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FutureShop- All Stores Closed Immediately
#16
(03-29-2015, 09:57 AM)rickhd Wrote: The only problem with that is the loss of retail sector jobs.   Retail employs so many people so where do those people find jobs?    What's left for the unskilled in the workplace.   A life of welfare until you turn 67?

The same was said a century ago about the loss of jobs in the agriculture sector. I imagine it also took a lot of human labour to look after horses when they were the primary mode of transportation. All this too was unskilled labour. Most of those jobs disappeared in the 20th century yet the sky didn't fall. But yes the writing is on the wall for today's kids who want to make a career in retailing--or manufacturing for that matter.
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#17
Not just there. It has been said that a lot of white collar jobs are going to be eliminated.
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#18
I hate that this happened. Just another instance of us becoming more "Americanized". I haven't gone into a Best Buy since this happened and don't have any plans on giving them any of my business in the future.
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#19
Same owner right?
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#20
(05-18-2015, 05:18 PM)Spokes Wrote: Same owner right?

Yes, Best Buy acquired Future Shop in 2001 and operated as a separate brand until this closure.
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#21
Future Shop was Canadian, Best Buy was American. American chain bought Canadian chain, and killed it.
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#22
And what exactly is your concern regarding such a practice? It's not as though Future Shop sold exclusively Canadian-sourced products. The stores are by necessity in Canada - so Canadians are still making those wages, rents, property taxes...

Is it that the final profit is going to American rich folk instead of Canadian rich folk?
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#23
I don't like when American stuff takes over Canadian stuff. I'm a Canadian and proud to live here, hate when people use imperial measure or let it slip in, I hate that people aren't using the word "Serviette" or "Touque" anymore and replacing them with napkin and beanie. We're different, dammit, and should be proud of it!
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#24
(05-20-2015, 12:59 PM)Canard Wrote: I don't like when American stuff takes over Canadian stuff.  I'm a Canadian and proud to live here, hate when people use imperial measure or let it slip in, I hate that people aren't using the word "Serviette" or "Touque" anymore and replacing them with napkin and beanie.  We're different, dammit, and should be proud of it!

Vive le Canada libre!
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#25
(05-20-2015, 12:59 PM)Canard Wrote: I don't like when American stuff takes over Canadian stuff.

And I don't like the USurpation of the name "American." All of us who live in north, central and south America are "Americans" -- not just the minority who inhabit the United States -- and should have equal claim to that name, i.e. in reference to those who live in the western hemisphere regardless of nationality.

But I'm also realistic and so I've gotten over it. This malpractice isn't going to change any time soon. It's not worth raising my blood pressure over it. 

As for Future Shop specifically, I don't understand the hand-wringing over the recent consolidation. Best Buy bought FS at least a decade ago when the founding family sold them the chain. That would have been the time to raise objections to and lamentations over foreign ownership. That would have been the time to boycott BB/FS or whatever. But all that, if it ever made sense, is a bit late now. 

In any case retailing is undergoing dramatic change, especially in areas like consumer electronics. BB has been steadily downsizing in its home market in the US. So have many other retailers. What would have been truly odd is if BB didn't follow suit in Canada.
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#26
(05-20-2015, 12:59 PM)Canard Wrote: I don't like when American stuff takes over Canadian stuff.  I'm a Canadian and proud to live here, hate when people use imperial measure or let it slip in, I hate that people aren't using the word "Serviette" or "Touque" anymore and replacing them with napkin and beanie.  We're different, dammit, and should be proud of it!

I will confess to using a sloppy mix of metric and imperial measures, but I still say "serviette" and I have never heard a toque (not "touque") called a "beanie" before.  To me a beanie is a child's cap that might have a propeller on top.  Must be a generational thing. 
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#27
I say napkin and hat.
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#28
I say couch, napkin and toque. I have never used chesterfield and serviette in normal use, though I know what they are.
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#29
(05-20-2015, 05:07 PM)panamaniac Wrote: I will confess to using a sloppy mix of metric and imperial measures
What annoys me even more is the inconsistent use of date notation. It used to be that in Canada we used DD/MM/YY and in the US they used MM/DD/YY. That was bad enough. But now an increasing number of Canadians use MM/DD/YY with the remaining still using the (IMO) preferred, official DD/MM/YY. So dates get even more confusing, especially when the DD is 12 or less and thus the actual date is ambiguous.

Quote:I still say "serviette" and I have never heard a toque (not "touque") called a "beanie" before.
It's not just word usage but also pronunciation. For example the word "route" is usually pronounced "rout" in Canada and "root" in the US. But now "rout" has invaded Canada, especially in tech lingo like "routers", while it's possible to hear "root" used in some parts of the US.

[At one time when all you needed to cross the border was a birth certificate or driver's license, border agents could confirm your nationality but simply listening for such differences when asking you routine questions. They'd also ask you who was Canada's prime minister or (when the NHL had but 6 teams) who'd won the Stanley Cup.]
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#30
ookpik, I'm with you on use of the term "Americans." The Arrogant Worms had a very clever song about that ("I Am Not American") which included the lovely lyric "I long to be an American, as the French are European."

For some reason, I always thought that "serviette" referred to the paper products used in some restaurants, and "napkins" to the cloth products used at home. I use "chesterfield," but notice many other people do not even though that's what they mean. I had no idea that a "beanie" and "toque" might be the same thing for some people- beanie makes me think of something like a skull cap, or panamaniac's propeller beanie.

Re: Foreign ownership. I am a lot more wary about communist governments (through their state-run enterprises) purchasing companies which own land and resources in this country, than I am about a publically-traded company based in the United States buying a consumer goods store here.
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