Future Shop is done: 66 stores gone for good, 65 to become Best Buy locations

WATCH ABOVE: Sixty-six future shop stores across the country will be shutting down. Another 65 are being converted into Best Buys, the parent company of Future Shop. It means the loss of up to 1,500 jobs. Vassy Kapelos reports.

Electronics retailer Future Shop is no more.

The chain’s parent – Best Buy Canada – announced that it is consolidating its Best Buy and Future Shop stores and websites under the Best Buy name.

“They told me I could come in today to get my replacement TV,” Allan Bardsley, a customer at Future Shop’s Bayer’s Lake, Nova Scotia location told Global News. “Obviously that’s not going to happen now. I was surprised because I was literally talking to the someone in the store an hour before they closed last night. I imagine there’s a lot of people caught off guard by this.”

The company says 65 Future Shop locations will be closed for a week and re-opened under the Best Buy name. Another 66 stores that are located close to current Best Buy stores will be closed permanently.

The company says 500 full-time and 1,000 part-time jobs will be eliminated.

“Currently, 80 per cent of our customers are within a 15 minute drive to a store and this won’t change,” said Ron Wilson, President and COO of Best Buy Canada. “We will continue to have a strong store presence in all major markets in Canada.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Currently, 80 per cent of our customers are within a 15 minute drive to a store and this won't change," said Ron Wilson, President and COO of Best Buy Canada. "We will continue to have a strong store presence in all major markets in Canada."

Dave Hounsell, 58, found out Saturday morning he no longer had a job as an installer at the Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Future Shop.

“Unfortunately this morning we came to work and got bad news,” said Hounsell, who had worked at the store for three years.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Unfortunately this morning we came to work and got bad news," said Hounsell, who had worked at the store for three years.

But he adds he has no ill-will towards the company, saying he wasn’t “shook up about it” because of his age.

“To have this, it’s just part of life. Nothing I could say against the company,” Hounsell said. “They’ve always looked after me and all the employees I work with.”

“I’m going to take the weekend off, have a couple beers with my friends and see what happens Monday.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "To have this, it's just part of life. Nothing I could say against the company," Hounsell said. "They've always looked after me and all the employees I work with."</p><p>"I'm going to take the weekend off, have a couple beers with my friends and see what happens Monday."

The company says Future Shop gift cards will be accepted at Best Buy Canada locations as well as at BestBuy.ca. Existing product orders, service appointments and warranties will continue to be honoured and Future Shop purchases to be returned or exchanged will also be accepted at any Best Buy.

Full list of stores expected to close:

British Columbia

Abbotsford – West Oaks Mall
Coquitlam – Coquitlam Centre
Kelowna – Orchard Plaza
Langley – Langley Centre
North Vancouver – 1076 Marine Drive
Richmond – Lansdowne Centre
Richmond – 2780 Sweden Way
Surrey – Central City Shopping Centre
Vancouver – 1740 West Broadway

Alberta

Calgary – Deerfoot Meadows (33 Heritage Meadows Way SE)
Calgary- Coventry Hills (130 Country Village Rd. NE)
Calgary – Northland (5111 Northland Dr. NW)
Calgary – NE Calgary (3319 26th Ave. NE)
Edmonton – South Edmonton Common (1320 99 St. NW)
Edmonton – Edmonton North (9499 137 Ave)
Edmonton – Edmonton West (9560 170 St.)
Grand Prairie (9801 116th St.)
Lethbridge (3709 Mayor Magrath Dr. S)
Red Deer (7501 44th St.)

Manitoba

Winnipeg – St James (850 St. James St.)
Winnipeg – Garden City (783 Leila Ave.)

Ontario

Barrie (80 Concert Way)
Belleville (167 Bell Blvd.)
Brampton (70 Great Lakes Drive)
Brampton – Brampton East (9145 Airport Road)
Brockville (2089 Parkedale)
Burlington (3060 Davidson Crt.)
Cambridge (18 Pinebush)
Hamilton (1565 Upper James Street)
Hamilton – Stoney Creek (2500 Barton)
Kanata (745 Kanata)
Kitchener (1400 Ottawa)
London – North London (1855 Hyde Park)
London (1051 Wellington Road)
Markham (3828 Hwy. 7)
Mississauga – Heartland (5900 Mavis Road)
Mississauga – Dixie & Dundas (1475 Dundas St. E)
Nepean – Merivale (1695 Merivale)
Niagara Falls (7555 Montrose Road)
Oakville (310 North Service)
Pickering (1105B Kingston Road)
Richmond Hill (9325 Yonge)
Scarborough West (806 Warden Ave.)
Scarborough (1141 Kennedy Road)
St. Catharines (285 Geneva St.)
Sudbury (999 Barrydowne)
Toronto – Queensway (1563 The Queensway)
Toronto – Downtown (325 Yonge)
Vaughan (3200 Hwy. 7)
Whitby (1650 Victoria St. E)
Windsor (4115 Walker Road)

Quebec

Brosssard – (9650 Boul. Leduc)
Boisbriand – (3350 Av. des Grandes Tourelles)
Gatineau – (25 Chemin de la Savane)
LaSalle – (6877 Boul. Newman)
Laval  -(1540 Boul. le Corbusier)
Montreal – March Central (1001 Rue do March Central)
Pointe Claire – (6321 Autoroute Transcanadienne)
Quebec City – (1475 Boul. Lebourgneuf)
Saint-Bruno – (1191 Boul. des Promenades)
Sainte-Foy – Place Laurier (2700 Boul. Laurier)

Nova Scotia

Bedford – 85 Damascus Road
Dartmouth – 110 Gale Terrace
Halifax – 208 Chain Lake
New Glasgow – 609 Westville Road

Newfoundland

St. John’s – 20 Stavenger Drive)

– With files from Julia Wong and Justin McElroy