Target Canada closing 133 stores, including Windsor and Chatham locations

Shoppers browse the isles at Windsor's new Target store in Devonshire Mall on Tuesday, March 19, 2013. (Dan Appleby / CTV Windsor)

Target's decision to close its 133 Canadian stores will have an impact across the country, including in Windsor and Chatham.

More than 200 people are employed at the Target store at Devonshire Mall.

One employee, who did not want his name released, told CTV Windsor he is devastated. He says he never saw it coming.

But there were many others who believed it was only a matter of time.

Target opened its doors in Windsor on March 19, 2013. Now less than two years later, all hope for the American retailer in Canada has been lost.

City officials in Windsor and Chatham commented on the retailer’s pending local closures.

“It’s tough after a $2-billion announcement from Chrysler and 600 jobs at HGS, but we take good with bad and hope they can reassess and come back in future,“ says Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens.

Chatham mayor Randy Hope called it a “major blow to our community.”

Teresa Rieveley is a regular shopper at the Windsor target store.  She says this should be a wake-up call to all Canadians, to shop local.

“Real sadness today,” says Rieveley. “We come here a lot.. I don’t want to shop in America. I want people working in their city.”

Floyd Simpkins, an international business professor at St. Clair College, says he’s not surprised.

“It’s unfortunate for Windsor and the workers, but I'm not surprised at all,” says Simpkins.

With losses of $1 billion in the company's first year alone, Simpkins says this was bound to happen eventually.  He says Target Canada entered the market too big and too quickly and stretched its resources too thin.

“It was one of those situations where they were getting too deep in the hole so I think they made a wise decision to cut their losses,” says Simpkins.

Simpkins says Target failed to satisfy its customers, who were unable to find the goods they wanted at the prices they expected.

“They never got pricing right,” says Simpkins. “We are not a bunch of weak-kneed consumers. They know their prices and shop in the U.S. and when doing comparisons, things didn't add up. Their image was tarnished and as a result.”