Sears lays off 700 in Canadian stores under the banner of "Right-Sizing"  Of the layoffs, 360 from were the stores and 300 from its distribution centers. The remaining workers are being let go from head office and other support areas. Sears Canada has been revamping operations to encourage more customers to return to its stores after years of declining sales, and also to prepare for the entry of numerous U.S. retailers, including discount chain Target. (Source edmontonjournal.com)

Best Buy closed 7 namesake stores and 8 Future Shop stores in Canada  Cutting 900 jobs and will continue to operate more than 120 Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile locations and over 140 Future Shop stores in Canada. Employees arrived for their shift Thursday morning and were met by security guards and closed doors. They did not receive advance notice of a closure. (Source medicinehatnews.com)



Four men work as a team to hit West 49 for $15,500 in watches in Oshawa.  Four men working as a team; two working as look-outs, worked very quickly to steal $15,500 of watches for West 49 in the Oshawa Centre Mall. Police believe these same individuals may have struck in Ottawa, St Bruno, Oue and Brantford, Ontario. (Source cbc.ca)


Thief targets Costco customers purchasing bulk cigarettes. 
The suspect was waiting in the parking lot at Costco stores in Saanich, Langford, Nanaimo, Burnaby, Abbotsford, Coquitlam and Kamloops waiting for customers who purchased a large quantity of cigarettes. The suspect would then wait for his chance and break into the vehicle; one incident netted him $3200 of cigarettes. (Source vancouversun.com)

RCMP makes four arrests in Richmond store break-ins. 
Last week we reported that the RCMP had met with local merchants in Richmond to develop a strategy to catch the suspects who broke into 30 local businesses. This group arrested last Saturday may or may not be responsible for the Chinese Herbal store thefts, but are connected to the theft of cell phones and electronics. (Source richmondreview.com)