It’s unfortunate but we all saw that coming; with their overpriced items and the global economic recession Linens N Things was unable to survive. Linens N Things Canada filed for bankruptcy yesterday and shut down the Canadian website canada.lnt.com. Expect Linens N Things stores to have HUGE sales to clear and liquidate all their stocks. They may have already started the sales since Linens N Things US has an up to 30% Going out of Business sale.
Oh and final reminder about the gift cards: if you have any Linens N Things gift cards NOW is the time to use them before they become obsolete.
yes , they were overpriced but , its so, unfortunate for their employees.
ROFL (at the tombstone) not laughing at the employees at all.
weird. there is one slated to open across the street from me sometime this late fall/winter.. the sign just went up!
yes also weird the one by me JUST updated their store with a brand new sign out front…
We’re still getting flyers w/ coupons for 20% and 15% off at my house. Keep an eye out for them!
I was fearing this day. I love Linens and Things. I am a cheapy, and I don’t find them expensive. I found their different selection to be akin to going down to the USA to shop. It was alot cheaper to not drive south. We couldn’t find most of those things here and we always had access to a coupon. I for one will lose one of my few favourite shopping experiences. I am very, very sad. Thank you Linens and Things for giving me so many great and thoroughly enjoyed items. RIP
Was planning on buying a few things on discount this week, once i heard this, but i’ve just called my local store in Etobicoke and they say no, they’re not closing, it’s only the US stores, it was a mis-print. I have a feeling that maybe it hasn’t been communicated to all staff, but geez, the associate was quite snippy! Oh the confusion of a store closing…
Yes it MUST be an error somewhere along the lines otherwise why would they be investing money into their stores and even adding NEW stores?
Here’s the article on Yahoo news saying the Canadian one filed for bankruptcy too:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/081019/business/cbusiness_us_linens_bankruptcy_canada
hah, it’s probably not a ‘misprint’–that’s funny they’d say that. i’m guessing the bankruptcy process can be lengthy (and perhaps they’ll find a way around closing).. so they have just filed the papers – they probably want to make as much $ as they can before closing/liquidating, hence still offering the coupons/sales/etc. Opening new stores is odd, but they were probably already in the works. I don’t find the store that expensive. LNT Cad/USA and Home Outfitters, Bed Bath & Beyond – all those seem nearly identical to me.
I phoned the Ajax location and asked when the liquidation sale was starting and I got attitude about how they dont know yet and it will be announced to the public WHEN AND IF there is one
I read somewhere that the 20% off coupons aren’t being accepted anymore. Does anyone know if this is true?
Linens N Things has already posted notices that the LNT credit card, reward certificates and gift cards will not be accepted. Thanks LNT for the prior warning!
Kelly,
As an employee of the Ajax store, I find it very hard to believe that you received any attitude when inquiring about liquidation sales. We have been inundated with questions regarding this for a week now. All of our staff has been very polite and courteous when explaining that we know very little.
What we do know is that LNT-US is beginning liquidation processes. We do not know when, or if, liquidation will start in Canada.
Thank you to people like SJ who have shown some feeling toward the LNT staff that may soon be without a job.
I’m a little confused. The article you linked to said they filed for ‘bankruptcy protection’ that doesnt mean there closing. I worked for a company under bankruptcy, and while in recievership I continued working, and the company was bought by other investors and such, it never ‘closed.’ Is there an article somewhere stating that there actually closing?
If they don’t accept gift cards anymore I’m pretty sure you can file with the government along with all the other creditors, not sure if its worthwhile or not though.
Anyways I’m going to go search for more data on this issue. It really sucks, for the shoppers and of course the employees, my heart goes out to the families if indeed they are closing for good.
Strange… they are opening a brand new store right by my house.
I work for LNT and its unfortunate that this has to happen to Canada. I wish everyone well and hope everyone finds jobs soon. As for the overpriced merch, the prices where good, actually a hell of alot better than home outfitters. Its really sad that people have to bash the company but really their bashing the employees. Good Luck everyone!!!
the funny thing is that they just posted a whole wackload of ads on monster looking for employees… They JUST posted them today…
As to the poster that made the comment about the “snippy” associate. We, in Canada, only today found out that it was certain that our stores would be liquidating first then closing. Up until today there were still alot of employees that held out hope that a potential buyer may come along at the last minute and the thousands of Canadian employees may keep our jobs.
For the shoppers out there that may enjoy our liquidation prices over the next couple of months, please try to be sympathetic to the fact that we are losing much needed jobs, that pay taxes, contribute to an already stressed economy so that we can get by in life.
So please be patient with us if we do not give our usual amazing customer service and thank you all for your support.
C (soon to be former LNT employee)
sucks to be losing your jobs.
Good luck to those going through this – hope it leads to bigger and better things!
I live here in Niagara Falls & LOVE shopping there.
They have a lot of good products.
I hope maybe that they will get a buyer & stay open.
We don’t have very many nice stores here to shop at.
I feel for the people that work there…just before Christmas.
That sucks.
Best of luck.
Listen, There going to close the stores….
We all know this but try to hide it.
It’s a shame that all of us are misinformed because truly all of us at the Downsview store really couldnt tell if we are closing or not due to all the media hype and supposed ‘misprints’. We have been the number one home store in North America and it’s sales were in no comparison to the United States. We are not rediculously over priced, it’s simply you get what you pay for. Quality is what LNT has always stood for. As a dedicated associate I know deep in my heart we all have given it our all when it came down to helping anyone out even if our guess was as good as yours. Bottom line is, if Linens N Things Canada were to file bankruptcy and liquidation would follow, people don’t take the time to realize people are losing their jobs due to the struggle in the economy now. It will only be a matter of time till other American Buisnesses that have crossed over to Canada to start falling as well. The 20% coupons are being accepted still to this day, but it is only a matter of time till they won’t be just like the credit card and all it’s little perks. The real reason behind this bankruptcy craze and why Linens N Things in general probably went bankrupt was because it had no guidelines and rules to follow for the ‘guest’. A 60 day return policy is a load of crap because someone could just use the product and bring it back. Even after the 60 day period theyd authorize an instore credit. It’s like that 60 day rule shouldnt even exist. Pretty much anyone can return anything. Secondly, it is to my knowledge that coupons have been released in every flyer and as soon as that flyer has hit, people are either begging for coupons, or demanding that we use there ‘SINGLE ITEM’ coupon on their entire cart full of items. As associates, arguing with the ‘guest’ has caused us enough headaches to last us, so instead we shut them up and give them what they want. In the end, that ‘SINGLE ITEM’ coupon, became a ‘MULTI ITEM’ coupon. Linens N Things had no borders and it had no rules set in stone for people to follow. IF the stores rules were enforced, or on a much more stricter guidline, things probably wouldn’t have ended up the way they did. As a result, were all going bankrupt.
Fin.
I was at LNT in calgary today and they have a sign up” Hireing” on the other hand who isn’t hireing in Calgary.
The LNT I work at in Calgary (and it’s “hiring”, not “hireing”) just hired two employees today. Just because they’re going out of business doesn’t mean they don’t still need people.
I feel bad for the employees who’ve been there for a long time – and for ones like me who have to field the same bloody question over and over about whether or not we’re closing.
So, ‘guests’, take it easy on us in the coming sales. We’ll have more on our minds than whether or not you can use ten coupons or not. Like what we’ll do for employment.
I am truely sorry for all the employees and their loved ones that have to look for other jobs due to this. Yes a lot of places are hiring right now but not that many of them are actually good jobs that are fun and pay well. i hope that every one of you that have to start out again find something as fun and pays well enough to get by. 🙂 best wishes to you all
After reading a lot of discussion about the coupons and gift cards, I called the local linens and things (Niagara Falls). They said that they would honour any couons or gift cards that I still had but not issue and new ones. So I went in and did my shopping. However, a vacuum that the Canadian site (before they took it down) had said was cheaper was more expensive and the manager offered me the 20% off coupon to make up the difference. I said I had the coupon already and ended up buying different things (some Christmas shopping). I didn’t ask the manager outright if the store was closing but he indicated that the Canadian site had been taken down last week. That combined with the fact that they are asking people to register elsewhere for gifts and are no longer selling gift cards or accepting linens and things credit cards or offering coupons tells me that there will no longer be any linens and things. Some decent deals would be nice. They are way over priced. Everything I bought was on clearance so I could stretch my gift card as far as possible!
I work in niagara falls LNT and were not overpriced, have you shopped at Home outfitters lately no of course not because St.Kitts is wayYYYYYY too far away. Its so sad that everyone is still complaining about the damn coupon and the overpriced merch but the fact of the matter is, the store is CLOSING and people are losing their jobs, so stop your damn complaining about our prices because soon you’ll have no choice but to shop at HO in St.Kitts.
Lots of places hiring out here in Saskatchewan too…
Linens N Things Canada filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday. Once we have a set court date the judge will most likely approve to have our stores liquidated, since there are no potential buyers. If NRDC and an equity firm did not want to buy us, I doubt anyone will.
Like they said, they are afraid of what is happening with the economy and wall street. So once we get our approval (probably by the end of this week) will be liquidating as well.
Anyway, LNT was not that overpriced. If you shop at department stores, you would paying a lot more for the same item. Although, if customers are looking for cheap products you might as well go to Walmart.
I also couldn’t stand when guests would come into the store i worked at and wanted a coupon. I’m sorry, you forgot your coupon, well to bad! Before I even worked at LNT, I shopped there as well and was a guest. I always made sure I had my coupon if i wanted to buy something. I would never think twice of asking the cashier for a coupon. LNT spoiled their guests way too much. Thankfully, now that Bed Bath and Beyond is slowing opening their stores here in Ontario, you can bring your same excuses there, because you can’t do that at Home Outfitters.
I too am very sad to hear that LNT may be closing. I loved the store, the merchandise and did not find it overpriced at all. Sad for the employees as well! Hope everything works out for you all.
I agree with the coupon part lnt employee.
Anyway, the reason employees didn’t outright tell the guests that phoned in about the liquidation and going out of business sale was because they were not given a definite answer until yesterday. Although, ever since we saw our website shut down, and no longer accepting lnt credit card, and vouchers we knew something was up. Although, our managers did say we could have a potential buyer at the last minute. However, we had to inform any quests that we were still in business because nothing was set in stone yet. Although, I don’t see a potential buyer and I know the judge will give us approval to liquidate all canadian stores. It’s really sad because many employees will be losing jobs, especially the ones who relied on Lnt for their main income.
Once we all liquidate it will be a hard time for employees to work. Like someone else said, we might not be giving the amazing customer service we use to do, because now we will be stressing of finding another job. I hope all the guests that come into our store realize this. I just want to thank to all the LNT guests who have supported us throughout the years we’ve been in canada.
Best of luck to all the employees who are working at LNT.
As for overprice NOT. What is aggrevating people coming into the store and telling us you are closing on Friday and why should I buy now. Then all the returns , is there anyhting wrong with the item? General response no there isn’t. As for coupons when you go to the grocery store and you forget your coupon do they honor it I DON’T think so. Denise as for Niagara Falls to St. Kitts you are right it’s such a loooooooong drive. What 10 minutes people wait longer in line ups for their Tim Hortons and not complain.
People just remember to treat the associates with the respect they deserve , we are human as well. Just remember you could be in our shoes one day.
LNT 708
I was working for LNT in the GTA when this all began. I asked my manager if we were closing and I was assured there was no way our doors would close. I knew this was not the case. I quit shortly there-after and now I am SO glad I did. The product was too overpriced and was cheaply made.
That is a shame about the company eventually folding. They are a bit pricey IMO but their quality is good so you need to pay a bit more. It sucks that so many stupid customers took advantage of the 20% off coupon; I have used them numerous times but only on ONE item and I read the small print to see which items are not included. It ain’t difficult.
Sorry to all the employees losing their jobs, esp as it gets closer to the holidays. Hopefully it won’t be too difficult to find new employment – retail jobs are everywhere. Here’s hoping you all land on your feet and find bigger and better things! Good luck and the next time I shop at LNT I shall have the utmost of patience with the staff because it is troubling times.
Too bad. Really liked the merchandise even though it was overpriced. However used the 20% coupon to satisfy myself I was getting a deal!!
Too bad about the employees. The LNT at HHeartland in Mississaug always had very ffriendly and helpful staff.
I’m sick and tired of everyone saying this and that, let me clear it up for you.
I work at linens n things.
WE ARE STILL TAKING GIFT CARDS, UNTIL THE DOORS CLOSE. THIS INCLUDES THE LIQUIDATION PERIOD.
WE WILL ACCEPT COUPONS, BUT THERE AREN’T ANY NEW ONES COMING OUT FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.
WE ARE HIRING!! NOW MORE THAN EVER, BECAUSE WHEN WE START LIQUIDATING, ITS GOING TO BE CRAZY IN THE STORE! WE NEED TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES.
ONCE WE START LIQUIDATION ALL SALES ARE FINAL SO NO RETURNS! IF YOU BOUGHT YOUR ITEMS BEFORE LIQUIDATION, WE WILL STILL HONOUR YOUR RETURN.
ONCE WE START LIQUIDATION ALL THINGS THAT ARE ON SALE NOW WILL GO BACK TO REGULAR PRICE.
This means if something was $100 and on sale for $50, it will go back to $100, and THEN liquidation will go on that, which will probably only be like 10%. So buy it if its on sale, so you only have to pay $50 instead of $90, for example.
A lot of services will be changing. Nothing is really certain as of yet, as far as dates, and prices, and how much % off everything will go. STOP ASKING US WHEN WE ARE CLOSING! WE HAVE NO IDEA!
As far as my job goes, I could care less. ITS A JOB. I’ll get another one. I’m actually happy because now I’ll be getting severance pay too. Of course its sad and Ive made friends, but to be honest I was almost ready to shoot that place up because you stupid customers are so stupid.
I hope to have informed you some more.
To the disgruntled employee above:
You are one classy broad. And I’m sure your customer service is spotless. Honestly, if it’s just a job, why get so fired up? Find a new job, and hopefully NOT in retail. Yikes!
I just wanted to reiterate some of the stuff that was said above. For the most part us employees were kept in the dark about most of what has been going on with the stores.
And I concur about those that have said that the 60 return policy on items basically meant that we would take back anything and I mean anything. Other employees mentioned that they had actually seen us take back sheets that were literally four years old (mind you the customer only got back like $4.00 on a gift card, but still) and towels that had been obviously damaged and bleached by the customers. Furthermore, these types of items – sheets, towels pillows – should follow the same policies as undergarments in clothing stores – you buy it, you keep it. For what reason would you buy sheets,and towels if you planned to return them. It is simply unhygienic that LNT even takes them back.This is no way for a business to survive, and I agree that this was probably the undoing of the store itself.
Again, I just want to say to all of those people that are planning to come to the liquidation sales, try and be patient with the employees; we’re probably less thrilled by the situation than you are.
