It marked the beginning of the end for many Sears Canada stores across the country Friday as liquidation sales began for many of the stores the company will close over the coming months, including Saint John.
There were dozens of people waiting to get inside before the doors even opened, but the fact 2,900 employees losing their jobs at Sears Canada was not lost on those hoping to save.
For some employees, today is their last day and they’ll be leaving without severance pay.
READ MORE: Sears liquidation sales start Friday. Expect savings of up to 50%, company says
“I just talked to a lady that this her last day,” said shopper Margaret Bailey. “She worked for 31 years here and she’s not going to get a pension or anything and I think that’s wrong”
As the doors opened, people headed in hoping to find a deal with most items being listed between 20 and 50 per cent off.
Danny Connolly was among those out on day one of liquidation.
“Typically people are definitely going to respond to what they think is going to be an incredible sale and it will be,” Connolly said. “It’s just as the clock ticks. The discounts will start getting larger.”
“There’s that vulture mentality if I can get a really good deal,” added Bailey when asked if she felt people would respond to the liquidation sales.
READ MORE: Court approves Sears Canada request to begin ‘crucial’ liquidation sales July 21
The sales, however, are a difficult time for the employees.
“There’s a lot of tension,” said employee Julie Allain. “You can feel there’s a lot of sadness with the loyal customers that come in to Sears. They said they’re just quite concerned”.
The Saint John store is slated to close Oct. 5th.
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