The closure of Future Shop stores over the weekend leaves Coquitlam Centre down a second anchor tenant just two months after Target announced all its Canadian stores would close.
And while Target's closure has been an extended process, with stores' stock liquidated over several weeks, Future Shop met a sudden end when Best Buy Canada announced on Saturday it would be consolidating the chains immediately.
In reviewing its bricks-and-mortar footprint, Best Buy Canada found several of its Future Shop and Best Buy stores were located adjacent to each other, often in the same parking lot, according to a release. (In Coquitlam, Best Buy is located across the street from Coquitlam Centre at Pinetree Village.)
Across Canada, 66 Future Shop stores will be closed while another 65 will close for one week while they transition to the Best Buy brand.
Coquitlam Centre's Future Shop store will be one of the 66 closing permanently, according to a Best Buy spokesperson. Like the 1,500 Future Shop employees now out of work, the local staff will receive severance pay, employee assistance and outplacement support.
Ken Moffat, vice-president of asset management for Morguard, which operates Coquitlam Centre, said the company is still assessing the news of Future Shop's closure and what it will mean. "However, we will be working with Best Buy to achieve a mutually satisfactory outcome for this location," he said.
What's in store for Coquitlam Centre's Target is also uncertain, Moffat said, because of the lease sale process being run by a court-appointed monitor. Morguard has a plan to reconfigure the existing space into multiple units, which "would see the introduction of several new retailers to Coquitlam Centre," he wrote in an email. "Whether we will have the opportunity to implement that plan depends on the outcome of the Target lease sale process."
On Monday, a large sign at Target's entrance said there were four days left before the store closes for good. Most of the store is empty, with remaining items consolidated at the front; the rest of it is blocked off and workers are already dismantling signs and shelving. About 100 people worked at the Coquitlam location.
"I believe this is more of a reflection of how the retail sector is adapting to changing consumer trends, such as online shopping and the development of niche retailers, as opposed to an economic slump," said David Munro, Coquitlam's manager of economic development.
Metro Vancouver's diverse population has encouraged a growing number of specialty stores and restaurants to capitalize on these market segments, he said.
"Coquitlam's economic outlook remains strong as we continue to benefit from significant investment in our community, whether via public infrastructure projects like the $1.4-billion Evergreen Line or residential and commercial development," Munro said. "As Coquitlam is one of B.C.'s fastest-growing communities... there will always be interest from the retailer sector in our community."
Another large Coquitlam business also closed its doors this year. Williams Moving and Storage, a company that has been in the city for more than 30 years, announced it would be filing for bankruptcy and shutting down after 86 years.
@spayneTC