I think the people have to realize that workers in retail have the lousy hours, few weekends off, fewer days off together, poor pay,lousy benefits and all the while must treat the customer like they are masters. So next time they are off for there ‘ahh, It’s Friday’ spending extravaganza before going to the gym or the golf country club, maybe they may want to show some courtesy themselves. Better yet maybe they should make 9 bucks an hour and see how cheerful they are when someone is yelling at them.
I work at LNT and have loved every minute of it! My co workers are great and a lot of fun. The guest [some of them] have been amazing and very supportive through this. However to those of you that are complaining about items being over priced and not getting your coupons, I ask you this; “Will you put food on my table or a roof over my head”.
Like many people that work retail we are over worked, extremely under paid, and under appreciated! We live pay chegue to pay cheque and may not have a roof over our heads in a few weeks, so have patience if we dont have your coupon or the fake smile on our faces. We have a lot going on!
You may not care if you loose your jobs but there are many out there who need them. So don’t call your future customers out there stupid just because you don’t like your job. QUIT now so no one has to deal with you. Thank god not all employees are like you
I’ve worked for LNT for 4 years, and now that we are all going to be out of a job I could say this I will not miss all those stupid people that come in our stores with the coach bags and that are going to expode with botox and fake boobs that come in and think that they could treat us like dirt. then they walk around thinking that they own the place and talk to us like we are their servants. and when we say only 1 coupon per guest they start yelling at us in front of everyone putting us down. i cant wait till there are no more coupons. and all those people that come in and steal we know who you are no more returns no more gift cards sucks to be the girls that come in to use the gift cards that they got when they returned the stolen merchandise i hope you guys come in with the gift cards cause they are useless they don’t work. know to lnt this is the reason why you guys are going down and know bringing us down with you. we just listened to you guest come first anything they want give it to them that got you BANKRUPT
and know i here that the court has agreed to pay the top managers some of the money they get for the liquidation who is that the stupid store managers that you hired that don’t know what they are doing. it wont be anyone under them cause we are nothing to the company cause if we were we would not be in the dark with everything. oh the letters from the famous bob dinicola don’t believe don’t believe and then he was gone and the rumor came true then dave coder don’t believe don’t believe and then agian the rumor came true agian. stop telling us lies and tell us the truth.
yours truly
soon to be out of a job
WOW! You say overpriced but I guess your not an avid shopper. If you have then you would see were pretty equal to other stores. Yes LNT can have “certain” products overpriced but they also have items that are cheap. So for someone who likes good quality I will pay good $$ for it. For those who see it as overpriced and think that’s the reason they went under you can always shop at a dollar store. I would tell you Biway but unfortunately they closed their doors. Hmm I don’t believe it was because of overpriced items! I will be sad the day it closes, not just for the job but because I have loved this store before it even came to Canada and they carry products that attract all forms of income. If we seem a little “snippy” at times maybe it’s probably because we have been asked the same question over and over again for the last week. How about calling Head Office at 1-866-568-7378. Obviously some of you seem to know more then us. As for the thieves, you know who you are because we know who you are, we will get satisfaction when we can finally tell you we no longer take returns. Muahahahaha. Thank you to all the guests who have shown patience and understanding and to those who have been rude, arrogant and abnoxious please start shopping online!
Soon Out Of A Job = reason why it’s not a good idea to drink and post.
I personally hope every single LnT employee loses it during the next few months and treats some of the moron customers like they get treated. Scream at them. Berate them. Throw them out of the store. Why not – it’s not like you have anything to lose…have some fun with it. I worked a crappy retail job when I was in university, so I know what it’s like, and you all might never have this kind of an opportunity again. Enjoy it, then just go find a new job.
It’s not the end of the world, and the sky is not falling.
Ironhead, I agree with you. Having worked in retail, I know what it can be like. And I was always very careful to be very polite to my customers. You just can’t please some people. And blah blah I know maybe they’re just having a bad day etc. but if I am not allowed to take it out on them when I’m having a bad day, why should they be able to get away with it?
I mean, there’s no sense in being mean to people that are being nice and polite. But to the ones that aren’t…now might be your one chance to act the same way they act to you!
I’m really sorry to all those who are losing their jobs. I was in a Linen ‘N Things once and I really liked it…too bad I don’t live anywhere near a place that has one….maybe Sudbury but that’s still 1 1/2 away. It seems like it was good pay and obviously benefits so yeah not an easy job to replace 🙁 Good luck with finding a job.
@Ironhead – Yeah I could care less really about my job and how I treat anyone… What are they going to do? Fire me? They’re already going to.
They aren’t going to fire me. They need me. We’re hiring temps, as we will need people for liquidation. If they do fire me, thanks, I’ll take my severance pay now instead of in a couple months, and I’ll get myself another job.
I never said there weren’t any good or nice customers… Its just the nice ones are maybe 20% of them. Everyone else can go fuck themselves.
You used those sheets? Fuck off, you’re disgusting, whats wrong with you? Why do you think we’d return that?
Do you know how many pubic hairs and other gross stuff we find in returned items?
We found a used thong in a bed-in-a-bag once, among many stains and smells. Thanks, I didn’t want my lunch in my stomach either.
I just want my money and satisfaction, then I’m getting a better job.
It was good, LNT. It’s time for me to go.
This was from the New York Post (yeah I know it’s not the times or WSG)
Lord & Taylor owner NRDC and Toronto private-equity firm Hilco Consumer Capital are circling Linens ‘n Things’ profitable chain of 37 stores in Canada. Yesterday, Gries told the judge two suitors are still deciding whether to make bids for parts of the chain.
Maybe the Canadian stores will remain open… perhaps as part of another chain?
As a LNT employee let me set things straight for the record. Under the NAFTA agreement the US judge could not rule that LNT Canada has to be liquidated that has to happen in Halifax where the Cdn Head Office is. Next week we will find out, but the US liquidators had bidders for the Canadian arm of the business, and would not entertain them. But a Canadian judge can say yes or no to a current bidder. The Canadian side makes a good amount of money each year, so don’t count us out quite yet.
P.S. Leave the staff alone, we are all wondering about our futures and it is not fun to be asked 30 times a day, about when the sale starts our livelihoods are on the line.
I am also a current employee of LNT. I’ve been with my store since it opened, it’s going to be a sad day to see it go. My only comment to the public is I am so disappointed at how inconsiderate people are to the situation. We 17,000 people are loosing are jobs. I am personally fed up with people asking stupid questions, such as Can you match the prices on the American website? NO we can not match the American web site prices in Canada. Or making a return without a recipt and expecting cash back because of the current situation. Give me a break what retailer does that. If you get a merch card just use the same day! Or use the bloody manufactures warranty! I wish all employees that will probably be umemployed at christmas the best of luck! To our guest be considerate of our feelings and fears that were facing.
Are the Linens & Things credit cards still good in Canada?
LNT associates: first, let me just say how sorry I am to hear about your situation, I can completely understand…Im an HBC (the Bay, Zellers, and Home Outfitters) associate.
HBC has been sold TWICE in under 3 years. The first time to industrialist Mr. Jerry Zucker, whom passed away just this year, and subsequently to Lord & Taylor owner NRDC this spring/summer. It’s not a very comfortable feeling not knowing what’s going to happen to your company – and to your job & paycheque.
I have been with HBC for 5 years, and prior to HBC with Sears for 3 years ( which included the new eaton’s which Sears took over in 2000), and prior to that I was with Woodwards (1985 to 1987), so I’ve seen a lot happen in the retail department store setting, and as one of the comments above mentioned, the obsession to provide ‘outstanding customer service’ results in a “we shall give the customer ANYTHING to make him/her happy” hits the nail on the head, and in my opinion is one of the BIGGEST factors to the demise of the giant retailers. The customer (or you call them ‘GUESTS’) have been trained to complain up the ladder, until they get what they want; eg. associate says can’t do, Guest asks to speak to sales manager, no result, then to store mngr, no result, to regional mngr, etc… until CEO in T.O. hears from Guest and instructs subordinates to ‘do whatever it takes to make it go away’ right back down the ladder. As a result of this philosophy, I have seen TV’s, furniture, appliances, worth thousands of dollars, eventually being sold to Guest for mere hundreds of dollars for ‘inconvenience’. They hope this happy Guest will return again to ‘purchase’ in our stores again.
We too, offer the outrageous 60 day return policy ( 90 on some products). Items that have been money refunded range from used underwear and socks (still on the Guest!) to over 1 year old coffee makers with mouldy coffee grind remains in the filter basket.
But this is retail, and we have chosen to work in this industry and we can only accept the policies we are given to work with by the company. So long as these policies exists, it will be the Guest that screams the loudest will get everything they want, while the true Guests that quietly abide by the 60 day return policy and that follows the regulations on the coupons, get nothing.
I understand your ‘family’ mentality because it is very similar here, all of us who work together also laugh together, which is perhaps how we survive each day of challenging situations and customers..we need to laugh it off to maintain our sanity.
Just a final thought, because Lord & Taylors’ NRDC already owns Home Outfitters, I would think LNT would be an ideal acquisition for them, and as the Yahoo News article mentions that they are ‘circling’ there just may be…?
From one family to another…stay strong, and good luck in your employment endeavors.
It’s too bad the stores are closing I do like their stuff, but I think if ithe economy is really getting as bad as they are predicting — stores like this may be the first to go — really if money is tight the last thing I am going to buy is a new comforter – now I’d love one because I’m sick of the one we have, but I really don’t need one.
I have followed the blogs over the last few days. I want to thank alot of the shopper who send thier regards. If you really want to say thanks, go into your closest LNT and find the closest associate and just say thank you. It goes a long way and the staff on the most part, really did put alot of effort into what they did at work. At my store, when I went to open in the morning there was athank you card taped to the door from one of our regular guest and I will tell you, it put a smile on alot of the staff in the store, and with everything that is going on right now—smiles are needed.
Thank you
Really sorry to hear of the closing. Was a short term employee of the N. Falls store, worked with a great group of people and loved shopping at the store. Good luck to you all!!
Watch the news carefully…If Bankruptcy protection is granted and the Canadian stores are turned over to Liquidators, gift cards WILL NOT be accepted. I went through a similar situation years ago. The Liquidators will be looking to get every penny they can out of those stores. They won’t let you walk out with merchandise in exchange for a worthless plastic card.
I used up my gift cards and store credits on Monday…
OK honestly ppl who think over priced are definetly dollar store shoppers and wal mart shoppers!! think quality and think how many times you will replace an item compards to how many time I will…think of the time it takes to replace the item and the frusteration of going without the broken itm…So I pay for quality. LNT does have amazing customer service, and was a great place to work…I miss all the girls and even most managers were enjoyable to work with!!! I made many friends there, and had been with the store since it opened until I relocated. I will be sad to see all the hard work gone. sry to hear that ppl may be losing their jobs, it is sad that Canada is so relient on the USA. we suffer no matter how their economy is, if its doing great then our dollar drops and everything still costs a fortune..if its doing bad our dollar goes up..but ppl lose jobs!! Maybe free trade was a bad idea…do ya think? giving away product and then buying it back…hello…what was the gov thinking???? Anyways good luck to everybody adn hope the liquidation goes ok..if there is one!!!
I will miss my “team” We have had a great time together and I will miss them the most. Ireally hope a buyer comes through as it would be a shame to close profitable stores just because the US arm couldn’t make it.
I have always loved shopping at the store and had my bridal registry there. Hopefully, it will be bought out and the jobs of many saved.
So sad to hear! Good store! Good luck to all the employees!
To “Disgruntled Employee (At You)”: Don’t work in the sales industry if you think customers are stupid. If you think it is “just a job”, well it is not the job for you. It is our right to ask when you are closing. It is your job to accommodate the customer, regardless of what you think of that customer. The bottom line at any company is that the employees are there to make money for the company. It is called the Quality Triad. Calling the customers stupid is not good for any business. In fact, do us all a favour and look for a job in a totally different profession (not sales, or customer service or associate of any kind)
The same thing goes for Ironhead. We’re not morons either. Don’t work in the sales industry. We don’t want you. Maybe the next time I go to LNT I will scream at the employees. Berate them. Why not – it’s not like I have anything to lose. I’ll have some fun with it.
Just to let everyone know now! LNT CANADA will be in liquadition starting FRIDAY! It’s offical were closing! Good luck to all the employees, I hope we all can find new jobs when it’s all over.
I can’t believe a lot of what I just read. Some of you don’t deserve the flesh you occupy and the air I breathe!! When you work in customer service..that is exactly what it is – CUSTOMER SERVICE – get it??? You work for the customer!!!!!!!!!!!! If you don’t like the work you do, then get out of it. I’m sure you’re a PERFECT CUSTOMER elsewhere?? By the sounds of how you are calling the customers stupid, that you are most likely a difficult customer yourself! I suggest after the doors close, you don’t get hired at McDonald’s or the Post Office. We don’t need copy-cats!
Sorry to hear that a lot of yous will be losing your jobs so close to the holidays.
Happy to hear a lot will be getting in on some good deals! I’ll be looking forward to reading about them in the Deals & Flyers Forum.
Linen N Things store locator:
http://www.lnt.com/corp/index.jsp?page=storeLocator
I don’t think she was referring to all customers…but believe me, there are customers who are continually rude for no reason when you, as the sales person, are being nice and polite.
I worked in customer service for 4 years and I wouldn’t say there was customers who were “stupid” in the sense of lacking intelligence, but I had my fair share of customers who were rude and belligerent just because they felt like it.
Now, I don’t know about the person that was referring to the customers as stupid. But I can say for myself personally that I am an excellent customer. I know what it’s like being behind that counter, so I always am courteous and polite. Even if I don’t get my way about something, because I realize that it’s not the cashier’s fault….they are only doing what they’ve been instructed to do. For example, a while back I had a $10 off coupon for a razor that was on sale for $9.99. I was told that I couldn’t use the coupon because of that. I could have, and probably even should have, argued it. But I didn’t because I didn’t want to be rude about it, so I spent an extra $2 and bought a package set. I figured I still saved a bunch of money anyways.
I can actually remember the only time I ever yelled at someone in customer service. And that was the manager for MBNA credit cards. Because he was claiming that my father was a guarantor on the credit card and therefore if I went bankrupt, my father would have to pay what was owing on the credit card. Neither my father or I ever remembered him agreeing to be a guarantor. So I asked for a copy of the guarantor agreement, which they could not find. The manager expected me to “take his word for it”. I didn’t scream at him, but I told him that his word meant nothing to me because I didn’t even know who he was. And that they could not expect my father to pay for the credit card when they could not provide anything showing he was a guarantor.
What most of the non-employees need to understand is the LNY employees are loosing everything. Many of us opened the stores we work in and now we are closing them, loosing everything we worked so hard to achieve. It is also sad because the Canadian stores were all profitable, it seems that Apollo just doesn’t wamt the company to exist anymore…it makes us feel like all the work we did was for nothing, and in fact it was. Customers can be rude and ignorent and what everyone needs to understand is that the only things employees are hearing all day is “when are you closing, when are the sales starting” which is just a constant reminder that we are loosing our jobs. Please be considerate and just keep reading the news, they know more than us anyway. And let us close these stores without being reminded that in the end, it is all for nothing.
I agree with vibrantflame, on the comment on stupid customers. I don’t dislike stupid customers, I just laugh at them in my head for the “stupid” questions they ask.
But what I really hate are ignorant, rude customers. I’ve dealt with a lot of them at Linens N Things, and I can tell you I would love to tell them to f**k off. I have no idea where they get their attitude or who the hell they think they are. They have no right to to be nasty, especially when we did nothing wrong. I believe those ignorant customers are the ones that never worked in retail. Maybe they should try it for a week and see how they like it.
Anyhow, good riddance LNT. I will miss working there.
@M. I would say a majority of customers I have dealt with in my several years in retail have been a positive one. There is still that small percentage though that should stay home and shop online. They are rude and ignornat and we as employees by LAW do not have to deal with that. The customer is NOT always right. I have seen it and experienced it. I don’t believe that the employee called them “stupid” but this being a blog we have the right to freedom of speech. Perhaps “M” if you shop at LNT you will be “Disgruntled Employees” guest and they’ll end up cursing you out and they will have the last laugh! Or perhaps mine. Muahahaha
To all cell phone users…When you get to the cash get off the flipping cell!! I always get off my cell when I reach the cash in consideration to the person in front of me.
@AME555 thank you for your kind words and maybe now with the liquidation you can buy the comforter you want.
@Ontario Employee…I agree I don’t find them stupid I find them ignorant and I have fun with it by patronizing them while providing great customer/guest service with a smile.
I knew this was coming. LNT has never cared about their front line staff. You can’t satisfy the guest if you cant satisfy your front line associates. That’s the bottom line. Anyways I was mistreated by senior management many times. They never took accountability and were the first to lay blame. I had the worst ASM working at my store who actually got promoted. The BIGGEST SNAKE I ever worked with. Way to go Dave McGregor for your shitty policy. Great job Darren Hesterman for “trying” to help. All you did was string us along. So glad I quit that job. The WORST and most poorly managed company I ever worked for. Absolutely no regard to take care of their “own”. You deserve to go under LNT. As for the exec’s, hope u have to sell ur boats and vacation homes!
I agree with the FORMER CALGARY DEPT MANAGER. Dave and Darren are the Worst people I have met. When ever the come into our store, we were told to acknowledge them or say hi to them, but those two, won’t even acknowledge back. No respect for thier staff. LNT is a very cheap company. All the associate who works there have to clean the washrooms( both man and woman) at the end of the day. They can’t afford cleaners. The worst company ever.
Seriously, All Canadians should rather prefer to see LNT going out of business then Home Outfitters, even LNT employees think that HOF is more expensive simply if HOF is in trouble that would mean all of HBC would be in trouble and that is a lot more employees, I’m a customer in both stores, they pricing is quiet equally High. Let’s face it they are both rather high end stores, I did not go to either one for a bargain but rather for quality and novelty therefore do not knock HOF either. For crying out loud how many of the LNT or HOF employees actually own a 2000.00 dollar espresso machine a 700.00 dollar mixer or a 370.00 dollar margarita mixer? I think the customers like some refer to with fake boobs and botox they do and they ultimately pay the salaries Williams-Sonoma is even more expensive. It is not the pricing. It isn’t the return policy either otherwise Wal-Mart, London drugs and home depot should be out of business because there return policy is even better. Usually the cooperation sends it back to the MFG and they take the loss (more or less have to). So what some people loose their jobs? Stop feeling sorry for your self or make customers feel sorry for the situation. Yes it is unfortunate and life goes on. I do wish them to get a new job soon, but they are not the first once nor will they be the last once. Pull up your socks, sell your House and come to the west, we have jobs. I’m employed myself but in my opinion A) never ever criticize Management. B) never ever criticize the Company how it does Business C) never ever criticize the Customers/ Clients especially since they are not yours but rather your Employers who pays you. For all the LNT employees who criticize The company and customers feel free to start your own Version of LNT.
On the other note this blog started initially about a liquidation sale and not a feel sorry for me because I loose my Job blog.
To all the nice Helpful and sincere associates please ignore this, this is not directed to you.
to “Etobicoke LNT employee” quote they will have the last laugh! Or perhaps mine. Muahahaha.
Oh you are so wrong. The one with the last laugh is the one with the Money bag, which would be the employer and the customer who fills it. I call your bluff. You would never be root to a customer but if you would, for no reason and the customer is myself I would call your manager and have him make you apologize to me, and even if you are a store manager there will be a regional manager and so forth after all you would not run me out of you store and I will stay till I have the last laugh. last but not least I will have it when you lost your Job and I might see you again at another retailer and you have to kiss my ass, think about that.
When on a vacation through Wisconsin and Illinois this summer, I was seeing the closure sale signs on Linen and Things everywhere. I was hoping that the Canadian stores were safe. Too bad. Unfortunately down in the States, you couldn’t use your gift cards anymore. Hopefully all of you out there can still use them for a while to come. I’m so sorry to hear of the employees out there who have family and/or financial stresses, who are unsure about the future of your company. I hope that something positive will come out this for all of you.
For those of you who wrote a reply to this blog, it was a disapointment to see people writing prophanities. Your point is best made when you use words that are appropriate, which come from the heart. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place to swear – I do it too (and it feels real great to release it!), but not on an innocent blog – that’s just not classy.
I love people who give that whole corporate retail line of BS about how the customer is always right; they tend to use it as justification for being assclowns themselves. Tell you what, let us all know where you work so all of us can come in and act like asshats…that way you can show us what superior customer service is all about when you’re getting verbally shredded. After all, we need people like you to pump our gas and ring our crap through at WalMart for the next 60 years.
This is gotten way out of hand, the fact of the matter is the company is closing and people are losing their jobs. I do admit that from time to time guests do get on your nerves but I do work in retail and I have to suck it up. No matter where you work you’ll always have bad days whether it be guests,clients,customers etc. So I wish all the employees at LNT the best of luck and that’s all that should be really said.
Went into the Heartland Mississauga store yesterday. There was a sign saying that they are hiring but they are no longer accepting the gift cards. They are still accepting the 20% coupons if you have them. As usual the folks there were very helpful and friendly. I have no complaints about the staff at this location. And yes the prices seem a bit high but with the 20% discount it’s really not too bad. I loved the atmosphere of the store…I kind of felt like a kid in a candy store for all of the variety of product which are not necessarily available elsewhere. There was a nice vibe to the store. Anyway, very sad to see it go…all the best to the Heartland employees.
P.S. Home outfitters is more expensive too!!
btw, I was not saying that the customer is always right; I don’t believe that. I am a buyer (my job, my profession) and I work together with my vendors to sort out problems and come to a result that works for both of us. I spend over 117 million dollars per year at my workplace and I could treat the vendors rude or crass, due to the amount of business they receive from us (think $$$) but I don’t.
I also don’t believe that the aforementioned associates told the customers in person that they think they are stupid. I was just using the phrase “calling the customer stupid” loosely in that sense.
I do believe however, that if someone is in the sales industry, then customer service is what they’ve “signed up for”. That is what they get paid to do. Bottom line. If you don’t like it, do something else. Reality bites sometimes. Suck it up Princess (or Prince).
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN THE SALES WOULD START. I DONT GET FLYERS WHERE I LIVE I USUALLY CHECK ONLINE BUT CANNOT DO SO NOW.
WILL GIFT CARDS BE ACCEPTED DURING LIQUIDATION? I CAN’T MAKE IT OUT TODAY, BUT I HAVE A LARGE AMOUNT LEFT.
We have been told that gift cards will be accepted during liquidation. However, that could all change when the liquidators take over. We really cannot accurately predict what will happen.
For most of us , this is a first. If I had a gift card, I would use it immediately, and not risk losing it in the hopes of getting a better deal later on. Sales are to start either tomorrow or early next week. Hope this is helpful.
i just wish LNT would be straight up with there employees on whats going on…its like we are hearing more from our guests and other employees from other stores,,, thats what is making me so mad i hate hearing nothing new to tell us yet!!!!!
Ok! i work at LNT Etobicoke and i’m getting really sick and tired of people talking about this and not giving a rat’s a@# about the people who might be out of a job in a couple of months! all some people care about is their stupid 20% off coupons or rushing to the store for some big closing sale! all i wanna say is this, if you heard something on the news about LNT closing down, and ur going to be going to one of the stores, think more than once about what u will be saying to someone who is most likely going to be losing their job. and if u get an answer that ur not so happy with, take the hint and shut up! i’m sorry if that sounds harsh, but think about how this is making us feel. some people really have no sense of respect and they expect stellar “guest” service. i can’t wait until there will be no more refunds no more exchanges and no more coupon adjustments. i for one will have a smile on my face as u r walking out cursing my name, huffing and puffing ur stinky breath away! 😀 i would be so happy to tell some people to get out! 😀 peace
@M….I know I’m a princess so thanks for the compliment. I’m not so worried about loosing my job as i don’t need it but not everyone has that luxery. I do love the store and the people i work for. I understand people are going to ask questions about the store and most have been polite but for those who come in and yell out “where’s the clearance/liquidation” or “when are you closing” please shut up because there are employees/managers who rely on this job and their next pay cheque. I to would probably want to be rude and crass knowing I spend $117 million of other people’s money and it’s not even yours to keep!
The store may very well start liquidating any day now and we may all be out of a job soon but to everyone who reads this…we the employees do not know what the hell is going on because the big bosses don’t want the little people (the associates) to know. Just keep reading the paper and listening to the news because they know more then us.
LNT EMPLOYEE-
THANKS FOR THE ANSWERS. YOU ARE BEING SO HELPUL, EVEN DURING THIS DIFFICULT TIME! I AM SURE YOU WILL HAVE NO PROBLEM GETTING ANOTHER JOB! (GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!) GOOD LUCK WITH EVERYTHING.
This comment is also for M… i’m sticking up my middle finger to u right now. what i think u should do is take ur own, (cuz i don’t wanna get mine dirty) sit on it and rotate a bunch of times. since u spend $117 million of other ppls money, i’m pretty sure u’d enjoy it.
i for one love being a princess:D
now u can suck that up.
@I..Unfortunatly I read your blog after my last post. No the laugh is still on you because I would never apologize. Also if you read my first sentence above you would see I don’t need the job, I have my own “money bag” and have the luxery to work p/t because I choose to. Who can have that kind of wonderful life in their early thirties? You? I don’t think so but maybe you do. I work where I work because it is a great company with great associates, give or take 1 or 2. I have never been rude to someone that did not deserve it and if you were told to leave you would because at that point it’s called trespassing! Trust me I would not loose my job I’ve had people like YOU and I still work there because they give the employee the benifit of the doubt because the “employer” also realizes there are dumb customers out there!
To all those patient guests…If the store does liquidate you will encounter some problems. They will eventually stop taking returns and exchanges. Which means you will be stuck with that product. If you have gift cards they “may” still take it but I suggest you use them up as soon as possible so your not stuck with them and have to throw them out. The sale will not be so great at the beginning. All clearance items will go back to regular price. If you do notice the US website it says UP TO 30% which means it can be 5, 10, 15 % off.
does anyone else think that “I” needs to proof read his/her comments before posting? i didn’t know u spell it root.. i always thought it was “rude”. oh well, my mistake.
p.s. i know who Etobicoke LNT employee is, sooo if ur gonna keep arguing lemme save u the trouble, ur gonna lose. she/he doesn’t kiss anyone’s ass. and quite frankly, we don’t kiss anyone’s ass cuz at etobicoke, we respect ourselves and we’ll let u know when u’ve gone too far. management included, and if i were to see u at another retail store that i might get a job at, i’d look the other way and say NEXT! 😀
@ Carlu
The way you spell and write is definitely proper English lol. what are you 15?
ur, gonna, cuz. You might talk like that but you do not write like that.
You may want to take a course. Let’s cut the crap shall we?
On the other note, you want to be rude to me as a customer because you loose you job even without me giving you a reason. (That is what you sound like)
But when you come to me to fix your car not knowing that I’m the same person you will be nice, well I might remember you.
I don’t care about my spelling anyways. You can’t intimidate me.
For the fact that English is my second language, I think my spelling is not that bad and if you think otherwise I do not care and neither does my employer or my customers who are willing to pay me. I’m in the heavy Industry; you figure it out how many figures that is. Yes I’m in the servicing industry too and customers a rude to me, because something went wrong for them, well, I bite my tongue; I know they don’t mean it. They are extra friendly next time because they know they did wrong, but they call me back again and again and not because I bite my tongue but because I did not burn a bridge. Most of the time I ease the tension just by saying do not shoot the messenger and right away they calm down. now a guess Carlu lets see if you are mature or if you want to carry on with the pissing contest.
btw, thanks carlu telling me how rude is spelled, seriously.I was trying to figure it out for the longest time but I was to lazy to get the dictionary.
just wanted to quote a couple things..
#1 “The real reason behind this bankruptcy craze and why Linens N Things in general probably went bankrupt was because it had no guidelines and rules to follow for the ‘guest’”
#2 “I call your bluff. You would never be root to a customer but if you would, for no reason and the customer is myself I would call your manager and have him make you apologize to me, and even if you are a store manager there will be a regional manager and so forth after all you would not run me out of you store and I will stay till I have the last laugh. last but not least I will have it when you lost your Job and I might see you again at another retailer and you have to kiss my ass, think about that.”
this is what we have to deal with
#3 “I agree I don’t find them stupid I find them ignorant and I have fun with it by patronizing them while providing great customer/guest service with a smile.”
…honestly I will be very sad to lose this job.. I work at the etobicoke store too and let me just put it out there that we’re not all as uh.. aggressive.. here as Etobicoke LNT Employee lol :p I’ll miss my family here (I worked full time for a year before going back to college and have met incredible people that have taught me more than they know).. I loved ALMOST every minute of this job. as has been stated, there have been unbearable guests that have made me want to walk out the door and never return.
perverted old men, horrible asshole women(I STILL HAVE MY YOUTH BITCH). listen – lady walks in 8:58pm thursday night (two minutes before we close). wants to CREATE A BRIDAL REGISTRY. my manager comes and gets me, lets me know what’s going on.. I’m like.. ca-can they do that? we’re closed lol
so I start helping them set up.. casually mention the great benefits of an lnt registry, including ONLINE EDITING. she says no no they know exactly what they want. awesome! bedding? sure I can take you there no problem! what was it you were looking for? a duvet?! ok! which?! you don’t know?! it was white!! awesome! you don’t know how much it cost!! beautiful!! it had a faint pattern on it? ooh! dream at home, of course, right over here. you don’t know which one it was!!! WHAT. “OOOOoooo the people at the other store had it all laid out for me.”
bitch I bet they had it laid out for you at 3 o clock in the afternoon gtfo! WHY LIE TO MY FACE AND SAY YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT WHEN YOU CLEARLY DON’T. YOU ARE NOT A CELEBRITY YOU DON’T GET TO SHOP WHEN THE STORE IS CLOSED. EVEN CHRIS BOSH AND THAT GUY FROM SUM 41 COME DURING BUSINESS HOURS GRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!*implode*
anyway to leave on a good note.. I loved this job, all of my fellow associates (even whoever stole my bagels) and most of the guests. just to all the clueless people out there: IF YOU ARE A JERK TO SOMEONE THEY WILL BE A JERK TO YOU. IF YOU SHOW A SHRED OF HUMAN DECENY TOWARDS A RETAIL EMPLOYEE THEY WILL TREAT YOU LIKE GOD if their managers let them
someone buy us!
@Etobicoke LNT employee.
If you and me actually meet in the store I do not think there would be a problem. Why?
Because I have never been rude to someone who did not deserve it either. I’m only rude to rude people; I guess that is the same with you? I could be wrong.
Now I think this blog went out of hand because of misunderstanding each other.
As a customer of LNT it seems that some employees are venting and want to be rude to all customers whether they are nice or not, that got me up the wall. Try to see it from a different perspective, read the blog as a customer, don’t you feel attacked? Look how carlu is talking; none of the customers posting here used that language. There is no excuse for (and I’m a mechanic you should hear me when I’m by myself or amongst other mechanics) lol. Since I’m in the servicing industry my self, I’m always friendly to other people, in matter of fact when I get to a till I ask the cashier how they are doing before they have chance to ask me a) because I mean it and b) to throw them out of the routine to make them think there are people who care. What ass is out there who would fly off the handle if a senior comes to the store and asks an innocent question to when the liquidation starts? and why can’t the question be innocent form someone with fake boobs and botox? What does botox has to do with it? And what difference does it make if a customer comes with a 20% coupon or not? Seriously.
Btw , yes it is over priced, who are you kidding? I did get a new delonghi magnifica for $699.00 at a small appliance store vs 999.00 at lnt. Yet I just bought a George foreman G5 at lnt but I was disappointed that I did not find a Kitchen aid Blender.
( I hope I get Carlus approval for my spelling, lol)
@ stunna
I would not have problem with you
you should be mad at the manager not having the balls to tell her to come back tomorrow, not he old lady,
and no one says you can’t humor the customers , heck I’m sarcastic my self,what is bothersome is the language and saying here that they tell customers off,I do not say you can not have you opinnion about acustomer but do not got to the extreme to voice it.
you comented “that is what we have to deal with”
I call your bluff. You would never be root to a customer but if you would, for no reason and the customer is myself.
what is wrong with that? I mentioned “for no reason” I would be just defending myself. I did not say after I atacked an employee.
btw I heard today from my customer that someone was thinking about buying you at least before the finacial crush
This has become a soap opera on here now!! i just hope any potential buyers dont come and read this blog they will think the guests and employees are nuts!
Oh my word the drama!!
Sorry to all who are losing their jobs. Keep your heads up.
I can count on about 3 fingers the places I look forward to shopping at – and Linens ‘n’ Things is among them. I am so SO sad to be losing this place! I visited the Mississauga store yesterday, and found all the staff still working as though nothing is amiss – in which I’m sure has to be a confusing and frustrating time for them.
Thank you LNT for the years of enjoyment….I am very sad to see you go (even if my credit card is not!) Best of luck to all the staff.
lol-ing at the bridal registry story. yikes.
As an employee of LNT, I love this place. We worked our butts off to make sure we were better than Home Outfitters and any other retailer out there.
Thanks to all of you who recognize that we’re losing our jobs. We appreciate your words.
To those of you with the “snippy” comments…try to imagine one day you’re being told everything is going to be fine and the next day you’re being told that because your US counterpart isn’t making money, that you now have lost your job. Then imagine hundreds of people calling you to ask when the good deals are.
We’re “snippy” because we’re hurting and soon to be jobless and all any one cares about is the “good deals.”
“We’re “snippy†because we’re hurting and soon to be jobless and all any one cares about is the “good deals.â€~Babs
Not everyone feels this way Babs. Some folks are beginning to appreciate that behind ‘the deal’, there are a long line of people who are trying to survive. However what I find is being lost today is the fact that Canadians are much more than just consumers. We are citizens, neighbours, and part of a community. Business often just wants us to measure everything by the price tag and turn a blind eye to what happens between factory floor and sales floor. Or from farm to the front end of the retailer.
It is important to look at the whole picture.
Take care
Alex
Could someone please show me exactly where it says that Linens n things in canada is liquidating, and and closing, cause I have not seen anything yet, and would realy like to see this in writting!!
OK everyone it apparently is official as of Saturday October 25, 2008. The store will start to liquidate and we are all very sad and I believe some have shed a tear or two. 🙁 Just a heads up that as of today anything you purchase is a final sale, meaning there are no returns or exchanges on purchases made as of today. If you bought something prior to today and MUST have the receipt you can still return it. If you do not have the receipt we will not accept it. This is information to date and anything can change. Gift cards/merchandise cards up to now are still being taken. Oh by the way as of tomorrow no more coupons!
Hopefully someone does buy us but I believe if someone does LNT will no longer be.:(
I am sick and tired of all the customers that are rude and disrespectful to our associates. We try our best but still have customers that take out there anger out on us We normally call our shoppers Guests, but when there rude or disrespectful we call them customers just because I don’t allow my guest talk to me like that.
We’re going to lose our jobs’ soon, at least show some respect when we are trying to help you. It’s not hard to say thank you or even be nice when you ask for help.
I had a coworker put this situation in terms most people can understand! For all of you who keep calling wanting to know the details, think of this “It’s like your sister died and people are calling asking for her clothes”. We are all sad to be losing our jobs but should be sorry for you because you wont be able to shop at LNT anymore! Be patient when we know whats going on there will be a sign posted!
I think the replies in here pretty much some up why LNT shut down. There was obviously a lot of drama going on behind the scenes due to lack of good management I guess?
I am however very saddened to see so many people lose their jobs 🙁
I hope everyone is able to get a new job.
My time at LNT was amazing! The best job I have ever had! We HAVE an AMAZING Management team and an AMAZING GM! Each and every associate is AMAZING! We are all such a close team and family! It is an absolute pleasure to be a part of this whole experience!
To the associate who didn’t like Darren and Dave’s visits. . . sorry you didn’t have a good experience with that! The things you could have learned from them was incredible. I had a lot of positive visits. I will take that knowledge with me wherever I go!
We have had a lot wonderful guests in the store and then some not so wonderful! But you learn from your experiences and make the best of it in the new challenges to come.
Today is Day One for Liquidation. Take a deep breath. . . And just try to make this experience a positive one. We all work very hard at what we do!
We try to stay positive in our store (716) by giving each other high fives every time we pass each other and we say YOU ARE AMAZING!! It brings such a positive atmosphere to our store! The associates love it! This was something that our GM started a couple of years ago. He is truly an AMAZING Person!
I want everyone to understand that this Store Closing isn’t about losing our jobs, it’s about the people and the family being torn apart! My LNT Family is what I will miss the most!
You are all AMAZING!!!
So the sale starts today..? & Approx. how long will it last? When everything is gone?
I love LNT and am very sorry for the employees who are losing their jobs. However, I can’t say I’m surprised even though the Canadian stores did a lot better than the American ones. I loved many of the things LNT carries but a lot of things you could get at Walmart for a lot less. Maybe if someone does scoop them up they can keep that in mind. Best of luck to you all!
Since I never shop at Walmart, I wouldn’t know the price comparisons… I’m bummed. For many reasons, including I’m now losing one of my linen shopping options, and I am getting really tired of hearing of yet another company in Canada shutting down due the American economy. Thanks Harper.. I have a bunch of gift cards, and just spoke to my local LNT, who is still accepting them. So I plan on going in tomorrow, with a dozen Tim Hortens to offer the employees (god knows, they could use a coffee)..
I just want to take the opportunity to express how much I have enjoyed being part of the LNT Team. I work with an amazing group of associates and their commitment to guest service and each other has made me very proud. We’ve become a family and I’m not looking forward to the day that we won’t be part of each others lives on a daily basis.
We have all committed to staying positive, having fun and being true to who we are. Hopefully our guests (I may never break the habit and be able to say customer) will have patience with us and the new policies.
I also want to wish all the other Canadian stores good luck and best wishes. I think this company truly had a team spirit and cared about its employees and I hope we all find that again.
ok, so I was in the sudbury store today and they are not in liquidation mode, but according to some employees of LNT on this site their particular stores are.
I’m a little confused~ are all canadian stores closing or what?
if so why are only some in liquidation mode?
Not that I am looking for a great deals or anything, I really love the store and would rather pay full price and have the store stay open.
All Canadian stores are closing. Apparently some of the larger stores started liquidation Friday, the rest will begin on Monday. (at least, that is what we were told).
@ I
your comment is very confusing to me. i’m not getting pissed off at you because i’m losing my job, and i’m not asking for you to give me a reason. all i said was that people need to be more considerate when it comes to asking people about the store going out of business, and sales and bla bla bla.
and F.Y.I. (for your information) no i am not 15, i am 20 yrs old and english is also my second language. and i don’t know how new you are to the internet, but when leaving comments or messages for others, people tend to use abbriviations. so words such as “you” become “u”. words such as “yours” become “urs”, phrases such as “i don’t know” become “i donno”. get my drift?
and you would never know who i was if you saw me. just as i would never know who u were if i saw u IF i were to, let’s say, come to u for u to work on my car. so, whatever (also known as w.e) ur msg (message) said, made no sense and it was a waste of time. 🙂 enjoy our sales as they started on Saturday, October 25th, 2008.
oh and, you are very welcome for giving you the correct spelling for the word root… oops i meant rude. 🙂 have a nice day.
@I once again…
i read ur reply to Etobicoke LNT Employee and i noticed that u put me in the middle of that too. first of all, there is no bad language in my msg directed at u. except for when i wrote rat’s a@# and i believe i didn’t include the “ss”, i don’t even think that was for you, it was a general blog entry. if i may add, when and angry employee is speaking his or her mind on this blog, it is obviously not directed at EVERY “guest”. it is directed at those that laugh in our faces when they ask us why we aren’t accepting coupons or refunds and exchanges, and we tell them it’s because we’ve going out of business. it’s directed at those that ask a question, are given an answer and are not happy whit what we tell them, but then by the end of the conversation they seem to already know the answer before we do. it’s directed at those that ask stupid questions and have a smile on their faces when saying, “So, when’s ur big sale!?”
so when u ask us employees to get into the shoes of the guests, i say to u, why don’t u try and put yourself in OUR shoes and see how it feels for US to be going through what we are going through? not only are we losing our jobs, but we are losing great co-workers who became friends, who became family. so think about that before you post yet another blog entry.
Carlu… out.
well, i just wrote another response directed @I and it seemed to have not posted.
@I, i read what u wrote to Etobiocke LNT Employee and noticed that u mentioned me in that msg. I didn’t use bad language towards you so there was no need for that.
to make this short and sweet, the employees expressing their opinions on this blog are not directing their negativity to ALL of the customers (guests). they are directing their anger at those that ask stupid questions and those that have no respect. it is fine to ask the questions, but don’t expect us to be telling you with a smile on our faces. the angry posts are directed at those that seem to laugh in our faces when we tell them that we are going out of business. i’m sorry, but i for one didn’t find that funny when i was told. these posts are directed at those that ask a question that they don’t seem to know the answer to, but when given an answer, they aren’t happy and all of the sudden they have an answer for us.
so I, when u say to us to put ourselves in the shoes of the customers and look at things from ur point of view, i say the same thing to you. put urself in OUR shoes and try to imagine how this makes us feel to be losing, not only our jobs, but our co-workers who became friends, and those who became family.
there have been customers who were very humble about the whole situation and were very upset to hear that we will be out of jobs and they’ve wished us luck. so to those i say, thank you very much and it was a plesure serving you.
oh and by the way, at Linens-N-Things, you get what u pay for.
Well, I dropped by the Coquitlam LnT today to get my first taste of the liquidation sale.
Two words:don’t bother.
Nothing was on sale. If anything, everything was at regular price with the exception of the floor models of cookware, etc. Turns out that the company that’s handling the liquidation has a reputation for elevating prices – http://consumerist.com/5063774/liquidation-linens-n-things-to-no-longer-sell-linens-things
I’ve heard that the LnT in Richmond was doing a lot of 10 + 20% off on items, but if we’re expecting to see massive going out of business types of clearance deals, I think we’re in for a rude shock.
Linens N Things in Kitchener, ON has a 10 – 30 % off closing sale – the % off is only off regular prices and they will not take their own %20 off coupon – nor will they take competitors coupons (which they used to do) all n all I walked right back out – Canadian Tire had the same items for half the price (and it wasn’t even a sale!!)
liquadation takes time to get better percentages off its not up to LNT or the employees what the discounts are thats up the liquadation team not in our hands not our fault!!!!!
like any company going under they get what they can for the product in the beginning and then it goes up more the longer it stays open and its still planning on taking a few months for this to be done so keep waiting ya impatient customers! not guests to me anymore!!!!!! stop ya whining go back to ya dollar stores
hi to lnt manager in windsor
our anniversary is approaching in few days.how about we make it special and have a nice pot-luck?
…
Okay, let me straighten it up for you again.
Liquidation starts TODAY, monday the 27th
The liquidators took off ALL SALES, so everything is regular price.
In liquidation that starts TODAY, EVERYTHING IS 10% OFF, some things are 20% off and some things are 30% off.
If anything scans at a different price, too bad, it is what it is. WE UNDERSTAND YOUR FRUSTRATION… There really is NOTHING we can do about it. Liquidators own us now, we have no authority to change prices or anything, that is up to the liquidator to approve, and guess what? their rep is only there about 2 hours every day, so tough luck, you can return shit, go fuck off if you dont want to buy it, stop wasting our time and yours.
Most of the people who have written on this site, clearly have an UNEDUCATED “WHITE TRASH” metnality! You should all be so proud of yourselves for acting like such children and rising above all of this! Guess that’s why you all are working at Linens and Things and I’m not!
It’s sad there closing, but I was in there last week as I’m from a town and don’t have one nearby.
I was kind of shocked at the pricing.
For example the magic bullet was showcased for 69.99
Canadian tire regular pricing 39.99 on sale 29.99.
