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Zellers Unveils 25 New Locations for 2023 Revival

Zellers Unveils 25 New Locations for 2023 Revival

By Simon Hung

The Zellers comeback is one step closer to reality, as the chain has unveiled 25 locations across Canada where you'll find their new in-store experience this spring.

News of a Zellers revival first surfaced last August, after Hudson's Bay Company – owners of the Zellers trademark – announced plans to bring back the beloved brand in 2023. Since then, the company has re-launched the Zellers.ca website and began posting on several social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Here's where you can visit a Zellers location later this year – all 25 locations will be within existing Hudson's Bay stores.

British Columbia

  • Abbotsford – 7 Oaks Shopping Centre
  • Kamloops – Aberdeen Mall
  • Surrey – Guildford Town Centre
  • Vancouver – Pacific Centre

Alberta

  • Calgary – Sunridge Mall
  • Edmonton – Kingsway Garden Mall
  • Medicine Hat – Medicine Hat Mall
Saskatchewan
  • Saskatoon – Midtown Plaza

Manitoba

  • Winnipeg – St. Vital Centre

Ontario

  • Burlington – