Hudson's Bay Company is reviving one of the most beloved brands in Canadian retail history, as the chain has opened a new Zellers pop-up inside their Hudson's Bay location at Burlington Centre Mall in Ontario – theBurlington Centre store page even mentions "Zellers" as something they carry.
As reported byRetail Insider, the pop-up was originally opened in August on the second floor of the Hudson's Bay store, complete with Zellers signage and red decor throughout the section. The pop-up features a mostly-uninteresting assortment of products, including Canada-branded apparel, bedding, housewares and toys.
According to a Hudson's Bay spokesperson, the Zellers pop-up is meant to provide a "fun and nostalgic experience" for customers and more pop-ups could open at other Hudson's Bay locations in the future, but no specific details were provided.
Zellers is one of the most iconic retail brands in Canada, as the discount chain once operated over 300 stores across the country into the late-1990s. That number dwindled to 64 in 2011 after 220 stores were sold to Target for their ill-fated expansion into Canada, then to just two in 2013.
The last two standalone Zellers stores – one in Etobicoke, ON and one in Nepean, ON – operated in relative obscurity as liquidation outlets until they were closed for good in January 2020, with Hudson's Bay Company retaining the rights to the brand. We visited the 95,000 square-foot Etobicoke location back in 2017 –click here to read about the visit and see what the store had to offer.
While Zellers stores are effectively extinct, the Zellers brand still maintains a loyal following onsocial media, with Canadians reminiscing about Zeddy the bear mascot, The Skillet in-store diner and other Zellers-related shopping experiences whenever the brand becomes a trending topic.
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Source:Retail Insider
And exactly the stuff that Zellers was most known for
Clothing, Housewares, and Kids Toys !
We definitely lived in a Zellers house back in the 80s & 90s
Target’s acquisition ruined everything … would love to see Zellers make a comeback. Give Cdns more choice than just Walmart … which has become very arrogant / complacent as the last 20 years have rolled on
What's the logic here? The Bay is supposedly a luxury goods department store. Sell discount merchandise inside a luxury goods store, but continue to pay expensive rent?
I think keeping the original look and retro logo is the only way this works. The store within a store concept is pretty popular so I could see this working. Who knows how far they plan on going with this though. I'd love to see them put out some Zellers exclusive branded goods.
Zellers will fail where they failed before and where Target failed: distribution. They could never keep the shelves stocked properly. Always confusion and mismanaged.
Got our KitchenAid Pro Mixer c/o Zellers @ HBC
I would love to have Zellers back!
Probably indicated they were terribly disorganized, but when the kids were young alot of their clothing was actually pretty decent for the price. Much more than walmart crap.
Overall, they had an OK mix of products, and we bought lots of things from them over the years. If this is just the bay, with some different logos it's not going to hold up.
Store within a store works only when selling things that are worth a physical trip to the store. Apparel with a big Canada emblem and toys that can be purchased from Amazon aren't it.
A BIG THING when it comes to sales
Teens in the 70s … wanted to reflect on the 50s (often before their birth years too)
Hence the success of American Graffiti - Happy Days - Lavern & Shirley
Same for kids of the 90s … looking at the 70s
That 70s Show - The Wonder Years
Here we are about to hit the 2020s …
Makes sense that folks are gonna reflect on decades 20 to 40 years ago
1980s to early 2000s
Are the NEW it
Just look at fashion …
Women are wearing those ridiculous looking high wasted Mom jeans
My SO … shaking head … and wonders WHAT THE H3LL DID WE THINK WAS EVER ATTRACTIVE ABOUT THESE
They literally suit NO ONES BODY TYPE
And yet today’s teens / young adults / 20 somethings are flocking to them
Definitely believe Zellers could make a go of it again …
If they focus on the stuff people recall fondly
As the saying goes “Everything old is new again “
And for the younger generation … it’s all new to them
Hence the fascination
I've worked for Zellers for 8yrs and was sad to close the store I worked for. I've been wishing for it to come back..
Loved that store shopped there before I was hired there.
Please open that store again.
Thanks
The Bay in question is in Burlington ONTARIO … the Zellers pop up is inside The Bay
No US Dollars involved.
If you are talking economic climate in general … then you should have said that, and elaborated on that point.
The point is when the dollar to dollar comparison kicks in, and if you have any background experience of those era when Royal $ was equal to Republic $, you would easily notice lots of things have been changed for worse: The quality has been dropped, the shrinkflation has been kicked in, the price tag has been jacked up, the product variation has been reduced, the wages have not been gone up, and the like. But we are still so happy to see Zellers has come back, eh?! Hands down!
Back in the day these 2 stores were very much separate identities … with different goods.
HBC acquired Zellers in 1981. It was at the time the largest Retailer in Canada … infact originally it was Zellers looking to acquire HBC … but HBC Execs saw Zellers potential as a nice balance to their own Department Store. HBC being mid range to upscale, and Zellers everyday to mid range.
Oh how the tables have turned again …
Zellers officially is no more … having been sold off / bankrupted by Target.
