Starbucks closing down at Thunder Bay Target

The Starbucks coffee outlet in the Target store in Thunder Bay is being shut down.

Today is the last day of operation for the Intercity Shopping Centre location.

A staff member in the coffee shop said about ten people work in the store.  

In an email to CBC News, Target spokesperson Eric Hausman said all Starbucks locations in Target's Canadian stores will close today. He added "Generally speaking, all Target Canada team members who worked at Starbucks have been reassigned to other areas of the store."

Starbucks has several other outlets in Thunder Bay.

The Target outlet at Intercity will close later when the U.S. company folds its Canadian operations.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Starbucks Coffee Canada said "Given the impact on our operations from Target's decision [to close its Canadian stores] Starbucks has made the decision to close our stores [inside Target] this week. These stores are operated under license by Target and run by Target employees."

In an email to CBC, Communications Manager Carly Suppa said Starbucks expects to hire more than 8,000 people for existing and new Starbucks stores over the next year. Suppa said "We believe Target has talented team members and we are prioritizing interviewing displaced Target employees, wherever possible."