Yeah Sally I saw that too! In fact I purchased the M.B at Canadian Tire and then saw it linens n things for around $70 + %10 off = NO GOOD lol
LOL@ someone thinking highly of themselves because they don’t work here
imbecile
We were once a company who ran on the policy the we had no authority to say no to guest, now with us no longer being run by Linens N Things, but the liquidator we have no authority to say no, so for all those that are expected to get what they normally get at Linens N Things don’t…no cupons, no credit card, no price matching, no no no and this is the way it will be until we close and 17,000 people are out of a job. It is not the associates, it is now the company we work for, the liquidator and this is their policy, not ours, so don’t yell at us when you don’t get your way. (And yes, after 1 day of liquidation, people have already yelled and spit in my face…not my fault, not our company anymore)
Well if you don’t like the pricing of LNT then don’t buy there. The only thing that people care about are the prices and “when are we closing? How come everything is not 50% off”. I don’t hear anyone saying I’m sorry for the situation, how are you all doing, or coming to offer us a job. have some sympathy and a heart.
actually, QUITE a few people said they were sorry everyone is losing their jobs…
Having a retail background and knowing the industry people need to realize that when the division went into bankruptcy in Canada….it was a surprise to everyone…even to management. Big box stores are run by a big boys/girls club and even at a store management level you are left out in the dark until the very last moment….sometimes your employees find out before you do!
For those of you that are bashing employees and new stores opening, it would have been business as usual and many of the lease dates to open were signed on the dotted line long before this news ever hit.
Realise that Canada and the US are both in recession, the canadian dollar is at an all time low! The people that work at these stores, whether they are part-time, full-time, management or executive are all out of jobs!
Many of these people pay rent and mortgages, raise their kids, and depend on the income from these jobs to help raise their families. Think about how many people are going to be out looking for work and aske yourself if you would want to be in their places.
It is a scary and uncertain time for them all, have some heart and instead of bashing the company….maybe offer support!
I wish everyone the best and that a little miracle comes your way and you transition to where you need to be stress free!
I think its tim to go shopping?
This is in response to Soon out of a job; HAVE YOU ACTUALLLY READ WHAT YOU WROTE??ahhhhh! take a breath, perhaps two or three deep ones. What good will come of writing about “STUPID” botox filled ladies and their gift cards??? May I suggest logging on to Workopolis rather than crying over something that was obviously not your fault and totally uncontrollable. Move on!! gosh…
Disgruntlyed…”If anything scans at a different price, too bad, it is what it is. WE UNDERSTAND YOUR FRUSTRATION… There really is NOTHING we can do about it. Liquidators own us now, we have no authority to change prices or anything, that is up to the liquidator to approve, and guess what? their rep is only there about 2 hours every day, so tough luck, you can return shit, go fuck off if you dont want to buy it, stop wasting our time and yours”
That was professional!!! you know this would be an ideal place for companies to search for new employees. Perhaps give the LNT former employees a opportunity at a new career. WOW!!! YOU’RE HIRED – NOT
The store in West Van is a pretty convenient location for me
but I have to say that any time I purchased something at that
store there was always an error in pricing,never in my favor of
course, and if I ever paid before noticing the error they always
sent me to the other end of the store for correction… what a
frustrating experience! They do deserve to close!
(Only the Gap seems to have staff that make as many errors,
only the staff at the GAP tend to make more errors in your favor.)
I hope they have some good deals with the liquidation!
I did ask for a coupon once from the cashier..and she did scan
one..which was very nice..
btw again, spending over $117 million dollars per year doesn’t mean, woo hoo, I get to spend other people’s money!! It means because that is the amount I spend, it comes with HUGE responsibilities. Also, I don’t want to be rude, I just mentioned I could, but I don’t because IT IS MY JOB TO BE PROFESSIONAL IN A BUSINESS CAPACITY. Anyway I’m tired of explaining myself to you people and it is a waste of time for me to be on this blog because this is about LNT closing. I was just saying that customer service is what you get PAID to do. It is your job! I haven’t read many of the other posts (again, wasting my time). So ciao.
Its all because conrad black took over lnt in a leveraged buyout, and cant pay back the loans now that the ecopnomy took a turn for the worst. it really puts a company in a vulnerable position, when it is taken over in a leveraged buyout. it will have a ton more debt than its competitors, like bbb and home….
its too bad
I am so sorry to all of the employees. Out of curiousity, are most of you continuing to be loyal employees to the end, or are you already looking for work?
Attention all LNT Employees!!!!!
NEW Walmart is hiring in Burlington, Ontario
Set to open mid-January but are paying for training etc now:)
Just got to the Temporary Offices at the corner of Drury Lane and Fairview Street.
They are upstairs interviewing above a furniture store
AND
Parking is on the left of building and the door to the offices is on the LEFT side of the building. GOOD LUCK!!
Peace~!
I’m going down with the ship mommyof2QT’s
we have 6 people still working here who helped open the store and they’re all staying til the end too.
o and thanks for the info but ew who’d be able to stand working at walmart after lnt
Hi Everyone,
It is always sad when one loses their job – no matter where they worked or even the circumstances.
I lost my job in the manufacturing industry some years ago.
To make a long story short, my job loss was a result of some very nasty politics (which I refused to be part of),
& workplace bullying.
I have a friend who works at LNT’s – I haven’t spoken to her yet since this news.
She told me before, that she works with a great team in a healthy environment.
I have a web page that may be helpful to thoughs of you having a hard time.
It’s about bullying, but does contain lots of information on coping with life’s ups and downs.
Hope it helps.
– A New Way to Live
Be Well Now,
Jacqui @ Karma’s Herbs
Because I live in a bubble I completely didn’t know about the bankruptcy issues at all until today. I have always enjoyed LnT and am shocked. To the employees: the rudeness only gets worse from here – I went through the bankruptcy and liquidation of the company I worked for in 2003 and people are vultures (the company I worked for was later bought out, and many locations saved, but we still had to go through the liquidation) it was horrible, 12-13 hour days because by the time guests would leave the store work looking like a cyclone ran through it and there was never enough staff – I had people physically threaten me because I wouldn’t give them a $20 item for fifty cents. Interestingly the company I worked for used to take clothing back that was obviously worn and worn out, just before the liquidation started we had a customer bring in an entire bag of black socks that had labels on them from the 80’s and since technically besides the packaging they were the exact same socks still being sold she got a full refund (they had an open return policy – any time any reason). Unless you have worked retail, it is unimaginable what some people will do. I wish you all sanity and success in finding new jobs.
This is to all those ignorant people out there who do not have a heart!! Do you realize how many people are losing their jobs? Over 17000 in the US alone! Way to think about yourselves and what kind of deal or no deal you re going to get.
We are NO longer LINENS N THINGS! We are now a liquidation company! Rules change! Everything was put back to regular price and then discounted. Everything is between 10 and 30% off! It will change every couple of weeks. For all those people that cant read the big yellow signs (and there’s a lot of them) WE ARE CLOSING AND GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!!!!! This is not a joke. It’s not April Fools.
By the way the Magic Bullet at LNT is $69.99 and is a 17 piece set and the one at Canadian Tire is $39.99 because its a 10 piece set. You morons! Get it straight!
Why not just give everyone who works at LNT a break. They work very hard. It used to be about guest service. How can we give any guest service when all that most people do now is rip open packages right in front of the signs that are posted everywhere and then just leave it. How much more ignorant can you get. I used to take pride in our store, how can you when people come in and think that they can just destroy it. Seriously Get A Life! And HAVE A NICE DAY!!!!
The Headstone is really in bad taste. It was the American Stores that had a problem. The stores in Canada were profitable. As for those of you who say the Products were overpriced “You Get What You Pay For” and LNT always had quality products.
The employees were not informed of day to day proceedings and as a result could not advise customers what the situation was. Retailers do not pay very well so you should thank these workers for hanging in there.
Being an employee it is good to hear the support of the public however I did find us expensive, and were really busy only when we had a Flyer out.
It was a great ride…but poor Inventory Management was the down turn here!
We are a small Architecture and Interior Design Firm and I LOVED shopping at the LAIRD AVENUE Store in Toronto, where Margaret and her wonderful associates helped me numerous times to put together great looks for houses designed here and in Western Canada. I am SO THANKFUL to the entire crew at Linens n Things for their skill and taste in helping me and my clients put together great looks. I shop a lot at many stores, and THEY WERE NOT OVERPRICED unless you compare them to Walmart, which does not have the quality or variety. The staff were always helpful and kind, and seemed to really know their stuff and took customer service very seriously. I always was tempted to by other stuff there, that was useful and well priced. It wasn’t the Linen that tempted me to spend money on a project, it was the ” N Things” ie accessories that were so delightful and made finishing a look easy. What we will do without them? Its back to running around to many stores, I liked the one stop shopping. I am still hoping that a last minute aquisition company will see that the Canadian operation was profitable, and perhaps they could re-structure and consolidate the stores. Having been through the ’81 and ’91 recessions, the closing of the Canadian stores seems to be jumping the gun, and I wish the employees lots of strength in keeping up your professional attitude during this difficult time. I hope that the customers treat you with respect and not like looters making an unnecessary mess of the store. The cream floats to the top, and I hope all you great associates find other jobs that are fulfilling and pay well. Best wishes, Marilyn from TheIdealEnvironment.com
THANK YOU…THANK YOU… To all the staff at the Deerfoot location
It was my pleasure to be a customer who received your help. Your
product knowledge helped me make informed decisions and I received
quality merchandise at reasonable cost.
I too enjoyed the one stop shopping and will miss the staff alot.
Good Luck Ladies…you all have CLASS!
It was nice to read the last few posts from our guests who appreciated our service. the service that made us stand out and be different from the other stores, we prided ourselves on making sure we gave our guests our attention, share are knowledge and make sure they left happy. We would run around looking for coupons some guests forgot, we would find the product by calling other stores if we didnt have it, i would like you to ask walmart , uhm you are out of the tassamo machine can you call another store for me and get that and delivered to my house free of charge please =) oo and btw can i get free shipping and get 20% off also… and yes we would do that , that set us apart from the other stores….so now we are no longer LNT our liquadators wont ship you anything they wont let you use your coupon they wont care its only 10% off, we try our best still to keep our spirits up and let ppl know its not our fault the prices are set .
i wanna take this time to thank my wonderful guests i have had alot of amazing ones and im gonna miss my lnt family and yes they are a family thats how great it was to work for them, our group was very close and thats the saddest part for us is losing eachother to work with ..
This just goes to show you that at the end of the day everyone is just concerned with what is best for them. Shoppers want a sale, the employee wants to keep his/her job while the businessman wants to keep making money. Thus the loss of a job is not the first thing on a shopper’s mind, but a deal/the lack of one and so forth. This a a sad reality. Before reading some of the views expressed here, I am ashamed to say that I did not once think about the soon to be unemployed, but about an opportunity to acquire something at a good price, which is not wrong. Now that I am a little wiser, I am very saddened for them. No one knows for sure which direction the economy will turn, but while we hope for it to turn upwards, let us all realize that we are in this together. If the economy decides to continue on its downward spiral we will all lose in the end, a coupon or a sale won’t even matter.
I am sorry to hear about Linen N Things, I love the store. I do find some of their articles quite expensive but I am really sorry to hear about the closing.
As a loyal customer who loved shopping at both the Etobicoke and Burlington stores, I feel terrible for the staff that are losing their jobs. I’ve always received great service everytime I’ve been in the stores, which seemed to be almost every 2nd weekend to pick up something for my new house..I always found something great in 1 of the stores everytime I went in. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours. What a shock! They just finished building a store in Stoney Creek that was set to open any day now and were in the middle of hiring with job fairs, etc. So sad 🙁
I will miss LNT, I got my GPS there of all things. Our family are DIE HARD LNT Shoppers. We never abused the 20% on one item coupons and played by the rules. When I found out they were closing it was like I lost a friend. And in a way I have the staff was great. The night I got the GPS was the last day of the sale and I was 10 minutes away at 8:55pm and they let me buy it at at 9:05pm. They had my loyality after that.
I have went all over eatern Canada and the States with it, Thanks LNT for helping guide me down the road safely.
Our kitchen thanks you too.
I won’t go to the closing sales, I don’t want to remember you guys like that. Like vultures picking at the bones.
Good luck friends.
I was sad to hear about LNT closing… I always found the staff so welcome to help and the 20% coupons were great… I shopped at one of the Edmonton locations often. I want to express my thanks to the employees as it’s hard to find ‘good’ jobs that you want to stay at in our economy! It’s sad that LNT got pushed out by some of the ‘big box’ stores because their quality just isn’t the same as LNT even though the prices might be slightly lower!!!
Good luck LNT employess…
so i live in edmonton and there isn’t really a liquidation sale…i mean they’re going out of business but its nothing more than 10% off..and an occasion 30%..
and they’re not evening taking coupons…which were usually 20%!!
so i didn’t find anything that I can’t go somewhere else and use a coupon for
Gosh there are alot of angry customers and LNT employees. Maybe y’all should redirect your anger into something more constructive 🙂
never!!
I just have to say that I wish all the employees well; I have been the victim of two down-sizings in my career, but NOT like this. There were no crazy customers expecting rock-bottom prices AKA vultures picking the bones. Chin up, all LNT employees! Their are some of us who have a heart that thinks this really stinks for y’all at this time of year, and we hope that the job market is kind for you to find something else.
Good Luck and God Bless!
It is really sad to see those who were working hard there and helping customers lose their job. I wish them all luck and hope they will all find good and even better jobs very soon.
It is unfortunate that the employees will soon find themselves unemployed. That being said, they will just join a long list of people that began loosing jobs a few years back in the manufactoring sector. Luckily though there will always be a demand for a low paid workforce and jobs of this type are never hard to find. People began loosing good paying jobs before this over-priced store that didn’t pay s living wage to its employees decided to close its doors. To the employees that are expecting an outpouring of sympathy from consumers looking for a deal you’re unlikely to find it. The very people that your serving have been hit by job loss too so don’t give attitude because they may be able to finally afford something in your store. My question is how could one even afford to work there? Jobs that Linen’s n Things store level offers should be a stepping stone job not a career. Lucky you because the government is now offering paid re-training for laid off workers..would have been great if that was available 2 years ago when my husbands high paying factory job was eliminated.
The sympathy for the employees job loss is ridiculous-the stores are closing b/c noone was buying to be able to afford any extras! Why? b/c the very people driving the economy have been steadily loosing jobs for at least the past 2 years!!! Is it sad that person making minimum wage is out of work? There will always be jobs at this pay grade. Our jobs that supported families are gone-forever. We have an entire workforce that has been rendered jobless that will never command the wage they once made or even close to it. People that have worked for decades at factory jobs have been forgotten about. The store level Linen’ n Things employees will have no problem finding work! There is nothing but low pay jobs to work at now and there are plenty!
After reading the above confusion wanted to post that they are definately closing the Linens and Things in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Not sure how this affects the other stores in Ontario, but this is clearly not just a US liquidation.
WARNING, WARNING WARNING.
I bought a complete bed-set yesterday Linens and Things. Calgary.
Took them home, checked the labels. Dry clean only. No problem. I popped them quickly into the gentle air cycle on my dryer to fluff them up and freshen then. With a few minutes I smelt burning.
Open my dryer and the centre material of the bed-skirt had melted into a huge hard plastic mass, ruining sheets and other items completely as well as my dryer.
