Target Canada to close by April 12

Target Canada Co. announced that it will close all its 133 Canadian retail locations on April 12, completing its inventory liquidation, according to a company statement.

Target to close 133, open 15 U.S. stores

More than 200 pharmacists and 200 pharmacy technicians were affected by this decision to close TCC. Most pharmacists and technicians worked under franchise agreements, with each franchise being independent and wholly owned by a licensed pharmacist. There were 93 in-store franchise pharmacies operating in Canada, 14 sub-licensed and co-branded pharmacies in Quebec, and three corporate-owned pharmacies.

Originally, Target Corp. gave franchisee pharmacies a deadline of February 27 to close down their operations-approximately 1 month to either transfer patient files or relocate their pharmacies.

More than 80 pharmacist-owned franchisees joined the Pharmacy Franchisee Association of Canada and hired legal counsel to negotiate for more time to move their pharmacies to other locations. They also sought financial compensation.

A compromise for franchisees

In a compromise deal, TCC provided more time for pharmacist franchisees to relocate their pharmacies or transfer patient information and drug inventories. Target franchisee pharmacies were allowed to operate until March 30, 2015 or three days following written notice of the store closure, according to the

filed by the Monitor, Alvarez & Marshal Canada.

Pharmacy franchisees were asked to provide a closing date to TCC. By March 24, 73 franchisees had closed, 17 had provided closure dates, and three still needed to provide that information. No pharmacy operations would be able to continue past the “Accommodation Date” of April 4 as patient data and franchisee point-of-sales systems would no longer be active, the Monitor noted in its report.

At the end of February, TCC paid $510,000 in aggregate to its franchisees for its January payment obligations, and in March, it paid $875,000 for its February payment obligations.