Target Canada liquidation to begin Thursday

A judge in Toronto has approved Target's plan to liquidate all 133 of its Canadian stores.

The Minneapolis-based retailer lost $7 billion in Canada and is leaving the country after less than two years.

Liquidation sales will start Thursday and merchandise will be discounted up to 30 percent.

Court documents say the stores will close no later than May 15, but liquidation at some locations could be finished by the end of March.

In a legal agreement, Target has prohibited the companies handling the sales from using the phrase "going out of business" on any signage and any store fixtures and equipment being sold must be taken out through the back doors.

"It was a deal that was made amongst all the creditors who were there who each contributed certain facts and positions as to how the liquidation was to be conducted," said Toronto bankruptcy attorney Lou Brzezinski, who represents several of Target Canada's nearly 1,800 creditors. "It was a consensus arrangement that the court approved."