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It's funny ... their big push into the Canadian market brought a few stores to my area ... almost everything in the store is priced higher than the alternative

It's funny ... their big push into the Canadian market brought a few stores to my area ... almost everything in the store is priced higher than the alternative stores here. I don't see much advantage to them, and have bought nothing from them. On the flip side of that coin, one of the Zellers locations that closed down due to Target coming in has reopened again. Target never moved into their lease, so they are still Zellers ...

jonny_eh 12y ago
I thought Target bought Zellers.
- Marcus316 12y ago
  Target only bought the leases, it seems. Hudson Bay Co. still owns the "Zellers" discount brand name, etc. A number of Zellers stores stayed open the whole time, even though the idea was to wind them all down by March of 2012, I think. The whole movement into Canada seems like it was a terrible let-down for Target ...
oalders 12y ago
I don't see much competition on price, but I wasn't a huge fan of Zellers. Most of my (few) trips to Walmart have felt like "Dante's Inferno meets Lord of the Flies", so I'm quite happy to have Target in Canada now.
- Marcus316 12y ago
  To be honest, I get pretty much everything I need from any of the bigger Grocery stores, which all carry more than just basic groceries now. Most anything else, I get from Home Hardware or Canadian Tire. I confess, though, I get most of the kids' clothes from Walmart. I do occasionally get some from Zellers or Real Canadian Superstore.
  - oalders 12y ago
    True. You can get a lot of the stuff that Target sells elsewhere. One thing that I like about Target in my neighbourhood is that it's generally so empty that it feels like you have the whole place to yourself. (Not that that's sustainable in the long term.) It's also open until 10 PM, which generally makes it the only store open after 9 PM around here.
  - Serow225 12y ago
    As a Canadian who has relocated permanently to the U.S., I really wish there was an equivalent to Canadian Tire in the U.S.
    - freehunter 12y ago
      Wouldn't that be Sears? Most Sears stores I've seen have an auto section along with clothes, tools, appliances, home goods, etc.
skwirl 12y ago
Even in the United States, Target is priced higher than Wal-Mart. People still go to Target. It's viewed as a somewhat higher class store than Wal-Mart.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- mgkimsal 12y ago
  Strange - I don't quite see that - maybe it's regional? There are some things Walmart in our area is lower on, but it's usually less than a 2% difference on the things we buy. We've got the Target Red Card, so everything's 5% off, which usually means it's < Walmart. Walmart is slightly further from us as well, so Target is faster to get to. But more than that, to me, the checkout experience at Walmart is usually abysmally slow (self-checkout makes is sometimes OK). Target by me rarely has more than 2 people ahead of you - in busy times I see a floor manager calling more people up to open cash registers - that's quite common here. Walmart - never. Yeah, it keeps their prices a bit lower, maybe, but I'd usually rather pay the extra 70 cents and be out 7 minutes faster. If I'm in the mood for more savings, Aldi has them both beat, and I go to Aldi a couple times a month to stock up on stuff. IMO, Walmart gets beat on price by Aldi, and on service by Target.
  - jessaustin 12y ago
    ...the checkout experience at Walmart is usually abysmally slow (self-checkout makes is sometimes OK). Checkout was why, when I last lived in densely-populated areas, I would put off the WalMart run until I absolutely had to go, for those things Target or other stores didn't carry. (Out here in the hinterland WalMart seems adequate.) It has been a few years, but in my experience self-checkout did not speed up the process. It seemed as if most of my fellow shoppers might have had better luck if they'd been asked to operate the Space Shuttle.
    - mgkimsal 12y ago
      self-checkout is hit and miss. I really really really wish for 2 things: 1. "beginner" flag on some self-checkout systems 2. An actual roped walkway up to the self-checkout area, like in a bank. You get to the front, you choose the next available area. I've lost track of how many times someone was 'behind' me, but walked past me to grab a kiosk I was walking towards. insane. There's so many ways self-checkouts can be improved, I don't believe for a moment the arguments against it when I read "people prefer live tellers". There are a few live tellers I prefer, but I don't prefer live tellers overall over self-checkout, but self-checkout is implemented so poorly at so many stores... argh...

jonny_eh 12y ago

I thought Target bought Zellers.

