Best Buy is shutting down Canada’s biggest tech store chain

Best Buy is a mainstay of tech shopping in the US, but it knows that it’s small potatoes in Canada — it kept the country’s better-known Future Shop chain going for years after a takeover, even after opening shops of its own. However, the American retailer is now making its presence felt in a big way by shutting down Future Shop altogether. It’ll convert 65 of the locations into Best Buy stores within a week, and 66 others are closing immediately.

The move is centered around an “ambitious plan” that includes more staff in stores and a stronger focus on internet sales, including orders that draw from in-store stock. With that said, the company is quick to admit that overlap was a major factor in the closure — there were times when you’d see Best Buy and Future Shop locations within a stone’s throw of each other. The strategy could make sense in the long run, then, although it’s hard to see too many Canucks cheering this in the short term. Besides eliminating an iconic (if not especially well-loved) brand and reducing choices, the consolidation leaves 1,500 people out of work. Best Buy may now be the de facto big-box tech store in North America, but that power grab is coming at a stiff price.

[Image credit: Shutterstock/JJ Studio]