Nine Future Shop outlets throughout B.C. will shutter permanently in the wake of cross-country closures announced Saturday (March 28).
However, 13 locations on the West Coast will be rebranded as Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and re-open in the coming week.
Best Buy, which owns Future Shop, permanently closed 66 Future Shop locations and eliminated 500 full-time and 1,000 part-time jobs across Canada over the weekend. Out of Future Shop’s 131 stores throughout the country, 65 will re-open as Best Buy outlets.
The company said in a statement the decision to close the stores came after determining a “significant number” of its Future Shop and Best Buy outlets were located close to each other, “often in the same parking lot.”
"Currently, 80 per cent of our customers are within a 15 minute drive to a store and this won't change," Best Buy Canada president and chief operating officer Ron Wilson said in a release.
"We will continue to have a strong store presence in all major markets in Canada."
Future Shop gift cards will be accepted at Best Buy, while existing orders, warranties and service appointments will also be honoured by the parent company.
Vancouver retail expert David Ian Gray of DIG360 Consulting said the move by Best Buy Canada is clearly meant to simplify and save money.
“The argument could be they could have done that in 2001 when [Best Buy] first bought Future Shop, but back then it was a pretty robust economy and everything was growing tremendously, especially electronics.”
Gray downplayed the effect of online shopping, saying general figures tell a different story.
“In truth, [online is] still a pretty small percentage. It’s notable now, but it’s not the bulk of sales.”
Gray said that by closing Future Shop stores, the company will see a drop in sales but will reduce costs by much more. “Who knows if that will be enough longer term?”
These days, he said companies such as Apple, Samsung and Microsoft have their own stores and sell their own products.
“It’s a competitive market, and the consumers are going to have no trouble accessing any of these products.”
B.C. Future Shop closures will be in:
•Abbotsford – West Oaks Mall;
•Coquitlam – Coquitlam Centre;
•Kelowna – Orchard Plaza;
•Langley – Langley Centre;
•North Vancouver – 1076 Marine Drive;
•Richmond – Lansdowne Centre;
•Richmond – 2780 Sweden Way;
•Surrey – Central City Shopping Centre; and
•Vancouver – 1740 West Broadway.
—With files from Victoria Times Colonist
