Going Into Canada Turned Out to Be a $5 Billion Mistake for Target

The Great White North hasn't been kind to Target.

In fact, the retail giant is estimating it will lose billions on its failed Canadian venture.

A Canadian Target store under construction. (Image via Kimco Realty/flickr)

In its fourth-quarter earnings results released Wednesday, Target announced it would see a pre-tax loss of more than $5.1 billion as a result of its exit from Canada.

The retailer announced its retreat from Canada last month after realizing the operation was more than half a decade away from profitability, with CEO Brian Cornell saying, "After a thorough review of our Canadian performance and careful consideration of the implications of all options, we were unable to find a realistic scenario that would get Target Canada to profitability until at least 2021."

Target opened its first Canadian location in 2013.

(H/T: Business Insider)

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