Nine Future Shop outlets throughout B.C. will shutter permanently in the wake of cross-country closures announced Saturday (March 28).
However, 13 locations on the West Coast will be rebranded as Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and re-open in the coming week.
Best Buy, which owns Future Shop, permanently closed 66 Future Shop locations and eliminated 500 full-time and 1,000 part-time jobs across Canada over the weekend. Out of Future Shop’s 131 stores throughout the country, 65 will re-open as Best Buy outlets.
The company said in a statement the decision to close the stores came after determining a “significant number” of its Future Shop and Best Buy outlets were located close to each other, “often in the same parking lot.”
"Currently, 80 per cent of our customers are within a 15 minute drive to a store and this won't change," Best Buy Canada president and chief operating officer Ron Wilson said in a release.
"We will continue to have a strong store presence in all major markets in Canada."
Future Shop gift cards will be accepted at Best Buy, while existing orders, warranties and service appointments will also be honoured by the parent company.
Click here to read the whole story in our sister publication biv.com.
— with files from Victoria Times Colonist
