10 Years ago this week Future Shop shut down by Best Buy

Donoreo · 2025-03-31T12:45:30+00:00

Best Buy had purchased Future Shop in 2001 and run both brands until 2015. https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2025/03/10-years-since-future-shops-closure-in-canada/

Avernar

MichelR I thought that was the job of the beep-beep thingy we go through.

Too easy to defeat. Again, it’s to keep the honest people honest.

[deleted]

Avernar People are less likely to just walk out with something without paying if there is someone near the door.

Not in the past few years, that narrative has completely changed. I have seen so much casual theft at Shoppers, Loblaws, Home depot, etc… They don’t even hide it, they don’t even run.

urbanriot

[deleted]

Not in the past few years, that narrative has completely changed. I have seen so much casual theft at Shoppers, Loblaws, Home depot, etc… They don’t even hide it, they don’t even run.

100%. In the past couple years I’ve watched people steal twice at Canada Computers and the guys behind the counter don’t do anything, watched someone steal at Zehrs by basically jumping over the locking gate, and watched someone steal at Sobeys (although everyone stopped them at the exit by creating a human shield lol).

So many places have these Security “Guards” that are told not to engage with anyone stealing.

Yep. Watch all the jewelry store heists on YouTube or the news, nobody does anything, security guard just stands there and watches it happen.

With that being said I’d never seen anyone steal at Future Shop or Best Buy… I think the amount of times I’ve seen shoplifting up until recently was maybe once a decade, these days it’s all the time.

Hydraglass

Donoreo I feel like the appliance thing at BB started after Sears closed and left the market. If you’re looking for something bigger or nicer then the Walmart/Cdn Tire stores carry, you’re now left with few choices - you can go to hardware stores (Rona and HD) for large home appliances - or you can go to furniture stores (Brick/Leons) - but otherwise there’s a gap in the market - Home Outfitters - gone, Bed Bath and Beyond - gone, Sears/HomeSense - gone, The Bay - now gone, BB seems to be a bit of a natural fit for bulky home appliances - they already deliver big screen TVs and the like - they have floor space (esp now that physical media has fallen by the wayside, digital cameras have fallen by the wayside, home stereos have fallen by the wayside, desktop computers are only a niche enthusiast thing now, etc)

MichelR

HELLFIRE Last time I was at a BestBuy:

transformed entirely to an appliance / TV shop. Very little actual computing tech left.

virtually no physical media stock left. The one small cube – if one could call it that – was all new releases, and all virtually sold out.

The way I go about it is check online if the store has what I want in stock, and then I head there. I might walk around the store just for kicks, but it’s not as much fun as it used to be. I remember grabbing quite a few DVDs and Blurays in the bargain bin. Now they only have a few near the entrance and they’re usually full-price items. I remember the long displays of video games, but then again these days there isn’t much point in buying the physical version of newer games; they’re so big that they don’t fit on a disc, so you’re most often just buying an installer. The only recent physical game I have is the latest Call of Duty, and that was a gift from my coworkers when I retired in December.

Avernar

[deleted] Not in the past few years, that narrative has completely changed. I have seen so much casual theft at Shoppers, Loblaws, Home depot, etc… They don’t even hide it, they don’t even run.

As I’ve wrote earlier, it’s to keep the honest people honest.

[deleted]

Avernar As I’ve wrote earlier, it’s to keep the honest people honest.

Honest people don’t steal.

Maybe you meant to say is to keep the people without the balls to steal from doing so.

Donoreo

[deleted] Maybe you meant to say is to keep the people without the balls to steal from doing so.

This is a type of person while not “bad” and would not plan out any type of crime would “take” something not theirs if they thought they could get away with it. They think they are good people, but they are not.

Hydraglass

[deleted] Thats funny. You’re trying the old black and white argument. Humanity isn’t on either end of a spectrum with no one in between. There’s a reason the saying is “locks keep honest people honest” - it’s because everyone’s level of morality lives somewhere between 0 and 100, and how you operate on that scale is often influenced by opportunity and situation. Almost no one considers “borrowing” a pen or pencil and forgetting to return it as stealing - that’s a 99 on the 0-100 scale… meanwhile almost every person on earth would consider walking into the local TD branch with a sawed off shotgun screaming “this is a holdup gimme all the cash from your drawers or you’re gonna eat buckshot!” as stealing - that’s around a 1 on the scale of 0-100. In the meantime, having your kid snack on a handful of grapes in the grocery store that causes your “bunch” to weigh 50 grams less at checkout? Maybe that’s an 85 to one person and a 98 to another. Walking out of Home Depot with a can of spray paint is pretty bold - maybe a 45 - but grabbing a stir stick from the paint department when no one is working there and not asking - that’s a 98. Shades. A thousand different shades of gray. “Keeping honest people honest” basically slides the scale. A lot of people (probably 50% or more) might skip scan an item at self checkout and not think anything of it if no one was watching, but if there’s a line clerk standing there watching all the self checkout lines - that same person will probably think twice before skip scanning.

g121

I did a stint in Internal Audit.

Our General Auditor said: “10% of people will never cheat. 10% will always cheat. As for the other 80%, it depends on the circumstances.”

Avernar

[deleted] Honest people don’t steal.

Sigh. It’s a phrase. A saying. You’re not supposed to take it literally. From Google:

“Keep honest people honest” means to ensure that those who are inherently truthful and trustworthy continue to act with integrity and avoid any temptation to be dishonest or deceptive.

ElQuintron

HELLFIRE Out west where I am, very few chains – much less independent stores – left providing tech sales and service. Memory Express and Staples is about the only one I can think of, offhand.

I really like Memory Express, Canada Computers is trying to rebrand into appliances and TVs. They still carry decent computer stock, but it’s obvious they feel the need to expand. I rarely buy anything from Best Buy I didn’t look up already and they just happened to have the best price.

Avernar

ElQuintron

Memory Express has one store in Ontario an it’s over an hour away so that’s a no-go when I need a part immediately.

As for Best Buy, the only thing I’ve bought from them recently is a TV.

ElQuintron

Avernar I bought a few things from them over the years, Philips Hue lights when they’re on sale, mostly. My kids got some entry level JBL earbuds there too.

ElQuintron

Avernar Memory Express has one store in Ontario

There’s one in Etobicoke on North Queen, I thought they had a few more locations in Ontario. That one is a five minute drive from me.

Avernar

ElQuintron There’s one in Etobicoke on North Queen, I thought they had a few more locations in Ontario. That one is a five minute drive from me.

That’s the only one listed on their website for Ontario. I’m just outside KW so not a quick trip for me.

ElQuintron

Avernar That’s the only one listed on their website for Ontario. I’m just outside KW so not a quick trip for me.

I wasn’t aware that was all that’s left in Ontario.

Donoreo

ElQuintron I wasn’t aware that was all that’s left in Ontario.

There were more? That is the only one I was ever aware of.

urbanriot

Avernar

As for Best Buy, the only thing I’ve bought from them recently is a TV.

I was wondering why I haven’t stepped foot into a Best Buy in possibly a decade and I realize it’s because it’s no longer a fun place to go. I used to go in and look at the TVs, the video games, the movies, the gadgets, etc.. As soon as you walked in the door they had all the movies and I couldn’t help but buy a few every time I walked in the door. These days I walk inside and it’s appliances and TVs, which I don’t have a need for. So basically I go to Best Buy when a TV fails but even then I might go to other places that also sell TVs.

« Previous Page