 stores in late 2014 or 2015.  The chain could open up to 200 stores in Canada.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Retailer+Target+sets+sights+Canada/3629234/story.html

TJX also announced they would open their first canadian Marshalls store.  They already operate a very similar chain called Winners.

[videogamer75]

Originally posted by XDeSuEhTX
I wonder why there aren't more Canadian-based chains that make it into the United States?  

I think that most of them are copies, or inspired from U.S. concepts.  We have a dept. store chain called The Bay that wants to be like Macy's.  Their discount division is like a cheap version of Target.  The same company launched Home Outfitters, a concept like Bed,Bath & Beyond.

Canadian pharmacy chain Jean Coutu acquired Brooks pharmacy buy did not operated under their own name in the U.S. Canadian convenience store chain Couche-Tard bought Circle K but kept the name.

The Canadian supermarket chain Loblaws once had locations in Pennsylvania and New York.

[Zayre88]

Target is confirmed in Canada for 2013

Michael's also has stores and continues to expand.

[jmcnamara96]

Target is confirmed in Canada for 2013

Michael's also has stores and continues to expand.

Wasn't Lavedires Drug in Canada before Rite Aid's Buy out in the 90's?

[Zayre88]

Target is confirmed in Canada for 2013

Michael's also has stores and continues to expand.

Wasn't Lavedires Drug in Canada before Rite Aid's Buy out in the 90's?

No I don't think so.  Jean Coutu Pharmacy is a canadian chain that bought and then operated Brooks Pharmacy which took over most OscoDrug in New England.  Then Brooks was acquired by Rite Aid.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Target is confirmed in Canada for 2013

Their plans would crash and burn years later, as we all knew.

[buzz86us]

Target is confirmed in Canada for 2013

Their plans would crash and burn years later, as we all knew.

I was just wondering why a french company failed so miserably in Canada

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Target is confirmed in Canada for 2013

Their plans would crash and burn years later, as we all knew.

I was just wondering why a french company failed so miserably in Canada

Target is NOT French. They're based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.