“People are leaving things and there are no operations left to deal with them”, Tim Lai, of Goodwill, said Monday.
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The union, which represents about 450 workers employed at the 16 stores, 10 donation centres and two offices closed across the province Sunday, says it is “shocked and deeply concerned” by the developments.
On the heels of the sudden announced closings of several Goodwill locations in southern Ontario, officials are reassuring Londoners that the local Goodwill is on a path of “growth and prosperity”.
“Currently, this is a fluid situation and Goodwill is exploring a variety of options to continue its decades-long mission”, she said.
The local division of Goodwill Industries released a statement Monday following the news of several closures in the Toronto area.
“I recognize this has all happened very suddenly”, Nakamura said.
Union lawyer Dennis Ellickson said he received word of one store closure last night, but has not heard any reason for the move.
“We need to get these stores open and our members back on the job”, Canadian Airport Workers Union representative Moe Rutherford wrote in a statement.
Nakamura blamed the organization’s “cash-flow crisis” on high rent and labour costs, increased retail competition and decreased donations.
“In order to ensure that we were not asking staff to work at a time when we didn’t feel we would be able to cover costs, we had to close down the stores”.
It’s unclear at this point whether any of the stores will reopen, or when. All Goodwill organizations are separately incorporated and governed by their own board of directors.
Goodwill centres in some parts of the province, such as Hamilton, London, Sarnia and St. Catharines, have not been affected by the closures.
Goodwill has operated in Ontario for more than 80 years, with the aim of providing work opportunities and skills development to people facing barriers.
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Nakamura is the former CEO of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation.