I took back the demolished items and the “Boss Lady” offered me $30 rebate on the bed-skirt only. She said this had never happened before.
I told her if we had not smelt the burning, or had even left the house, a fire would have been caused for sure. I warned her this is an extreme fire hazard and a warning should go out to anyone who has purchased any of these bed-sets, and I was told to go take it up with the liquidators. Not so easy, no one could or would give me a contact.
so please, if anyone out there knows how I can contact them, and warn them about this product before some one looses a life, I would be grateful.
Me, I am out over $300.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bed-set is unusable, and my dryer is ruined!
Please be warned. Very sad consumer. [email protected]
Dana,
I am sorry for your husband’s job loss and I sense that you didn’t much sympathy then. But, to be honest, many factory jobs, yes, they were high paying, but didn’t require a very high skill set (feel free to correct me).
Frankly, if you were at a high paying factory job for years and never put money aside for the inevitable day that you would be laid off (and don’t tell me that you never saw it coming: factory jobs, from manufacturing to cars to fridges have been laying off people for at least 20 years now), then yes, you would be quite sorry to lose that job. And, yes, it hurts to try to find something that pays much less. But in reality, that’s what your skill set is worth.
I feel bad for all people who lose jobs, wherever. At the same time, since we are also a family where the primary earner lost his job – and it was a very high paying job and not a factory one – if you don’t plan for rainy days, my sympathy is less. We saved enough to get by and will continue to do so.
Good luck to LNT people. May you find jobs where you enjoy where you are and the people you are with. When you have those, the job is a real gem.
MY SISTER WAS AN EMPLOYEE THERE thats so stupid i like that store its awsome i love the awsome stuff there like the bedding and fuzzy pillows awsome
I am very sad to see this store go. The signs are up here and we have no other quality place to buy bedding. They offered a selection in our taste, always. Yes they were a bit more but the quality was there. We just bought our daughter all new bedding to move out of her crib and into her new room. The cutest pink and brown polka dots you’ve ever seen and not available at any other store in Winnipeg. So very very sad and to all the wonderful staff at LNT you have been always helpful and polite and I know you will be swept up by other stores that frankly need your expertise. Good luck to all, I have to go max out my credit card before I can no longer find good bedding!
“May you find jobs where you enjoy where you are and the people you are with. When you have those, the job is a real gem.”
thank you
that’s the main issue at my store (and most others it seems), not that we’re losing our jobs but each other 🙁
Roxy,
It’s all about having a living wage-when people do not make enough to get by it is very difficult to put money away for rainy days. We have a very educated workforce in Canada so although a factory or retail job requires minimal education the people making your goods and ringing thru your sales are likely to have education beyond what you may assume. You are aware of job loss 20 years back which suggests your age, this generation has to have higher education just to compete in the workforce-college and university degrees are what a high school diploma was to your generation. The next time you shop look at the clerks ringing you thru chances are they’re more or just as educated as you-even factory workers.
The linen n things in edmonton, alberta has the going out of business signs on one side and now hiring on the other side… so it’s very confusing… they might just open up same type of store with a different name… who knows…
Sorry to hear so many will/may be losing their jobs. Having to look for a new one blows! I’ll miss this store. It had a large variety of quality items and made Christmas shopping a breeze. I’ve never found them to be over priced and, even if they were, I’m sure I saved the difference by not having to travel to various other stores to get what I needed. Maybe now that there’s a new President in the States, the economy may settle down and stores of this calibre can flourish once again. Anyway…that’s my 2 cents. Best wishes to all those employees affected. Good luck!
I would like to write this for the record. LNT started their liquidiation almost 2 weeks ago. The sales when this happens are not the greatest at the beginning because they want to make as much money as possible. Evem though we have been crazy busy because for some reason people think they’re getting a bargain. The sale with get better in due time but product will get scarce so you may not see what you want anymore if you wait. The company is no longer being run by LNT, it is being run by the liquidators. Which means there is no customer service that you can call and complain to or voice your concerns. Everything is a final sale, which means NO REFUNDS AND NO EXCHANGES!! Once you leave the store it is yours to keep. If you get out of the store and it is broken, stained, ripped or you change your mind it is YOURS. No you cannot exchange it. We no longer take the coupons and the LNT credit card. We do not price match. Please do not ask us when the sales will get better because they don’t tell us these things until last minute. We hopefully and most likely will be opened till the end on January. Most of all thank you to all the guests who HAVE been patient and sympathetic to our situation. I also would like to mention that as an avid shopoholic LNT was not overpriced. I believe you get what you pay for. You can buy clothes at Stitches and have it fall apart on you in 6 months (if your lucky) or you can go to the gap and pay an extra $20-30 and get better quality. LNT in Canada were very profitable and we were hoping for a buyer but unfortunately it did not happen. We in Canada are not going Banko because of our prices or our customer service as few of you have mentioned. So once again thank you for your patience and I will try to keep you all post dated with new info so you can pass it on to your friends, family and collegues.
To all the employees that are getting upset over shoppers talking about coupons need to remember that if they were the shopper and not the employee they would do the same. Yes it sucks that people are loosing their jobs but the shoppers can’t change that. Good luck everyone.
I just want to say THANKYOU to all of the employees that I was fortunate to deal with. I have received incredible service and wish each and everyone of you the very best. It saddens me to see this outlet go. I have shopped with you for many years and my last two homes were exclusively decorated and furnished from your store. No other store can compare with the quality ,variety and excellent customer service. You will be missed
P.s. I hope that some one comes forward that can rebuild this outlet
To all those people who have either been to LNT. Remember it is ALL SALES FINAL and that is exactly what it means. ALL SALES ARE FINAL NO RETURNS OR EXCHANGES. We cannot change that policy as it was what what written into the court order. So no matter how much you yell , scream or throw things we CANNOT TAKE IT BACK. Even if you threaten to call the Police go right ahead they would just laugh at you. Please do not say since you refuse to take it back no wonder you’re going out of business or this is stupid what am I supposed to do now. All warranties by the manufacturer are still in place call them. If you bought the wrong size or colour sorry once again we CANNOT do anything about once you leave the store it’s yours. I guess those who are complaining really don’t understand what LIQUIDATION means. I’ve gone through it before and you the customers don’t get it.
LNT 708
After reading through most of these posts, it’s pretty clear LNT (and no I’m not talking about frontline employees) should have taken steps a long time ago to secure themselves. One of those things, as pointed out many times, is their return policy. They should have, as a company, become more strict and made it a 30 day with no returns on pillows and a few other items that are really hygenic….
I’ve worked in retail – crap goes on everywhere about returns and nasty customers. So I feel for employees writing in but unfortunately welcome to retail. However it doesn’t sound like LNT did a lot to support employees and make life for them a little easier
But the return policy being more strict should have been enforced. Instead the company was fearful of alienating customers. Cusotmers will complain but usually come back. Sadly, their “roll over and give in” policies put too much stress on their staff who have had a hard enough time by the sounds of it. Same with coupons..Once a customer hears a friend went in and got the discount without the coupon they will go in and think it’s their god-given right too….
There were way too many coupon events anyway…That is the reason shoppers got the impression LNT was over-priced…they became conditioned a 20% discount showing up in their Saturday paper almost EVERY SINGLE WEEK… In the shoppers mind it creates an impression that they are getting hosed if it’s not on discount and will only shop at that retailer when they can get the deal – that’s Marketing 101 folks. A shopper subconsciously thinks if LNT can give a 20% coupon all the time they must be making a real profit and charging too much when it’s regular price.
I was a loyal LNT shopper and am also in a related industry…my only criticism was that there were an awful lot of dead zones in the stores. Candle sections were way too big, same styles of curtains for years etc,,,the wall-hanging nic-nac sections seemed like the same stuff all the time…maybe they were buying too much inventory of the same items instead of showing the shoppers something new and subsequently increasing foot traffic to the stores. I could go in once and and then go back, it seemed, like 2 months later and it would be the same bedding on the front display etc.
All that being said – RIP Linens and Things – I will miss it. I’m just really ticked off this has had to happen and feel bad for the employees.
Sounds like LNT was pretty spineless at HQ level. Employees were taking crap for trying to enforce the written policy and if the customer got difficult
the employee knew they’d never get supported if it escalated. Think of all the money lost from that and also Gill’s reasons above x 400-500 North American stores. No wonder they’re going under.
All the best to employees. There is better out there and you’ll find it.
It was such a comfortable atmosphere to shop in…I’m going to miss this store.
Buyer beware ……
I purchased a pair of Eddie Bauer (good quality)pillowcases at 10% off. I checked the seams however did not compare one pillowcase to the other. One was 2 inches narrower and won’t even fit on the pillow. I did go back to the
store not looking for my money back but wanting to swap the narrow pillowcase for another…..all I got from the manager was NO returns, NO exchanges, and was told she would call security if I did not leave. I said go ahead as I hadn’t even raised my voice. Well you can go to the Eddie Bauer site and they will help you! But for the fun of it I went to the Halifax LNT, opened a couple of Eddie Bauer packages of pillow cases and found the same problem
very uneven pillowcases.
I can’t believe Eddie Bauer’s name was sewn on these products and BUYER BEWARE to all LNT customers.
Wow, I am kind of scared of going to LNT and buying things even if it’s cheap. So if you are unsatisfied with the product you can go to the manufacutres site/contact them and would they give your money back or something?? And somebody said that LNT would probably be openned until January so best time to hit LNT for good sales would be late december???
If they don’t accept my gift card, I’ll just be taking the value of something out dah door. MOFOS
sorry, not much of a sale…I did check it out and noticed ok 10% off …but it seemed to me things were overpriced anyway…and everyone else that was shopping there that day said the same thing. I am not talking justified higher prices for better quality, just overpriced in general. Best example was my tassimo beverages, they are at the most %5.49-5.99 a package, not on sale, and there they were $10.99 a package! I must admit I had not shopped there that much before except to comparison shop, and very rarely bought anything, as I found homesense better for me. Sorry for the people losing their jobs, but that is retail (my hubby works in retail too)…polish up the resume and get it out there..and best of luck!
Went to LNT many times but never bought anything. Every time I saw something I liked in their flyer, by the time I got to the store it was sold out. Not sure how they manager their inventory. Usually end up buying similar items at the Bay or Sears instead. Pretty frustrating overall.
Good luck to the employees.
well there closing for sure becuase their canadian website is no longer available . they’ll probabley have the sales closer to christmas time .
There is now a sign in front of the Winnipeg Polo Park store saying that everything is 10-30% off.
Same thing at the store in Etobicoke. I checked yesterday, discounts are 10-30% only. Most things are 10% off. Good luck to all the employees, I loved this store!
I’m sorry to say it but yes I am glad thay are going out of business, mainly the Dartmouth N.S. one. I went in their a few months back because they had a sale on a bedroom set and when I got to the store the sign at the end of the isle had the other colour set on sale. Brought it up to the counter, it came up reg. price, the one lady wanted to give it to me while the other wanted to phone the manager. While she phoned the manager and told me that they would not give me the sale price. The customer is never right in that store, but they proceed to remove the sign after I brought it to their attention, real nice!! Went their tonight and got it for even cheaper than what I was willing to pay for it last time, I feel great. Boo Hoo, Boo Hoo I don’t feel sorry one bit for the one in Dartmouth Crossing at all.
Feel sorry for this news.
I’m the supplier from China and do business with Lines N Things over three years.Today,when i enter their website,i found a wide range discount.So bad economy crisis.
Hope all emplyee could find a better future.
Well today, the discounts at the Etobicoke store are from 20-40%, it’s getting better.
Whoever needs a part time job apply at personal edge erin mills tc we’re always hiring
Hiring at personal edge
Good riddance. Everything I ever bought from LNT either broke within the first week, or was broken when it was taken out of the box.
When buying from LNT, always, ALWAYS take the product out of the box FIRST before buying it.
Why are you people surprised when the employees are bitter when you phone to ask about the store. GET A LIFE!! How would you feel when you have no idea about your own job and stupid people with too much time on their hands “just have to know” whats going on. They have to take call after call from you people with no regard for their concerns……..you just want the deals. These people are losing their jobs just before Christmas and all you worry about is saving money at their expense. The sales will start when they start. I hope you take it as hard as they do when your job goes south. Until then….be patient, there are probably more retail outlets not far behind. Have a nice day…….idiot.
They are hiring because they need people, because it will be so busy because of the liquidation kind of like a seasonal thing
oh and bitter retailer, ya mabye employees dont know very much about what is going on but most peolple assume it is only part of there job…
To Idiot aka bitter retailer, I’m glad that people like you loose their Job. I hope no retailer ever hires people like you ever again. You should all tell future Retail Employers about this Blog and you part in it as well as your views about his/her potencial Customers. Go and sweep some floors in a place where you do not have see other people.
Canadians, stop shopping at LNT and start shopping at Home Outfitters because they are More Canadian. No I don’t have vested Interest in Home Outfitters I just do not like to support ungreatfull employees. In my opinnion they can’t be out of a job fast enough.
“Go and sweep some floors”…interesting…
I want to first say to all Employees, I am sorry, and I hope all works out for you.
I went through the same thing when White Rose filed for bankrupcy, ironically, that location became a Linens-N-Things store. Its only been opened 3years.
Dana:
I was shocked to read your comment: “The sympathy for the employees’ job loss is ridiculous”…that’s such an awful thing to say!! It is heartless to think that your husband losing his factory job is more significant than someone else losing an entry-level retail job. You seem like an educated person so you must understand that not everyone lives on the same means, and to some people, this is their primary source of income….what about students living on their own, putting themselves through university? What about that same person who puts in a 120 hour week (yes I did say a 120 hour week), between school and work in order to get good grades and stay afloat financially. What do you say to them when they’re sleeping 3-4 hours a night to accomplish their goals, and now they have to throw into the mix the time consuming process of creating a new resume, pounding the payment, and training for a new job….sorry there’s just not enough hours in a day for that. I would say that you should keep an open mind, an open heart, have a little sympathy, and realize that any job loss is both significant and stressful.
Dana:
In addition, in your response to Roxy you say that “this generation has to have higher education just to compete in the workforceâ€â€¦.you shouldn’t be so naïve to think that our generation is the only one suffering by needing a higher education. What about the factory workers that were obviously older than your husband was when he lost his job. My father who is the hardest working man I have ever known lost his factory job a few years ago, being replaced by younger, seemingly stronger men…not so much….my dad is an ox, and runs circles around these guys. At the time he was 56 and has only known factory work his whole life. No one wants to hire him in a factory because of his age, and he can’t get an office job because of his lack of post secondary education. Meanwhile, I have 11 years of post secondary, and still to this day I probably don’t even have a 10th of the information that my father knows, but you can’t write that on a resume now can you? Calling these jobs “a stepping stone, and not a career†is a complete insult. You never know what life has in store for you…one day that stepping stone job may be your only one. By the way, did you husband find another high-paying job?…hope so, my father’s finishing his working years in one of those “stepping stone jobs†as you so eloquently put it.
