In a statement released to retail workers earlier today, Sony announced that all of its retail stores in Canada will be shut down within 6-8 weeks. A total of 15 stores will be affected overall, including three in Alberta, three in the Greater Vancouver area, six in the Greater Toronto area, one in Ottawa, one in Montreal and one in Quebec City. The statement reads:
Over the next 6 to 8 weeks we are closing our Sony Stores in Canada and will redirect all of this business through our national network of Sony retailers, our online store … as well as through our Sony-trained Telesales team.
There are no exact numbers on how many retail workers this will impact, but some are estimating around 90 employees overall will be affected by the closings.
Though unfortunate, we can’t say that these closings are surprising in any way. Just two days ago, reports began to surface stating that the electronics giant was reportedly looking into new partnerships and business plans regarding the company’s plummeting mobile division. Additionally, Sony took a $1.7 billion loss in late 2014 due to poor smartphone sales, soon after the company vowed to cut over 1,000 jobs by the end of last year. With the 15 Canadian stores closing coupled with shrinking its smartphone line in an attempt to return profit, it’s clear that the company is doing anything and everything in its power to stop their business from failing.
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