After a decade of inactivity since its shutdown in 2013, the discount retail chain Zellers is making a comeback.
After Target acquired the leaseholds for several Zellers locations within Canada from Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) in 2011, a substantial portion of Zellers stores were transformed into Target retailers.
In 2012, HBC announced their plans to close down their remaining Zellers locations, deeming the retail chain “not viable” for continued operation. By 2013 Zellers had seemingly closed up shop for good, until HBC announced last August that the Zellers brand would be returning.
HBC recently opened Zellers pop-up shops within Hudson’s Bay locations in Burlington, Ontario, and Anjou, Quebec. Now Zellers will be returning with 25 brick-and-mortar stores within Hudson’s Bay locations across the country. For the first time, the retail chain will also be supported by an e-commerce website.
Zellers has remained a point of nostalgia for many of those who remember growing up with its stores, and now, many Canadians are rejoicing — leading one TikToker to even sneakily share behind-the-scenes footage of a currently-unopened location.
HBC is aware of the nostalgic feelings surrounding Zellers and reportedly hopes to use nostalgia as a focus of the brand.
This comes at a time when high inflation is causing difficulty for many Canadians to maintain their normal lifestyle, so only time will tell if Zellers stays true to its slogan from decades ago and continues to be the store “where the lowest price is the law.”
The new Zellers stores will be opening in seven provinces across Canada, with one of the locations set to open in the Pen Centre in St. Catharines.
Zellers stores in Ontario and Alberta are set to open on March 23, along with its new online shopping website, Zellers.ca.