This is a very sad time for all employees of LNT. I would personally like to thank the wonderful staff at LNT in Sudbury. I will miss your clean store and your very friendly staff. From Jason the store manager, dept managers and staff on the floor and cashiers you all went the extra mile to assist your customers
I wish you all the very best and my prayers are with you.
To everyone who is shopping at LNT now looking for a deal, please be kind to the staff and take the time to say thank you. Their lives are turned upside down and it must be hard to go to work and smile at people.
To the employees at LNT: I’ve always believed when one door closes another opens. I wish each and everyone one of you the best of luck.
From: A LNT’s customer in Sudbury from day one.
This is indeed a sad day for everyone; especially the employees. As a consumer, I LOVE Linen n’ Things.I always found something different and of good quality there. So, I’m very disappointed in this closing. As for the employees, what can I say but send them all best wishes for their job searches when this fiasco is over. Thank-you for the amazing products and the courteous service that welcomed me every time I entered the Ajax store. God Bless.
i never knew that they were going out of business until i drove past the one here in london on exeter and wellington. it’s soo sad that everyone is going to loose there jobs, they have nice and good quality stuff. there are jobs available all the time from my work, london hospital linen services on 11 maitland st london, on.
Linens N Things in Kitchener changed their 10-30% off to 20-40% off now if anyone is interested.
Thank you AmyCanada77 for letting us know that the sale is now 20% – 40%.
I never realized how many people out there in the world cannot spell properly. LNT employees are about to LOSE their jobs, (NOT LOOSE). If you feel the need to express your opinion so explicitly, then at least spell your words correctly, otherwise people just don’t take you seriously.
To update, I visited Linens N Things yesterday and to come to my amazement the prices were just as high. Little things such as candles and pedicure kits are lowered in price but major things such as bedding and drapes are still up there and the prices are pretty high. I asked the girl at the front what was going on and she said they were waiting for someone to buy them out and it wasn’t looking too good, so I suggest waiting a month and then going to the store because their closing day is in January.
^ya and get everyone else’s rejects
I was at the Winnipeg location yesterday and was told by an employee that they had been hoping for a buyer, but a liquidator won the bid for the Canadian operations.
The store is selling off the shelves and fixtures as well as the merchandise.
I have to say I agree with cinderelladressmaker above. I hate shopping, but that was one store I enjoyed going to. They always had higher quality and lower prices than the local department stores. I found items there that weren’t sold elsewhere in the city. I bought tons of Christmas gifts there last year, and I have a lot of LNT house brand stuff in my home.
I loved working at LNT when I was fresh out of highschool as it was a great place to start collecting things for living on my own.
To the current employees; I’m sorry you’re out of a job, but there will always be other employment opportunities. While job hunting, I suggest you check out: http://www.jobbank.gc.ca (it has postings for all the provinces)
As for the poster above, “Employer who is hiring”, I have but one message to pass along to you:
As an employer, it may do you well to try some spell checking before you hit that submit button. You’re spelling and grammar is atrocious!
To “hiring” WHAT you say that shopping at Homeoutfitters is more Canadian Why?
Is it because HBC was ONCE a Canadian owned company well its not and has not been for a long time So how can it be more Canadian I believe living in Canada means shopping where I want to
Sad that people are losing their jobs sad that the liquidators think the public is stupid and believe that 20% off will make the pillows less than buy 1 get1 1/2 price
Six months age a purchased things there that are more now with the sale then they where then
What a joke
To “Former Employee”,
You should, perhaps, take your own good advice to heart and ensure that while berating someone for their poor grammar, your own be flawless! I’m referring, of course, to your usage of “you’re”, if that wasn’t already perfectly clear!! You’re saying, “You are spelling and grammar are atrocious”.
peace
Filing for Bankruptcy Protection (Canada) is not the same as filing for Bankruptcy (U.S. stores)
will the US stores also file for bankruptcy?
I just love shopping at this store. I buy almost all of my household things there. I was choked to find out it was closing. A huge loss for me.
One thing I haven’t seen posted here is the reason for going out of business. First of all they didn’t go bankrupt or even file under the creditors arrangement act, (Canadian version of chaper 11). The reality is their parent company in the United States went bankrupt. Since the Canadian company is a division of the parent they will ultimately be forced to liquidate to satisfy debts of their parent.
Very unfortunate, one of the few stores of this type that my wife dragged me into that I actually enjoyed browsing in (and ultimately parting with my cash).
They will be missed. To all the associates who worked there, you are the best.
Thanks LNT for giving me the once over yet again . I never did get my rebates for purchases I made and now the 100 dollars in rewards dollars are also useless.
Hope you never return from bankruptcy.
few businesses ever do…
I am an employee at Linens N Things, and yes it is upsetting when customers are constantly asking us about our jobs, and when are there going to be more deals but I don’t let it get me down. I am always cheerful and try my best to help the customers even if they’re driving me crazy with ridiculous questions. What really gets me is when I am pleasant and helpful but then take a beating from a customer because we no longer accept the Linens N Things credit card or 20% coupon. GIVE US A BREAK!!! We don’t make the policies, we just work there.
The best was the other day when someone came in with her free welcome mat coupon, LNT Credit card and $10 gift certificate (not to be confused with a gift card which we still accept) and screamed and made a scene when I politely told her we no longer accept those. I was nice, I did not get rude, but she did her best to be rude to me. She then proceeded to tell me it was from Oct 15 so it should be good still, and when I explained that the liquidation company took over on the 23rd so it was no longer valid she flipped out more.
I know it is upsetting for some customers out there, you expect your free welcome mat, and 20% coupons, and whatever else but please don’t take it out on the associates. Most of us are pleasant but can only take so much from the customers before becoming upset ourselves. We would love to help you out, really we would, but we can’t anymore, sorry.
To Raz:
Most rebates (not all but most) are done through a rebate company. THese companies handle multiple accounts for companies such as :Future Shop, Best Buy, LNT to name a few. They receive thousands of rebates a day that all need to be processed by hand. It does not surprise me when I hear people haven’t received their rebates, I bet tons are lost or just sitting there waiting to be entered. I once purchased an item from LNT that had a rebate and I received my cheque almost 6 months later. There are numbers you can call to find out about your rebate status. I am hopeful that you kept copies of everything you sent in the mail and you should call and find out.
As for the $100 in reward certificates I am sorry for your loss, if they are gift cards we do still accept them and get into a store and use them up.
%25 to %50 at the Kitchener Location – but everything is still more expensive than at Walmart or Zellers – I still haven’t had any luck finding a good deal.
Ok, i wasnt going to leave a comment. But in light of what i have read, I must!
First off, the prices are competitive.
I have a LNT in the Windflower Gate plaza in Woodbridge, ON. I have been a regular there ever since they opened up.
Yes, the prices on some items are close at Walmart but who wants to go to Walmart????
The clerks have been the same since forever, they are helpful, cheery and you can ALWAYS find one, they never hide in the aisles avoiding the customer.
Most of them will give me the SINGLE item discount even if i have left my coupon at home (i have 2 toddlers, my brain has lost it function)
And I am SO sorry that you guys are losing your jobs.
In this economy, no one is safe and its really sad that its the festive season and you have only uncertainty to look forward to in the New Year.
I am sad that some people on this website are only looking to cash in on the fall. I am glad i participated in the buying when you guys were stronger.
Cheers, and good luck
Amy
I just returned from my LAST visit to LNT. Staff are soo disgruntled and LOVE enforcing such ridiculous policies as “keep cartons closed”. If I’m interested in buying something, you can be damn sure I’m taking it out of the carton to look at it. That’s like saying , if you buy a shirt at a retailer -you can’t try it on til you get home.
ABSURD.
Half of the employees don’t deserve jobs in retail.
Hey Cheer-up…. the disgruntled staff at LNT don’t feel like cleaning up after you so they insist you keep cartons closed. Read the outside of the package, it will tell you what’s inside.
Amy, you can expect to pay less at discount retailers such as Zellers and Walmart because the quality of their goods is lacking. If you pay $2.00 for a facecloth it will likely feel like sandpaper.
It’s just a chain store. There are others selling similar products and in some cases, identical products. When LNT closes, their staff will surely find other jobs and we can buy our pillows and blankets somewhere else.
I, for one, will miss this store. I agree with Amy’s comment about always being able to find a sales associate to help you out. And it was a pleasure to have associates that were actually helpful! I have no complaints about the service I received during any of my visits to our local LNT and I will miss shopping there. As far as the “keep cartons closed” policy, I was in LNT this weekend and they had “testing” tables set up where you could open any package and examine its contents to be sure everything was there before you purchased it since there are no returns. They even had electrical cords set up to test electronic items which I really appreciated as I was purchasing an alarm clock which was the last in stock and in a beat up box. It worked great! I wish all the best to LNT’s employees and hope there are bigger and better things in your future!
This is a great loss to all of us that enjoyed shopping here at LNT, I feel for the staff. So close to Christmas too, GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL for your futures.
But I guess this is a sign of the times……..
Take care and hoping that 2009 brings you much happiness…..
THANKYOU for all your good work for the general public.
I for one am grateful.
My wife started a part-time position at LNT recently before there was even a hint of it going under. Her fellow employees and managers have been terrific and she thoroughly enjoyed helping “most” customers. We shopped at LNT prior to her employment and found there prices to be better or comparable to most. The service was acceptable, but not terrific and it wasn’t the fault of the employees. LNT’s approach to sales was remarkably weak as they thought of each customer as a guest and did not approach them unless the customer asked for help. This is quite contrary to most retail stores approach today. Personally I feel that it had a lot to do with their folding, but that’s a personal opinion only.
I was in the service and retail industry for 30 years and most times I rolled with the punches when customers slighted staff or myself. I don’t think I would have managed to put up with the crap that my wife has since the “liquidation” signs went up. To all the rude and ignorant customers who think that this is just another sale, think about yourself being out of a job a Christmas time and you might, not likely, see this from the employees point of view. For those who, like myself, will miss the great variety and pleasant staff, the final closing will be a sad day indeed. To Denise, Wendy, Cathy, Duane, Danielle and everyone else, thanks for being you at this most difficult time. I know it’s hard to have to bite your tongue and not say FU to the iggies of the world, but congrats to you all. May you all find jobs quickly and may this season still be joyous in some way, shape or form. Will miss you all.
“Pet Peeve”
While I had made one error due to a copy and paste issue on my key board, I was not berating “Employer who is Hiring”. It was actually they (or maybe it’s you and that’s why YOU’RE so defensive?) who were berating other posters who are current LNT employees who are frusterated with their situation and merely expressing it through an online blog. I believe that if someone is having a hard time, let them rant on here rather than in the customers face.
Back to my original point, if you are going to present yourself as a professional Employer who is hiring, and want your point to be taken… don’t make SEVERAL spelling and grammatical errors. I mean come on it’s LOSE not LOOSE; potential not potencial, ungreatful, the usage of vested (which means to have possesion or power and control of a person or persons)as well as capitalization on words that it should not be. Of course there is the mistake of saying that Home Outfitters is more Canadian than LNT. HBC is American owned people, and has been for sometime.
Not only that but I atleast had the decency of posting my concern for those LNT employees as well, NOT just to pick on someones spelling mistakes.
Again for those at the Abbotsford and Coquitlam stores, my friends and former colleagues I wish you well during the Holidays and New Year.
On a side note, the American LNT website is at 40%-60% and I find the Canadian stores are not to far behind the website. Happy Shopping.
My mistake “pet peeve”: the Canadian stores are not TOO far behind. 😛
Alas, the $100.00 were not gift cards but the actual rewards certificates. What a complete loss. Truth be told LNT in general was one of the few stores I as a male enjoyed going to with my wife. I do feel sorry for the loss of jobs on the employees, who I must state emphatically – did not matter which store I went to they always treated me like I Mattered. Thats a lot more then some of these other big box stores ever had going for them. Yes I have gone and done some more shopping heh but thats just to say goodbye to the store ande employees. The dont open the box policy is ridiculous but I do understand where its coming from, however did not stop me from opening them up and the empoyees were quite sympathetic especially since I was not making a mess.
best of luck to all the future former LNT employees and all past employees who have been affected
The signs the say “do not open cartons” is posted around the store because, there are customers who like to destroy boxes while trying to look inside the box. Not only that, they don’t even put back the product in the box, so the items in the box are left scattered around the store. And I do mean SCATTERED. If you want to look inside the box, make sure you put what belongs in it back inside, b/c there are customers who might want to purchase that product and does not want to find out there are missing pieces. At our store we do have a test area at the cash desks for the customers to inspect their products prior to purchasing.
I just have to say i am disgusted with lnt. I have been working there for over 5 years, and the only thing i am leaving with is a bad back. The associates do not get any severance pay whatsoever. The only way to get some kind of money is to get promoted to a dept. manager so at the end of the liquidation you can get 2 grand bonus on your pay chequee. This ultimately makes me and most of the other long time coworkers upset.
Another thing i dislike about lnt, is the fact that they throw out items that they can’t sell, but I’m sure the poor would love! For instance, we use to have to spray paint damamged comforters, etc. so that no one can take it from the garbage bin outside our store. In the last week we have been throwing out sheets, curtains, tablecloths..because they are not sellable. All this stuff can be donated to charity then filling up our landfill and causing more pollution. I will be so happy the day lnt will close down. The have done nothing for the employees. I just hope other retailers don’t throw out stuff that can be donated to charity instead.
Wow that’s really awful employee@lnt – I had no idea that they were wasting products that may be “unsellable” but DEFINITELY useful to someone on a cold winter night. Perhaps I won’t be shopping there during their big closing sale because this truly disturbs me.
Linens n Things isn’t the only company that throws out unsellable items. I have a friend that dumpster dives outside of jean Coutu, Zellers and Pharmaprix. In the Paharmaprix dumpster he found 4 unopened, unwrapped bottles of Oscar de La renta perfume. When Walmart closed in jonquire in Quebeec a few years ago it was cheaper for them to throw out ALL of the merchandise rather than pay transport to donate it or relocate it. Its terrible practice but very common.
retailers throw out products because when they donate them, the people they donate them to always try to return them. I have worked for many retailers including LNT, the ‘donations’ always end up coming back to the store. When we donate to an organisation that is supposed to help needy people, they too return it or sell it themselves for profit. It rarely ends up in the intended hands. From a bussiness perspective if you give store managers power to give donations, you open your company up to internal theft. As long as is retail there will be useable product in dumpsters.
actually my managers secretly gave unsellable pillows and comforters away to a local charity regularly.
I only know because I had to help load them into this lady’s van whenever she came
I’m not sure where this “don’t open the box policy” came from. We have a table set up at the front of the store where customer can open the product to make sure everything is there and in working order before they make the purchase.
