Rumour across facebook is that Target will not be coming to Brantford after all –at least not in the location on West and Fairview. Employees were told that Target will be selling the lease back to the owners at a date to be determined later.
Which begs the question, are they coming? Will they build a new location? Brantford deserves more than just a crappy Walmart. Fact.
The Target Corporation has announced that the following locations are due to open in March or early April, 2013:
• Ajax, Durham Centre
• Aurora, Aurora Shopping Centre
• Brampton, Shoppers World Brampton
• Brampton, Trinity Common
• Burlington, Burlington Mall
• Burlington, Millcroft Centre
• Cambridge, Cambridge Centre
• Fergus, Gates of Fergus
• Guelph, Stone Road Mall
• Hamilton, Centre Mall
• Kawartha Lakes, Lindsay Square Mall
• London, Masonville Place
• London Westmount, Westmount Shopping Centre
• Newmarket, Upper Canada Mall
• Milton, Milton Mall Shopping Centre
• Mississauga, Square One Shopping Centre
• Orillia, Orillia Square Mall
• Toronto, Cloverdale Mall
• Toronto, Shoppers World Danforth
• Toronto, East York Town Centre
• Toronto, Centrepoint Mall
• Waterdown, Flamborough Power Centre
• Whitby, Taunton Road Power Centre
• Windsor, Devonshire Mall
Brantford’s Zellers did not make the first list; making the Cambridge Centre likely the area’s first real peek at the new retail giant Target.
So in case you didn’t read the press release today, Target Canada purchased the leases of an additional 84 stores, including the Brantford Plaza.
So the long standing rumours are over. Now it’s just when do they convert the Zellers store into a Target, which the press release indicates that each store will get six to nine months notice of the conversion, allowing the stores to liquidate inventory and finalize for a renovation.
Brantford Zellers joins it’s sister stores, such as the Cambridge Centre Zellers, Laurention Power Centre in Kitchener, and 3 of the 4 Hamilton are Zellers, which will all make the conversion.
Further into the release you see the Tillsonburg Zellers was acquired by Target as well….. But, it was only in Target’s hand an hour before it was traded to Walmart Canada, who according to their release, will be converting it to a Walmart, finally making their exit from the former Norfolk Mall. That Norfolk Mall store so small and cramped, so this is a smart move on their part as they can reno and expand the Tillsonburg Town Centre location.
One store left in the air, and near and dear to my heart, is the Simcoe Zellers store. The little store with heart was not included in phase one nor phase two of the Target’s plans for Canada. I love that store, and the vast majority of the employees in it…. so here’s hoping Zellers uses it as one of their small format stores, which are to be determined late this year or in the new year.
