Factory Direct is closing all of its stores and having a giant liquidation sale

Ontario electronics retailer Factory Direct is preparing to shut down all of its storefronts after filing for bankruptcy this month.

The chain, which has been around for nearly 30 years, currently operates 14 locations across the province, including one in North York and another in Scarborough.

It specializes in everything from smart phones and computers to TVs, appliances, games and tech accessories from brands like Apple, Cuisinart and Samsung.

A.D. Hennick & Associates Inc., which is handling the liquidation of the company's $10 million worth of stock, said in a release that the brand has unfortunately struggled to recover from pandemic-era losses.

"Since COVID-19, the company has experienced declining sales and increased overhead, partly due to this high inflationary environment," the firm wrote in a release on Friday, noting that there were, at one point, 24 Factory Direct outlets in Southern Ontario.

"FactoryDirect.ca has been a consistent source of incredible deals for a long time and it is such a shame to see this almost 30-year-old Canadian-owned discount retailer with hundreds of employees has to close its doors forever," it added.

"Due to the most recent economic conditions, it's becoming more apparent that businesses are having a difficult time managing operations."

Given that the company bills itself as one of Canada's largest privately-owned discount stores with savings of up to 80 per cent off regular prices already, customers can bet that they'll be getting some serious bargains on name brand tech through the sale, which kicks off at all locations on Saturday, February 17.

The news follows a similar move by homegrown brands Bad Boy furniture, which claimed bankruptcy and shuttered all its locations at the end of last month, and Mastermind, which went into creditor protection at the end of last year and is still in the process of folding 18 outposts.