Target Corp. said Wednesday that it will open another nine stores in Canada this year, building on last year's massive expansion in that country that weighed down its financial performance.
Target to add 9 stores to Canadian operation
Five of the new stores will be in Ontario.
January 30, 2014 at 11:50AM
The company now operates 124 Target stores in Canada, and has locations in all 10 provinces. It said that five of the new stores will be in Ontario, and single stores will be added in Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.
The move north brought costs that reduced the retailer's results all through 2013. In its last financial report, for the three months ended Nov. 2, Target said its per-share profit of 54 cents had been reduced 29 cents by costs related to the Canadian operations.
Of the company's $17 billion in revenue in that period, $333 million came from Canada. But Target spent $221 million on start-up and operating expenses in Canada during that time. It also coped with adjustments to product mix and inventory that resulted in unusually low gross margins of 14.7 percent in the Canadian stores.
Each of the Canadian stores employs about 150 people, Target said.
Target shares fell $1, or 1.7 percent, to close Wednesday at $56.89.
Steve Alexander • 612-673-4553
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