One hundred and ten employees in Victoria and 104 employees in Nanaimo will lose their jobs after Sears Canada liquidates its remaining stores.
More than 200 Sears Canada employees on Vancouver Island will soon be out of a job, as the retailer has received court approval to proceed with the full liquidation of its remaining stores.
On Friday, Ontario Superior Court heard that after weeks of discussion and a bid from the company’s executive chairman, no viable buyer has been found.
Justice Glenn Hainey approved Sears Canada’s motion to liquidate its remaining 130 stores and said he was satisfied that there was no viable alternative following a months-long saga stemming from the embattled retailer’s decision to seek protection from its creditors in June.
The liquidation process will impact 110 employees in Victoria. Seventy-nine of those are part-time employees.
In Nanaimo, 104 employees will lose their jobs, including 85 part-time employees. A total of 12,000 employees will be without jobs across Canada. Three-quarters of those employees are part-time.
The tally doesn’t include the 2,900 job cuts Sears Canada previously announced in June, when it announced the closure of 20 department store locations, 15 Sears Home stores, 10 Sears Outlet and 14 Sears Hometown locations.
Liquidation could start as early as Oct. 19, and could continue for 10 to 14 weeks, stretching closing sales across the busy holiday shopping period. Sears Canada currently has 74 full department store locations, eight Sears Home Stores, and 49 Sears Hometown stores, facing closure.
With files from The Canadian Press
Alexa Huffman
