Target speeds up Canadian departure

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Target now expects that the liquidation of its Canadian stores will be complete only three months after it was announced, a month ahead of schedule. In a filing last week, court-appointed monitor Alvarez & Marsal said it expects “the pace of delivery of Vacate Notices by the [liquidation] agent will continue to increase over the next two weeks, such that all stores are expected to be closed to the public as early as mid-April.” It is a sign of the haste with which the retailer wants to exit Canada, but it will still have to contend with a fight over $1.9 billion in inter-company debt claimed by suppliers, who argue the firm should not have ordered “30-day goods” while it was planning to dissolve.