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Sephora and Nordstrom are the Latest Retailers to Close Canadian Stores

They follow in the footsteps of Lululemon and Aritzia.

Today, both Sephora and Nordstrom announced that each will shutter its Canadian stores temporarily as we navigate through the Covid-19 crisis.

In an email to consumers this morning, Sephora said that remote working policies will apply for all corporate office employees from 5pm today through to April 3 and that retail employees will continue to receive their base pay for scheduled shifts. “When Sephora first opened its doors, we did so with the mission to create a unique community for all beauty enthusiasts. Since then, we have always taken our responsibility to protect the well-being of our people and community very seriously. It was with that responsibility in mind that we made this decision,” the company said in a statement. The news follows the brand’s decision last week to halt all paid in-store services.

In the meantime, sephora.ca will remain functional and will offer free shipping through April 3. It has also extended its in-store return policy to 30 days within its stores reopening for any purchases made in the 30 days prior to today. For online orders, returns have been extended to 60 days.

Nordstrom also released a statement this morning announcing it was closing its Canadian stores from today. “We realize the impact a closure can have on our store employees, and this is not a decision we made lightly. We want to take care of them as best we can and will be providing them with pay and benefits during this two-week period as well as providing additional resources to help them through this challenging time,” said Erik and Pete Nordstrom. They added, “There is no question this is a time of great uncertainty. While we don’t know what the future may hold, we feel confident that by sticking together and supporting each other, we’ll emerge from this stronger than before.”

Aritzia and Lululemon also made announcements last week regarding store closures for the time being, alongside international brands like Nike and Apple.

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