Future Shop Thunder Bay to reopen as Best Buy April 4
Thunder Bay's Future Shop one of 65 being converted across the country
Gadget lovers will have to suffer a week without a big box store in Thunder Bay while Future Shop prepares to reopen as Best Buy on April 4.
- Future Shop stores closed across Canada, some to rebrand as Best Buy
- Employees, customers react to country-wide Future Shop closures
- Target Canada closing 80 stores by Easter weekend
Dozens of Future Shop stores were closed across Canada on Saturday. Its parent company, Best Buy Canada Ltd, said 66 would be permanently shuttered, while 65 others would be converted to Best Buy stores.
The closures came after a real estate review by Best Buy Canada found "that a significant number of its Future Shop and Best Buy stores are located adjacent to each other, often in the same parking lot," according to a news release from the company on Saturday.
That's not the case in Thunder Bay where there is currently no Best Buy store within hundreds of kilometres of the city.
News of the consolidation came as a shock to employees across the country on Saturday morning. Some didn't know they were out of a job until they got to work.