close its one Edmonton store, along with fourteen others across Canada, with the eight remaining stores being closed just one month later. This marked the ending of Marks and Spencer's 26-year run in Canada. The chain announced its Canadian pullout, which will affect only sixteen staff, was a surprise for Canadian shoppers. Heritage Mall manager Kirby Nishikawa said "the shutdown hurts the shopping center." (Le Riche, 44, 1999).Marks and Spencer had about 585 square meters of mall space. "It was the only outlet in the city and it brought in a lot of people," said Nishikawa. "It's a shame" (44, 1999). The mall is working on a redevelopment plan, said Nishikawa, but no detailsare ready to be released. But Adam Finn, director of the Canadian Institute of Retailing and Services Studies at the University of Alberta, said the Marks and Spencer pullout doesn't hurt the Edmonton retail picture as much as the Eaton's crisis. Eaton's, another major competitor of Marks & Spence, had bailed out of the mall earlier. Eaton's is looking for a buyer for its other outlets, and has already announced the closure of its Londonderry Mall store. "Marks and Spencer were never successful in Canada," said Finn. "Eaton's is a bigger issue." If Eaton's is sold to an American buyer, as rumors suggest, the new owner may only want one or two outlets in Edmonton, said Finn. "That would leave a couple of other stores," said Finn. "I doubt Sears would want them. "So, it would probably mean a couple more vacant spaces in the major malls. There are already a number of them." In some cases, Marks and Spencer stores will close earlier than scheduled if all of the store's goods are sold, the company said (Le Riche 44). The food departments may also close earlier than the rest of the store.Marks and Spencer said mounting losses and an increasingly competitive retail economy had forced the company to leave the Canadian market. Analysts have said the retailer's mer...
