Soon the doors of the new Target will swing open and hoards of shoppers will flock to the new store. Im sure it will be a big media event. New store, new products, jobs created. Also, jobs lost. My wife, was employed by the former Fergus Zellers for the past 15 years. A loyal and dedicated employee, she had worked there fulltime since the day it opened, in various positions. There wasn’t alot she didn’t know about the retail business. When Target bought Zellers, they told the fulltime employees of Zellers that they would be out of a job but they would be guaranteed an interview with Target. My wife did have an interview with what appeared to be two young teenagers from Target. No, she was not hired, in fact we believe she never had a chance. Of all the ex-Zellers employees my wife knows of only one that was hired. It’s a shame that Target does not recognize the former Zellers employees vast experience and knowledge. It appears that Target isn’t interested in the former Zellers emploees at all. No doubt they will hire an endless cycle of young part-time employees so they can avoid paying for benefits, holiday pay, ect. These new employees will no doubt quit at the drop of a hat because thay have nothing to stay for. Minimum wage with no benefits and no future. Walmart, Canadian Tire and Zehrs is no different. Oh sure, they provide jobs, minimum wage, no benefit jobs. Not jobs one can live on. They became billion dollar companies off the backs of low paid employees. Yes, we will shop at Target, but will always remember Zellers as being a community concious employer for providing hard working people with decent full and part time jobs that included benefits.
Bill Marshall