Former Grant Park Target store to become a Canadian Tire

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This article was published 06/05/2015 (4125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The former Target store in the Grant Park Shopping Centre is being converted into a Canadian Tire store.

The company announced today it has reached an agreement to acquire the former Target Canada leases for that and 11 other locations in Canada for $17.7 million.

The Grant Park location is the only one in Manitoba. The remainder include four in British Columbia, three in Quebec, two in Ontario and one each in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

The deal is subject to approval by the court overseeing the wind down of Target’s Canadian operations.

The 12 new stores will add approximately 400,000 square feet of retail space to the company’s store network.

Canadian Tire said the acquisition provides it with a unique opportunity to accelerate sales and market-share growth. It also allows it to improve profitability by providing a cost-effective means to improve its retail store network through right-sizing and replacing some of its existing stores with better locations.

“We view this real estate acquisition as a high-return investment and a positive transaction for our shareholders, our customers and our Dealers,” said company president and CEO Michael Medline.

“Our customers are going to benefit from more convenient locations and larger stores that will allow us to showcase more products and deeper assortments of our best brands,” he added.

The general manager of Grant Park Shopping Centre was also doing cartwheels after learning of the Canadian Tire’s announcement.

“We’re very excited at the prospect of them coming. I think it’s going to be an incredibly good fit for our mall,” Sandra Hagenaars said in an interview.

“One of our strengths over the last 45-plus years is that we are a community mall. We offer those services that people are looking for on a day-to-day basis, and there should be the grocery store, the liquor mart, and all that kind of stuff,” she said. “And Canadian Tire is just such a strong retail performer these days, so this is just a great opportunity for us.”

Hagenaars noted it was Canadian Tire and Target who negotiated the lease-acquisition deal.

“But we had heard people were actively looking at our location here, which was exciting for us.”

She said that geographically, the Grant Park area is also a good location for Canadian Tire because its next closest stores are on Kenaston Boulevard and on St. James Street across from the Polo Park Shopping Centre.

“We’re so easily reachable by so many people. So I think its going to be a great fit for both of us.”