To all the people that keep complaining about the employees being disgruntled…..can you really blame us? It’s the holiday season, and we’re all losing our jobs. At the location that I work in….the staff have a good time. We’re constantly joking around with each other, and just generally trying to make the best of it. Try hearing the same things from customers over and over and over again….everyday, add to that the fact that we will soon be unemployed…and try and tell me you wouldn’t be disgruntled and moody. The most common things we hear lately are:
“Are you closing?” (Meanwhile there are signs EVERYWHERE)
“When are you closing?”
“What’s going in here next?”
“If there is something wrong, I can return this, right?” or “What’s you return policy?” (Once again….signs EVERYWHERE stating all sales final, no returns or exchanges)
“Can I get an extra discount off this, it’s dirty?”
“These sales suck. No wonder you’re going out of business.”
“Why are you hiring? You’re going out of business”
“The employees here must be happy you’re closing”
it is true that the person can just go back to the store and try to return the donated item. However, since most of the things we’re throwing out now, will never be returned because there will be no more linens n things anyway. Also, lnt never followed their policy on returns…sure, it’s okay you can exchange this comforter because it looks really bad and you have no receipt.
That is pure bullshit, that should’ve never happened. I also use to work at holt renfrew last call many years ago,,and anything that was over 5 years old (the year is indicated on the price tag) was automatically donated to the women’s shelter during the holiday season.
I don’t know where lntemployee is getting their information from.
If, as a department manager, I am going to be receiving a “2 grand” bonus on my final paycheque, it is news to me. If we actually see 300 dollars, I will be shocked! And that is only going to happen IF we see this liquidation through till the bitter end. Now the GM and the ASM on the other hand will be getting a nice little bonus. Of course we as the little people are not privvy to the actual amount.
As for severance, it will be paid out depending on your term of service. Anywhere from 1 year to a maximum of 5 years. That is disgusting for the people who have been employed for 6 years or longer. But I guess it is better then nothing. As long as everyone is aware, that it may take anywhere from 2 months to 3 years before that money is actually seen.
LNT used to be an amazing company to work for. But it has gone downhill quickly in the past year. I have worked for some great managers, and some that should never have had the title.
To ALL LNT employees: I wish everyone the best in their future jobs. On to bigger and most certainly better things.
And as a side note, when dealing with disgruntled “customers”, just smile at them. That ticks them off when they know they haven’t upset you with their tirades.
to: LNT GSM
Are you working in canada or the united states? I am working at a canadian store, and we had to sign an agreement from the liquidators that we would not be receiving any severance pay at all. Although, our gsm, asm and gm’s will be receiving a bonus if they stick it out till the end.
Whenever that is..
Yeah it’s true, no severance pay for us. Although, a lot of us will be eligible for employment insurance. I say stick it out till the end, file for EI and hopefully get approved. Take a mini vacation while searching for a new and better job while being paid by the government.
Canadian store out west. Maybe you should check again with your GM’s
better yet…since Dave Gibson is still employed…maybe you should send an email to him for your own peace of mind
i would love to send mr gibson an email!!! and im sure we will get a straight honest answer like we have for the last 6 months before this…..hmmmmm
i know we were told stay till the end to get your EI and your severance blah blah….just more lies to get us to stay till the end cause they knew they cant replace us who wants to start a new job with a company going under….
yep im bitter! i feel lied too from the beginning of this and right too the end of this
Indeed!!
They should be ashamed of themselves for treating people they way they have.
yeah i wouldn’t believe anything from dave gibson. We had to sign a letter stating that we would not be receiving any severance pay if we stay till the end, and that ritcher or whatever our lquidators are called will terminate us whenever it is necessary. So yeah, i don’t believe one bit that we are getting severance pay. I heard the american stores are getting severance, according to some email i found on the SWW. I guess because their laws are different over in the U.S. Although, can anyone clarify that?
we were never told when we signed that form from rickers liquadators that we wouldnt be getting a severance pay funny how they left that out …and yet not shocking
did you get a 3 page letter to sign from richter?
it quotes on the 2nd page:
if you accept this offer (meaning you decide to stay to the end), you:
agree that you shall not be entitled to any other notice of termination or pay in lieu of notice, or severance pay, in respect of the services provided by you to the Trustee pursuant to this letter, apart from whatever additional entitlements, if any, you may have pursuant to applicable employment standards legislation.
I still say everyone needs to find this our for sure. Becasue we have a store full of employees that are under the assumption they are getting severance. Look on the SWW or call the 1-800 number
Wait!!
We could always log a heat ticket. Wonder what kind of answer we would get?
Thanks for the info ontario employee, but i read the letter it also states ..that if during the liquidation process that they have strong sales coupled with potential recoveries from other lnt assets., will result in a high level of recovery on creditor claims, including employee claims for termination and/or severance, where applicable. A claims process will commence shortly.
Well i don’t know anymore, but that whole letter seems somewhat confusing and I just wish our liquidators would keep us up -to -date. Although ,I rarely see our liquidation manager and our gm..is not even worth talking to ..
i’m going to call when i get back on monday. Although, if any one finds out something sooner, can they post it up here?
we were told that by signing that letter we were agreeing that richter did not owe us severance. lnt does and richter is not responsible for any monies owing from lnt
the stupid letter says if they have any questions about the process, to contact our store manager..hahaha
if only i could get a straight answer from him, it would be good.
he didn’t even know that we were liquidating until the day before we had our liquidation sale..i think he was in denial or just loved lying to us.
hopefully, that’s what it is. Because i don’t think i can take another lie from lnt
im with you employee@lnt or we work at the same one cause i feel the same way i feel we were lied too about that letter and what it all means….and we were explainned what was in that letter our GM summerized it to us and we signed we should of read it instead of taking his word for it by saying i signed it myself and i wouldnt sign it or tell you too if it wasnt good …hahaa
and for the others calling please let me know too!
wow!
i can’t believe he summerized it to you, i wouldn’t have signed it until i read it myself..which i did. although, the letter is somewhat confusing bc it’s not explained in proper english to me lol.
however, if richter doesn’t pay us severance, than that’s okay..but lnt should..because i worked like a slave there for shit pay.
Also a resident of Niagara Falls. I agree that some of their products can be on the high side as far a prices go, however when an item is on sale, it’s actually “ON SALE”. Recently purchased a comforter and pillow set (7 peice-queen) for 79 bucks; this was before the close-out sale. Where can you find that for less?
This sounds like a LNT staff room now !
people
stop asking me where all the deals are
I’m hiding them for myself
I want to make a comment about the pricing policy at Linen N Things. BUYER BEWARE!!!! I made a purchase yesterday; it was going to be a small gift. When I arrived home and went to remove the price tag which was on the outside of the packaging it revealed another price tag which was attached to the inside packaging (underneath the plastic bag the time was in). This was not a major purchase and the price I paid was $12.99 less the 40% discount. The price tag I found under the $12.99 tag was $8.99. The tag had all of the same information as did the $12.99 price tag. I was furious, not so much because of the price difference, lets face it, $4.00 isn’t any reason to get angry over, however, the fact that just because this company has gone bankrupt is no reason to RIP OFF the consumer. The product was never meant to cost $12.99 and it was a deliberate act to make you think you were getting a deal!!! In any circumstance this immoral, if not illegal?? I called the store and explained the circumstances and was told “Oh well, there is nothing YOU can doâ€! This infuriated me even more, it was obvious from that conversation that the people working there are well aware of this practice, so shame on them and shame on the people in charge of the bankruptcy. A policy in which you blatantly raise prices then offer a discount to imply it is a sale is in my opinion is theft.
Signed Ripped off and Angry In Dartmouth NS
I was a short term employee at the Woodbridge LNT store – great bunch of people there. I loved working at this location!
Dropped by the store today and was really shocked at how bare it is now. Did a bit of Christmas shopping and for the first time ever, felt really sad while shopping. I truly hope that all LNT employees find new jobs soon and that better things lay ahead for the New Year.
HC – that was the american price underneath
our product was shipped to us that way since we opened in canada
LNT IS CLOSING IN 10 DAYS STARTING FROM TOMORROW!
USE ALL YOUR GIFT CARDS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
HC
The price point underneath the 12.99 is the american pricing. We have to watch for these price tags and change them. If however it was beneath the plastic, like you say, there is nothing we could have done about this. This has been the way LNT has ran their business since coming to Canada. Poor business strategy, and we all know where it got them.
Get Real People, LNT employees are losing their jobs. If you don’t want the merchandise at the current discount PLEASE let it reamin on the shelves. LNT employees give great customer service but they are not paid to kiss any customers ASS. Bad Customer service or being over priced is not what put them out of business. It is very simple. If you do not want to shop there please don’t and don’t bitch either. Spend your money else where or shut the hell up. You never know eduacted or not you may find yourself out of work.
When is the store actually CLOSING? Dec 26?
LNT closes Dec 27 – There are still some great products out there at the stores but till the discount drop of 60% or more kicks in – should Dec 23 I am waiting. I have scouted the stores today Dec 22 and will be doing my rounds tomorrow. I have noticed tthat some products have been prices marked higher – to the maximum retail selling price suggested by the manufacturer so when purchasing some of these items it is not a true 50% discount ( todays rate) as other retailers are selling them at 10% less than msrp anyways.
Again best of luck to all thsoe who lose thier jobs – I have no regrets that LNT is gone – I hope it does resurface as LNT but with a more focused lineup of products and more realistic price points – meaning comparitively to other retailers such as the bay and sears.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS and SEASONS GREETINGS
the bay and sears came no where close to LNT prices. Check brand to brand. There is no comparison. Especially when LNT had a 20% coupon. grand patrician towels 19.99 at LNT, 39.99 at sears. Kitcehanaid artisan mixer 399.99 at LNT, 459.99 at the bay…and you can take another 20% off with the coupon in the flier. This is from memory, I have not worked in this industry for a couple years. The pricing claims in this forum are ridiculous.
Even comparing to walmart LNT was almost always cheaper when you compare item to item. Stores like walmart fill the stores with crap so you think they are cheaper than they are.
There’s only 3 more days left working at LNT, and now I feel sad at the thought of never returning back to the store or seeing my co-workers on a regular basis. I hope we all keep in touch even if we only see each other a couple times a year.
same ^
Yes its true that Linesn n things are going out of business in canada because i was just there today. 70 to 90 per cent off because today was the last day.They have been cheap all week but today was the best. They were selling literaly the wallboards and everything that was left standing. This in in B.C. canada. When I asked why they were closing they said it was because the company in the states went out of business and since they are owned by them then they have to close.
Doors are closed in Windsor store!No more lnt,nasty,smelly people go elsewhere to rip open packages,steal,cheat,lie,yell…
While I certainly feel bad for so many LNT employees being out of a job, I have never heard such disdain for customers, as posted by a few previous/current LNT employees here.
It has to have showed in your work; you can’t hide something that ugly.
just clarifying that we won’t be getting severance from lnt
we’re just getting any owed vacation days from october 31st to our last day at lnt, from richter
Boo hoo to all of you ex LNT employees, quit your whining and get a new job!
Just to clarify LNT was always crap anyways, crap items and crap prices. Go shop somewhere worthwhile like Holt Renfrew and quit being such tight wads. Go make some real money in a real career instead of working in some crappy retail store. Obviously they suck, they are bankrupt!
Hmmm if everyone had a carrer…and didn’t work retail…where would I buy my crap items at a crap price?
Just to clarify a bit here, not sure if the ex-employees know what the Canadian labour laws say. You are only legally entitled to a certain number of weeks notice (depending on how long you have worked there) of cancellation of employment, if that is not given you are entitled to be paid for the lack of notice. What they got you to sign was just basically a notice they are terminating you employment, you acknowledge it with a signature and they aren’t going to be paying out any extra money. It isn’t really nice, but it is their job to come in, tighten the belt and close the failure of a company down.
LNT isn’t the only store that sells the same products for more money, I’ve always been disappointed with their prices.
Mr. Rich Canadian – you clearly have no class or taste at all. Not everyone is rich to buy at holt renfrew retard. Besides, anything you buy at lnt you can’t buy at holt’s because they don’t even carry the same products! DUH…What are you 16 years old? Anyhow, LNT had way better prices than HBC..plus you were able to use a 20% discount
Anyhow, to any employee that works at LNT, you probably have or will be getting a package in the mail from richter about severance. We will be getting severance, just make sure you file your claim within 30 days of receiving your letter.
You know what, It’s time Canada produces more for CANADA & OUR PEOPLE !
L&T was over priced even when they were on SALE ! Home sense cost LESS for the SAME STUFF ! Yes I know that HS is an American store, you know what it’s a new day & people should get more for their money!! I was a retail buyer & I see the markup the stores make & it’s CRAZY!!! people are so use to paying more for everything NO ONE SAY STOP it’s ENOUGH!!!
I am not glad that so many people are out of a job, I just hope this opens the door for better retail stores!!
Such a big lie. I feel bad for those guys that stay out in the middle of wintering near the main intersection on foot…etc, etc with those big boards that tell people that tell people that this retailer is going out of business? Do U remember when was the first time they were selling us this story
Who cares about your stupid jobs. Get a real job. Linen N things was completely absurdly overpriced. They can eat shit for all I care. Aw, poor babies going bankrupt? Completely worthless management in that case. An infant child could see that all you had to do was lower prices.
does anyone know if there are any stores open in ontario?
wow george..
maybe you should open a retail chain
really sounds like you know what you’re talking about
no more stores are open sorry man
anyway this website makes me sad so I’m unfavouriting it.
goodbye LNT you were fabulous to work for
goodbye friends you were unbelievably awesome to work with <3
Hey so i was just curious as to what happens if a former employee does not send the severance papers back to the trustee within the allotted time frame. Do they automatically include you in the claim?
i just found my lost giftcard frm LNT. are you already out of business?
Its exactly what I was looking for. Anyway good article about bridging.
Its very sad that they are closing. I love to shop there. The prizes were a little high but they do have some fabulous stuff that I can’t find anywhere else.
Good post mate. Can I book mark your page into Delicious? I couldnt find it added there.
I can’t tell why yahoo sent me to this site but I can say I have been quite fascinated by the blog content you have together. How many days did it take to start getting this many users to your blog? I am very new to all this.
Too bad i love that company i just move to canada and was looking for a linens N things store online in canada, unfortunately i was redirected this site(out of business). Like someone said above they saw that coming because LNT is expensive. This is a lie, if you are a smart shopper LNT is the store to do your shopping.
I saw that coming myself because of their “asshole return policy”. I was a store supervisor of a LNT branch in Newton Highland in boston USA. I Know for sure what i’m saying.
is anyone know the store locations in canada? i would love to check them out while they are going out of business.
i just found my lost giftcard frm LNT. are you already out of business?
http://smartcanucks.ca/linens-n-things-canada-going-out-of-business-expect-a-huge-liquidation-sale/comment-page-6/#comment-851592
One way to keep start-up costs under control is to invest in used office furniture.
Cannot agree a lot more with that, pretty interesting article. Thank You.
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