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Several factors are driving the plans. Far fewer department stores compete for shoppers in Canada than in the United States on a per capita basis. High shipping costs have limited the growth of online shopping in Canada relative to the U.S. And, for U.S. retailers, Canada offers an opportunity to grow in a stable and seemingly similar market.

“We’re certainly aware of what other retailers have done”

But lingering over all of the excitement is the foul odour left by the fiasco of Target, which tried the last aggressive retail expansion effort in Canada.

Plagued by a logistics system that left shelves empty and a perception that its stores were significantly more expensive than those in the United States, Target put its Canadian subsidiary in bankruptcy early last year, less than two years after entering the country. Target closed all of its 133 Canadian stores, posted a US$5.4 billion write-down and set off litigation.

“Canada is a good place, everybody wants to do business here,” said Peter Simons, the president and chief executive of La Maison Simons, which is owned by his family. “I’m proud that people see it as a stable and interesting place to be.”

But Simons acknowledged that, as Target showed, the surge of interest in the Canadian market is not always for the good.

“There will be some spilt milk,” he said. “It looks like an easy place to do business. When people who don’t know what they’re doing come into the market, it spurs things on, but it can also have a destabilizing effect.”