Target

It was a brief stint for Target in Canada. Less than two years after opening there, Target announced last week that it would close its 133 Canadian stores. Some Canadian Target customers responded emotionally to the news on Target Canada's Facebook website ("totally heartbroken," "please don't go," "good riddance," "you obviously don't understand Canadians"). Target CEO Brian Cornell decided to close the stores after determining that they

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Sears, despite its own problems keeping its staff employed, is riding to Target workers’ rescue. A day after Target announced plans to close all 133 of its locations in Canada, Sears Canada offered discounts to its competitor's employees and invited them to apply for jobs at its stores. "In recognition of the challenging retail landscape and yesterday's announcement regarding the exit of Target from the Canadian market, Sears Canada wishes to do something meaningful to help employees affected by store closings and job losses and to do so in a respectful manner," the company said in a statement on Friday.

Target has company when it comes to its Canadian troubles. Target's Thursday announcement of defeat in Canada may be one of the largest retreats from the country by a U.S. retailer, impacting 133 stores and more than 17,000 employees. But the news follows other major U.S. retail chains that have had trouble across the northern border and abroad.

Target is calling it quits in Canada. The Minneapolis-based retailer announced this morning that it will shutter its 133 stores north of the border after a challenging two years with its first international expansion outside the U.S. Its Canadian operations have been plagued with problems from the start amid issues such as keeping shelves stocked and perceptions that its prices were too high. While Target initially hoped to begin turning a profit in Canada by the end of 2013, instead it has racked up about $1.6 billion in losses to date.

Palm Beach is just an aisle away. Retail giant Target announced Tuesday its latest designer partnership, with Lilly Pulitzer — sorority-girl favorite and the queen of bold American resortwear. The 250-piece collection, which launches April 19, will feature apparel, accessories and shoes for women and girls, as well as home decor in 15 exclusive prints.

Is Target headed towards the same fate as Sears? Analysis of the discount retailer's latest numbers suggest it's possible. According to a Seeking Alpha report, Target reported a small revenue decline on Oct. 31 of last year compared with the year prior; the firm declared $73.7 billion in TTM revenue, compared with $73.81 billion the same period in 2013. While the drop is far from catastrophic, the numbers show a more troubling picture when held up against Target's top rivals. Wal-Mart, Kroger and Costco all reported multibillion-dollar revenue increases in the same period.

2014 was a transitional period for the retail industry. It was the year when mobile and online sales exploded, and retailers worked harder than ever to fuse their physical and digital stores. It was peppered with a number of high-profile CEO exits, including American Apparel's controversial Dov Charney and

For top U.S. retailers, free delivery is now the norm. That is good news for shoppers, but not so much for investors. During the just-ended holiday season, outlets from Target to Wal-Mart to Amazon expanded their free-delivery options, adding more items eligible for free shipping. They also did away with minimum spending thresholds to qualify for the perk. Yet as

Target and Home Depot's recent data breach crises have left Americans questioning the overall safety of point-of-sale (POS) transactions. They're fearful of continued credit card fraud, and with almost 100 million total people affected by the two megastores’ hacks alone, who can blame them? Many, however, view Apple's not-so-creatively-titled Apple Pay as the solution to a more secure checkout process.