Sears Canada announced today it is laying off 700 workers – the majority from their department stores.
The retailer says 360 people are being laid off from its department stores and about 300 from distribution centres.
The remaining workers are being let go from head office and other support areas.
In a statement, Sears says the move is part of an initiative to restructure its business model.
The job cuts will be across Canada.
There is still no word on what the cuts will mean to the Charlottetown store.
Sears Canada has been revamping operations to encourage more customers to return to its stores after years of declining sales, and also to prepare for the entry of numerous U.S. retailers, including discount chain Target.
Earlier this month, Sears had announced it was teaming up with the Aldo Group to design and manufacture footwear lines for their Nevada, Attitude and Jessica brands.
The company has 195 corporate stores, 269 hometown dealer stores, eight home services show rooms and more than 1,500 merchandise pick-up locations.
(By The Canadian Press and The Guardian)
For the record, I am a consumer and I do not care about the staff. I look for one thing when shopping - the cheapest price. I am happy with Sears' decision to shed some employees, because the employees are far less important than the store. Hopefully, this will allow the stores to operate with less overhead and in turn offer competitive pricing. The last thing consumers need is to be paying higher prices to keep people working. Oh, I can't wait for the day when all shopping is done online. I expect corporations to offer even lower prices because they will eliminate the expenses of rental space, employee wages and benefits. The can cut out the workers and offer cheaper prices. Seems perfect for me.