Zellers

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Type	Discount Department Store
Products	Clothing, grocery, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewellery, beauty products, electronics, toys, sports equipment, appliances, housewares
Established	1931
Defunct	March 2013
Fate	Target bought Zellers from HBC
Successor	Target Canada
No. of Stores	350+ (1999)
Countries Operated	Canada
HQ	Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Parent Company	Hudson's Bay Company
Website	https://www.thebay.com/content/zellers/

Zellers Inc. is a retail banner of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) that was once a major discount department retailer in Canada. Virtually all of its stores were closed in 2012 and early 2013 following the acquisition of most Zellers locations by Target Canada in 2011. Liquidators sold nearly all of Zellers' merchandise, store fixtures and shopping carts at discounted prices.

History

Zellers was founded in 1931 by Walter P. Zeller. The first location opened in 1932 London, Ontario. It was located on 176 Dundas Street and was 7 000 Square feet. Zellers first expansion of locations happened when 14 Schulte-United stores were bought out and turned into Zellers Stores. Soon after, Zellers expanded into Quebec and New Brunswick. By the 1950s, Zellers operated 60 stores and had 3 000 employees. In 1952, Zellers made a greater expansion into Atlantic Canada with the acquisition of 12 Federal Stores.

In November of 1952, Zellers made a deal with W.T. Grant, Grant got 51% ownership of Zellers and W.T. Grant helped Zellers with merchandising and expansions. In 1960, Zellers opened its first suburban big box store in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. More of these would open throughout the 1960s, the format eventually became the standard for new Zellers stores.

By 1976, Zellers had grown to a chain of 155 stores, with annual sales of $407 million. At this time W.T. Grant ceased Canadian operations, meaning that their partnership was over.

In 1978, Zellers offered to buy 100% of the Hudson's Bay Company. HBC realized the potential of Zellers, so instead they bought out Zellers for 72 million dollars, the deal was completed by August of that year.

In 1990, HBC bought all 51 stores of the Towers Department Store chain for 181.5 million dollars and turned most of them into Zellers stores in 1991.

In 1993, Hudson's Bay Company purchased the assets of the bankrupt Woodward's chain, including 21 store locations. These were converted into Zellers and The Bay stores, greatly expanding the company's presence in Western Canada.

The Exterior of a Kmart which turned into a Zellers in Halifax, NS.

In 1998, HBC bought out Kmart Canada and turned most of them into Zellers stores, with the remaining stores being liquidated. This was the peak of Zellers, they had 350 stores across all 10 provinces.

In the early 2000s, Zellers began to decline, this is because of how competitive the Canadian market is. Walmart was also opening many Walmart Supercenters during this time which usually had better prices and more selection than Zellers. Because of this, HBC began to close down under performing stores. By 2006, Zellers had downsized to 291 stores and was losing sales.

The exterior of a Vacant Zellers.

In 2008, HBC was bought out by New York based NRDC Equity Partners. The new owners invested more in turning around Hudson's Bay stores instead of Zellers stores. Many Zellers looked neglected and old by this point, and were in need of renovations. Also in 2008, Mark Foote became the new CEO of Zellers. He attempted to stabilize Zellers' income, which he succeeded with, by 2011, Zellers was somewhat stabilized and doing a bit better.

The exterior of a Target Canada in a former Zellers.

In 2011, Target was looking to expand into Canada, they did this by buying the Zellers chain from HBC, so in 2012 and 2013, all Zellers stores were liquidated. 133 Zellers turned into Target Canada. The other Zellers that didn't make the cut were ether sold to Walmart Canada or left vacant.

Three Zellers stores remained opened to carry liquidation merchandise from HBC's two other retail chains, Hudson's Bay and Home Outfitters. These stores operated under the Zellers banner but did not carry merchandise from the former chain. All of these stores closed by 2020.

In 2023, Hudson's Bay opened 25 Zellers stores within Hudson Bay stores. These only take up a part of the store. They sell various housewares, clothing, and toys. They also sell Anko brand products which is from Kmart Australia.

Store Concepts

Zellers

A standard Zellers Store

A standard Zellers location. The usual store size was 94 000 square feet. Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewellery, beauty products, electronics, toys, sports equipment, appliances, housewares were sold at standard Zellers Locations

Zellers Select

A Zellers Select Store in Saint John, NB

Zellers Select stores were designed for smaller markets with populations under 25,000, with stores averaged 45,000 square feet. Most things sold at Zellers were sold at Zellers Select with less selection.

Zellers Restaurant

The Skillet, Zellers in-store restaurant brand, was launched in 1960. The restaurants underwent several revisions and were branded as Zellers Family Restaurant before their demise. In spring 2023, the Hudson's Bay Company brought the restaurant back as a food truck at select locations.

The Neighborhood Market

Some larger locations had "Neighborhood Market" departments. Although most Zellers had some food and drinks. Neighborhood Markets expanded the selection with frozen food and dairy products.

Interior of one of the Winnipeg concept stores,

Exterior of one of the Winnipeg concept stores,

Winnipeg Prototype Concept Stores

In 2010, 5 Winnipeg Zellers stores were renovated with a new, modern looking concept. The sign above the main entrance had its colours inverted, where the logo would be white, and the facade would be red. Inside the store, there was wider isles, a modern design, and a even more expanded grocery section with fresh fruits and vegetables alongside frozen food and dairy products. This concept was planned to be rolled out to other stores outside of Winnipeg, but the plans were cancelled when Target bought out Zellers in 2011.

Zellers County Fair (1962-1975)

A Zellers County Fair Location

The logo for Best Value

These stores were the original big box suburban Zellers concept. They featured auto centres, Zellers diner, garden centres, and a full grocery department. These stores were rebranded to just Zellers when the 1975 logo rolled out. The remains of Zellers County Fair are in some malls which are still named "County Fair Mall." These malls were named this way because they had Zellers County Fair locations within them.

Best Value (Late 1990s-Early 2000s)

Best Value stores were the predecessor to Zellers Select. This name was used in Ontario and Western Canada for smaller and rural Zellers locations or locations HBC deemed fit to use the Best Value name. By the early 2000s, all stores had ether closed or were turned into Zellers Select locations.

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Zellers

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Subpages

• Zellers/Locations
• Zellers/Pop-up Locations
• Zellers/Decor Guide
• Zellers/Services