Breaking: Future Shop stores closing across Canada as Best Buy consolidates

It's an end of an era for Canadian retailer Future Shop as all its stores in Canada are shut down. 66 Future Shop stores will be shut down immediately and another 65 stores will be closed for a week while they are converted to Best Buy stores. Future Shop says that approximately 500 full-time and 1,000 part-time positions will be eliminated as a result of the consolidation.

Best Buy acquired Future Shop in 2001 for US $580 million but continued to operate Future Shop as a separate brand. As a result of the consolidation Best Buy will have 197 stores in Canada.

Best Buy plans to invest up to $200 million to build a leading multi-channel customer experience on the Best Buy brand. As of this writing, Future Shop's website has a message about the consolidation and directs customers to Best Buy Canada.

Source: Future Shop