A hardware and rural lifestyle store in the north end of the city will be closing its doors at a yet-unannounced date.
Last week, Peavey Mart announced the upcoming closure of 22 stores across Ontario and Nova Scotia. Initially, the Sault Ste. Marie store was not on that list.
However, signs are now posted in the front window announcing the Sault Ste. Marie location will also be closing.
A manager there declined to comment for this story and directed SooToday to contact the head office, which will be open on Monday.
Stores in New Liskeard and Sudbury are among the nearly two dozen stores already announced to be closing this spring.
In a Jan. 21 news release, Peavey Industries said its strategy is to eliminate underperforming locations and pour more resources into markets with strong performances. The release did not mention the number of staff positions being cut.
The stores in Ontario and Nova Scotia that will close before the end of April are: Arnprior, Bedford, Bowmanville, Brockville, Chatham, Collingwood, Cornwall, Goderich, Grimsby, Kingston, Kitchener, Lambeth, Mount Forest, New Liskeard, Sarnia, Smiths Falls, St. Catharines, St. Jacobs, St. Thomas, Sudbury, Woodstock, and Uxbridge. Additionally, the Rockland and Hyde Park stores are closing, which were announced earlier.
“The Canadian retail environment has faced significant disruption over recent years, and Peavey has not been immune to these challenges,” said Peavey Industries president-CEO Doug Anderson in a statement.
“We recognize that difficult decisions like these are necessary to create a more stable foundation for the long-term success of our business. While this is a step forward, it’s part of an ongoing process to adapt and rebuild in response to changing market dynamics.”
Peavey dropped hints on its store rationalization plan earlier this month when it borrowed $155-million from Gordon Brothers, a Boston financial services company, to launch an inventory management program and streamline its real estate holdings, which included an evaluation of its underperforming stores.
Peavey started out in 1967 as National Farmway with its first location in Dawson Creek, B.C. The chain became known as Peavey Mart in 1975, under American ownership, as a subsidiary of Peavey Company of Minneapolis. The company returned to Canadian ownership in 1984. In 2017, Peavey Industries LP acquired the the London-based TSC stores operating in Ontario and Manitoba with the final conversation over to the new banner in 2021.
Prior to 2020, many Peavey Mart stores were known as TSC Store but that name was changed as part of a rebranding strategy.
— with files from Northern Ontario Business