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Future Shop P.A. staff briefed as nationwide closures announced

Mar 28, 2015 | 10:11 AM

Anyone who planned on a trip into Future Shop Saturday morning was in for a bit of a surprise.

The automatic doors in Prince Albert – along with all Future Shop locations across the country – were out of operation.

However, Prince Albert’s closure is only temporary. A sign on the door stated it will be reopening on April 4 as a Best Buy. However, another sign read “April 5,” leaving a bit of confusion as to when the store would actually reopen.

Best Buy Canada support staff briefed employees in Prince Albert on what would be happening at their location. 

What was being said – including whether there will be any job losses- is still up in the air.

A guard was at the front door ensuring only staff could get in and out of the store.

Prince Albert’s one-week closure for conversion to a Best Buy puts it among 65 stores nationwide, while 66 stores nationally will close permanently. 

Best Buy Canada is a subsidiary of Best Buy Co. Inc., which owns and operates both Best Buy and Future Shop stores. It’s calling the move a “consolidation.”

The closures are the result of a review addressing “the fact 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 Best Buy media release issued Saturday morning.

On Saturday morning, 66 stores across Canada had signs like this:

The move will mean there will be a total of 192 Best Buys in Canada.

Company spokesman Thierry Lopez says 500 full-time and 1,000 part-times jobs will lost.

Best Buy has been facing tough competition from discounters and online retailers, a victim of what’s known as “showrooming” — when people browse in stores and then buy the products more cheaply online from competitors such as Amazon.

– With files from Canadian Press

claskowski@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk