Sears Canada slashes prices on 5,000 store items
Posted February 16, 2012 7:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Sears Canada is slashing prices on thousands of store items, a move the company’s Canadian CEO says he hopes will revive the struggling retailer and stay ahead of the competition.
“Great retailers find a way in tough times to reinvent themselves and remain relevant,” Calvin McDonald told CityNews on Thursday. “And a big part of our transformation is remaining relevant to Canadian families.”
The money-losing retailer has been streamlining its business and decluttering Canadian stores to boost sales and stay ahead of rivals, such as Walmart, which has its so-called rollback deals, and discounter Target, which will open Canadian stores next year.
The price cuts of as much as 30 per cent off more than 5,000 everyday products is the first significant change that customers can see, as part of the transformation being undertaken by Sears Canada.
The Canadian discounts came as its U.S. corporate parent, Sears Holdings Corp., laid off 100 workers at its headquarters outside of Chicago on Thursday.
Last month, Sears Canada laid off 400 employees at stores across the country, and closed almost all of its in-store cafes. In addition to the cafe job cuts, the company also laid off some support and head office staff.
The layoffs followed the loss of about 70 other positions at Sears Canada’s head office late last year.
Sears has about 30,000 Canadian employees and more than 400 corporate, dealer and home services stores.
Late last year, Sears Holdings said it would close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores in the United States.
With files from The Canadian Press