But here we are today with HBC on rocky ground … and the defunct Zellers could potentially rise again to fill that everyday to mid range spot it once held … a lot more effectively than HBC ever reinventing itself as an everyday store
For now … I think the pop up makes sense
Whether Zellers rises from the ashes, to save HBC … well that’s yet to be seen
But I wouldn’t say it’s impossible … even if for now it’s just a nostalgic idea
I never liked it either never shopped there either...I don't like The Bay either though.
We may not have no name chicken chips anymore but the young'uns know about them from media, same with Zellers.
But there was one location that just had a different vibe to it... larger, brighter, huge electronics and of course restaurant. They even had grocery section and everything nicely maintained.
Few years later vacationing in US and was like deja vu... Went to a Tgt and seemed a replica of Zellers above.
Think they really could have done better even survived by keeping it fresh just like that one location I vividly remember.
Some stores added more grocery items … beyond just snack foods .. that was like in the early 2000s
Long before Walmart did the same … yup Zellers was ahead of the curve
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A lot of folks on RFD mention the unorganized / cluttered look of Zellers … or stock issues etc
I think this depends on which decade you recall the chain from … things definitely got worse as time wore on (under Target especially)
But in its hey day of the 1980s & 90s … it was an awesome store. Of course some locations were bigger, better, brighter, more organized / less crowded floor plans than others (or Mgmt cared more)
The Bay is desperately trying to transform itself into a luxury shopping store by attracting Chinese students/PRs, basically the type of crowd that visits Holt and comes out with >$1,000 of merchandise.
This Zellers pop up goes the complete opposite of that grand strategy. Zellers died because the moms in the 90s aged and the company couldn't attract Gen X moms. This so-called Zellers takes Canada logo apparel and puts it behind a red line. It hurts The Bay and doesn't do anything for the Zellers brand.
I have been to several HBCs this past year or two
In different cities / provinces
And for the most part
They are in good repair
And certainly not dirty
Care to share, which ones you have found lacking
Zellers died cuz it got sold off by a then desperate HBC to Target USA … for a lot of bucks
Target saw it as an easy gateway into Canada … utilizing a similar well known successful brand to rebrand as Target Canada
Unfortunately the folks at Target did ZERO RESEARCH INTO WHAT MADE CDN CONSUMERS DIFFERENT FROM AMERICANS … and so cuz of a lack of prep work on their part
Target Canada FAILED
Zellers never failed … it just got chewed up by a clueless buy out agreement
Fortunately for HBC … they sold the Co. But, they never sold the brand name … hence a now again desperate HBC can look back to what worked in the past and have these pop ups
Note … I don’t deny was Zellers was having a tough time holding its own against Walmart Canada who had arrived here in 1994 … they were neck & neck with market share by 1998
https://www.cbc.ca/archives/the-240m-de ... -1.5443333
And it & parent HBC were in those early years struggling to fight off the big new American giant that Cdns were flocking to as the NEW THING IN TOWN and their huge big box stores vs Zellers traditional position as a mall anchor. But even more than all that … Zellers biggest issue was the poor Mgmt at HBC … who had over extended themselves with the acquisition of pretty much every other Cdn discount dept store chain there was at the time … Towers / Bonimart - Woodward’s - Kmart etc … all in 184 stores bought in a short time frame … taking Zellers up to 350 stores in Canada. HBC was literally bleeding money by the time Target USA came along. This sell off was literally made to save HBC Canada’s iconic dept store brand … The Bay
Today, HBC is once again bleeding money … and looking for new ways to stay afloat.
But once again they seem to be disorganized and trying to be too many things at once …
It would be however truly ironic if one of the things that saves them going forward is a relaunch of Zellers.
Personally I think it might just be the right time. The Cdn market is devoid these days of much in the way of a discount dept store … save for Walmart. The Cdn consumers other choices are Cdn Tire - Giant Tiger - and Dollarama. Other than Cdn Tire (which is notoriously over priced unless somethings on sale) not much available here in Canada any longer for general merchandise for the middle income family … which also is why TJ Maxx Group Canada (Winners, HomeSense & Marshalls) are doing so well.
While Zellers makes effort to try and be better than Giant Tiger for quality,
they can't go too high with quality because it would defeat the purpose of shopping at the Bay...Bay can't up anything for the same reason...They can't afford to lose Sak's customers.
So now, there's a low, middle and high end combo once again.
What I want to know is, will Zellers carry only Orange Tab Levi jeans while Bay carries the red tab and Sak's carries the gold tab?
It's been my favourite example for years. Levi's does not actually made a gold tab, but it is a great example of my point.
He let me go with a warning and not to come into the store for a year. I can’t believe I still remember his face. He kind of looked like Elvis Stoijko (sp?).
A year or so later, I was back but he didn’t recognize me. I literally saw him browsing in the women's lingerie section doing his undercover work again.
Zellers mascot was a big brown teddy bear right?
The Canadian market has changed drastically in the past 25 years. There's no room for another discount dept store like Zellers. Want cheap brand name clothing for the kids? Go to Gap or Old Navy outlets. Those didn't exist in the 90s. Want a cheap coffee maker or rice cooker or pillow? Buy it from Real Canadian Superstore/Loblaws/Zehrs. For everything else, there's Walmart, Amazon, and TJX Companies.