In the wake of Tuesday’s announcement that Sears Canada Inc. has “significant doubt” about its future, the company has confirmed that there are no changes planned for the company’s recently opened call centres in Edmundston and Saint John.
“There are no changes to the plans for the call centres concurrent with today’s financial update,” wrote Vincent Power, a spokesperson for Sears in an email to Global News.
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The New Brunswick government had announced a partnership with Sears in January 2017 that would see the company establish two call centres in the province. At the time of the announcement, the partnership was expected to use $8.7 million of taxpayers dollars and create 540 new jobs.
While the new centres are not fully operational the company says they are on track with hiring plans.
“We are conducting and planning training classes ongoingly,” wrote Power. “A significant number of Sears Canada customer contacts are currently being initiated, or responded to, from our Edmundston and Saint John business centres.”
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Sears implied today that it could sell or restructure itself in order to preserve its business.
Sears Canada’s announcement came as it reported a first-quarter loss of $144.4 million. The struggling retailer’s revenue slipped by about $90 million to $505.5 million last year.
— With files from Aleksandra Sagan, The Canadian Press