Best Buy & Future Shop Suddenly Shut Down A Bunch Of Canadian Stores Today
We believe this Best Buy in Toronto is still open, but if anyone wants to send us pics of a shuttered store, e-mail them to tips@consumerist.com
Per this announcement on the Best Buy Canada site:
Best Buy:
Queensborough, Nanaimo, Victoria, Langford (Westshore Town Centre), and South Surrey, British Columbia; and Lachenaie, and Sherbrooke (SmartCentres Sherbrooke), Quebec.
Future Shop:
West Kelowna, British Columbia; Montreal (Forum Entertainment Center), Laval (First Pro Ste-Dorothee), Quebec; Regent, Manitoba; Macleod, Calgary; as well as Ancaster, Barrie South and Erin Mills, Ontario.
The company says that, as the second phase of its “Renew Blue” strategy, it plans to open “state-of-the-art new Future Shop Small-Concept web stores and new Best Buy Mobile locations across Canada, where and when appropriate” over the course of the next three years.
A rep from Best Buy HQ here in the U.S. tells Consumerist, “We remain focused on transforming our business to better serve our customers and improve our performance. These closures are part of a broader strategy to resize our retail footprint and optimize our operations.”
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Shoppers in various parts of Canada went to their local Best Buy or Future Shop (owned by Best Buy) store today, only to find that it had been closed with no advance notice to shoppers.
And it wasn’t just customers, reports CTV news. Store employees were just as surprised to find they no longer had a place to work.
CTV says that three stores were closed in the Montreal area this morning and that it’s learned of 11 more around the country.
According to the Waterloo Record, windows at one store were papered over and a sign on the outside said the store had been shut down.
Employees at some stores say they were told as early as last Friday, while others say they showed up ready to work today only to find out the bad news.
We’ve asked Best Buy if there is any official comment on these closings and will update if we hear anything.
Thanks to Emmanuel for the tip!
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