 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Discount retail store |
| Founded | 1931 |
| Founder | Walter P. Zeller |
| Defunct | March 2013 (as a chain) January 2020 (liquidation stores) |
| Fate | Closed with most store leases acquired by Target Canada. Selected locations were retained to serve as liquidation centres for other HBC retail chains until 2020. In 2023, HBC opened a Zellers-themed section inside Hudson's Bay stores.[1] |
| Headquarters | Brampton, Ontario, Canada |
Number of locations | 350 (1999; peak)[2] 86 within Hudson's Bay (2023) |
| Products | Clothing, grocery, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewellery, beauty products, electronics, toys, sports equipment, appliances, housewares |
| Owner | Hudson's Bay Company[3] |
| Website | zellers |
Zellers was a Canadian discount store chain founded by Walter P. Zeller in 1931. It was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1978, and after a series of acquisitions and expansions, peaked with 350 locations in 1999.[2] However, fierce competition and an inability to adapt during the early stages of the retail apocalypse resulted in Zellers losing significant ground in the 2000s.
In January 2011, HBC announced that it would sell the lease agreements for up to 220 Zellers stores to the US chain Target for $1.825 billion. In turn, Target announced its intention to convert many of them to Canadian locations of Target, and re-sell the remainder to other parties such as Walmart Canada, resulting in their liquidation and eventual closure. While HBC initially retained 64 Zellers locations, it announced on July 26, 2012, that all of them would be liquidated and closed by March 31, 2013, due to their lack of profitability. Ultimately, all but three selected stores were closed later in 2013.
When the chain ceased, HBC converted the three Zellers-branded locations into liquidation outlets for The Bay (since renamed Hudson's Bay), with the last of those stores closing and ending the brand on January 26, 2020.[4] As of 2023 however, the Zellers brand name has been formally reintroduced as a store-within-a-store concept inside Hudson's Bay department stores, complemented by online shopping.
- ^ "Zellers is making a comeback in Canada this spring. Here are the locations | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
- ^ a b Dunn, Brian (October 4, 1999). ""MARTHA STEWART, ZELLARS [sic] NAMED IN LAWSUIT"". HFN The Weekly Newspaper for the Home Furnishing Network. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
- ^ "Contacts". Hudson's Bay Company. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
- ^ Watters, Haydn (January 19, 2020). "As final Zellers stores close, former employees swap memories, memorabilia". CBC News. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.