It was a bad news day for retail Canada with the announcement that Target would shut down Canadian operations. The bigger news for consumer technology watchers was that Sony would close down all 14 of its Canadian retail stores including the five flagship stores in Toronto.
This is sad news considering Sony Stores have long been the measure of what lifestyle-consumer technology stores offered and, along with Apple Retail Stores, were considered a destination to find the latest trends as well as get grade A service and support. As a result of this sudden shutdown, 90 employees have been let go.
Vacating all those prime store spaces opens up opportunities for competitors like Apple, Microsoft and even Samsung to dive in and grab new locations. Microsoft has already moved into Sony's old digs at the super busy Eaton Centre in Toronto
Sony is saying that Canadian customers can buy Sony products at third-party retailers across the country, through its online store or by telephone. Yes, by telephone.
Sony has been undergoing some turmoil. The sale of 4K TVs isn't going as smoothly as they had hoped, their VAIO line of notebooks and desktops is in a weird stasis and their mobile products, which are very impressive in feature and functionality, haven't been flying off the shelves despite offering an alternative to popular brands. Sony might be considering letting go of some of its poorly performing lines such as HDTVS and mobile devices.