Marcus316 12y ago
Target only bought the leases, it seems. Hudson Bay Co. still owns the "Zellers" discount brand name, etc. A number of Zellers stores stayed open the whole time, even though the idea was to wind them all down by March of 2012, I think. The whole movement into Canada seems like it was a terrible let-down for Target ...

oalders 12y ago

I don't see much competition on price, but I wasn't a huge fan of Zellers. Most of my (few) trips to Walmart have felt like "Dante's Inferno meets Lord of the Flies", so I'm quite happy to have Target in Canada now.

Marcus316 12y ago
To be honest, I get pretty much everything I need from any of the bigger Grocery stores, which all carry more than just basic groceries now. Most anything else, I get from Home Hardware or Canadian Tire. I confess, though, I get most of the kids' clothes from Walmart. I do occasionally get some from Zellers or Real Canadian Superstore.
- oalders 12y ago
  True. You can get a lot of the stuff that Target sells elsewhere. One thing that I like about Target in my neighbourhood is that it's generally so empty that it feels like you have the whole place to yourself. (Not that that's sustainable in the long term.) It's also open until 10 PM, which generally makes it the only store open after 9 PM around here.
- Serow225 12y ago
  As a Canadian who has relocated permanently to the U.S., I really wish there was an equivalent to Canadian Tire in the U.S.
  - freehunter 12y ago
    Wouldn't that be Sears? Most Sears stores I've seen have an auto section along with clothes, tools, appliances, home goods, etc.

skwirl 12y ago

Even in the United States, Target is priced higher than Wal-Mart. People still go to Target. It's viewed as a somewhat higher class store than Wal-Mart.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
mgkimsal 12y ago
Strange - I don't quite see that - maybe it's regional? There are some things Walmart in our area is lower on, but it's usually less than a 2% difference on the things we buy. We've got the Target Red Card, so everything's 5% off, which usually means it's < Walmart. Walmart is slightly further from us as well, so Target is faster to get to. But more than that, to me, the checkout experience at Walmart is usually abysmally slow (self-checkout makes is sometimes OK). Target by me rarely has more than 2 people ahead of you - in busy times I see a floor manager calling more people up to open cash registers - that's quite common here. Walmart - never. Yeah, it keeps their prices a bit lower, maybe, but I'd usually rather pay the extra 70 cents and be out 7 minutes faster. If I'm in the mood for more savings, Aldi has them both beat, and I go to Aldi a couple times a month to stock up on stuff. IMO, Walmart gets beat on price by Aldi, and on service by Target.
- jessaustin 12y ago
  ...the checkout experience at Walmart is usually abysmally slow (self-checkout makes is sometimes OK). Checkout was why, when I last lived in densely-populated areas, I would put off the WalMart run until I absolutely had to go, for those things Target or other stores didn't carry. (Out here in the hinterland WalMart seems adequate.) It has been a few years, but in my experience self-checkout did not speed up the process. It seemed as if most of my fellow shoppers might have had better luck if they'd been asked to operate the Space Shuttle.
  - mgkimsal 12y ago
    self-checkout is hit and miss. I really really really wish for 2 things: 1. "beginner" flag on some self-checkout systems 2. An actual roped walkway up to the self-checkout area, like in a bank. You get to the front, you choose the next available area. I've lost track of how many times someone was 'behind' me, but walked past me to grab a kiosk I was walking towards. insane. There's so many ways self-checkouts can be improved, I don't believe for a moment the arguments against it when I read "people prefer live tellers". There are a few live tellers I prefer, but I don't prefer live tellers overall over self-checkout, but self-checkout is implemented so poorly at so many stores... argh...