The Canadian loved retailer Zellers is back today with pop-up shops opening in select Hudson Bays in Alberta and Ontario.
Tunes greeted early birds who arrived at 8 am, with doors opening at 10 am, following giveaways.
Some sites also had foot trucks that dished up Zellers Family favourites such as the big Z burger, hot chicken sandwiches, grilled cheese or fries and gravy.
At the beginning of the month, Zellers informed the public it would be reopening 25 stores, with locations starting in Ontario and Alberta.
After shutting down its platform for almost a decade, the company reopened one of the ‘most beloved Canadian brands.’ – The Bay.
In Calgary, a location sprung up in Sunridge Mall while Edmontonians awaited entry at Kingsway Garden Mall. The hot, southern Alberta town of Medicine Hat also experienced the relaunch, with The Bay’s Medicine Hat Shopping Mall opening its doors.
As for Ontario residents, some Zellers that opened in Hudson Bay locations include but are not limited to Erin Mills Town Centre in Mississauga, Burlington Mall in Burlington, White Oaks Mall in London, Scarborough Town Centre in Scarborough and St. Laurent Centre in Ottawa.
A quick breakdown on Zellers
Zellers has experienced a long history founded in 1931, with the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) purchasing the retail store in 1978.
In 1991, Zellers acquired Towers Department Store, relaunching 47 of the stores as Zellers. Eventually, in 2011, the American department chain, Target acquired 189 Zellers locations from HBC for around $1.83 billion, transitioning 125 of those into Target stores.
Only a few short years later, the company closed its doors in 2013, shutting down business for the foreseeable future.
But why bring back the retail store during inflation and consumer price sensitivity? The answer may be acquiring a different customer type that the HBC wants to gain.
According to the company, “customers can expect […] low prices day in, day out. Zellers is gearing up to become the new go-to, from lifestyle to home and almost everything in between.”
There is also a brand new Zellers website which is seeing a massive push from the HBC. A massive ‘Zellers’ logo greets you upon landing on thebay.com.
The HBC was publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘HBC.TO’ until March 2020, when it became a private company.
Check out our other articles to catch up on more consumer happenings in Canada.
