Future Shop is closing 66 of its locations across Canada, including two in Waterloo Region, while 65 others will rebrand as Best Buy.

Best Buy Co., Inc., which owns and operates both Future Shop and electronics retailer Best Buy, confirmed the news Saturday morning, with the closures effective immediately.

The Kitchener and Cambridge locations are among those that will not reopen, while stores in Guelph and Waterloo will be rebranded as Best Buy.

In a statement, the company said the closures would eliminate 500 full-time and 1,000 part-time jobs.

“Affected employees will receive severance, employee assistance and outplacement support,” the statement read.

The closures were immediate, and surprised some shoppers across Canada as they showed up to make purchases or browse Future Shop’s aisles on Saturday.

“I was very surprised, because I thought most people went to Future Shop as opposed to Best Buy,” Dave Barker said after arriving at the Cambridge location.

Employees were also surprised, with many only learning of the closures at Saturday morning staff meetings.

In Toronto, Brandon Buchanan said many of his now-former co-workers were shocked by the news.

"That happened kind of suddenly, because a lot of the people I still know work here -- apparently, they showed up this morning and it was just locked out," he told The Canadian Press.

Best Buy expects to have 192 retail locations across Canada by the end of the restructuring.

Future Shop gift cards will be honoured at Best Buy's online store and at all retail locations, the company said.

Future Shop product orders, warranties and service appointments will be transferred to Best Buy, and Best Buy stores will also accept Future Shop returns and exchanges.

Concordia University marketing professor Robert Soroka told CTV News Channel that he wasn't surprised by Best Buy's move to scale back on "brick and mortar" stores and emphasize its online store.

"My feeling is this is just a natural progression," he said.

Best Buy, which purchased Future Shop in 2001, did not respond to a request asking for information on job losses at its stores in Waterloo Region and Guelph.

The restructuring is expected to cost the company somewhere between $250 million and $350 million.

With files from CTVNews.ca