Target to close all Canada stores, after barely 2 years

Ottawa, Canada

LESS than two years after opening in Canada, Target has conceded defeat and said it would shutter all its 133 stores, bringing an infamously ill-managed northward foray by the American retail giant to an abrupt end.

About 17,600 people will lose their jobs, Target said, and the Canadian operation would be placed under bankruptcy protection, underscoring the severity of the blunder by one of the largest retailers in the United States.

The decision to abandon the Canadian expansion, which had racked up more than US$2 billion in net losses since 2011, represented the boldest move yet by Target's chief executive, Brian Cornell, who took helm of the retailer in August.

"Simply put, we were losing money every day," Mr Cornell acknowledged. "We were unable to find a realistic scenario that got Target Canada to profitability until…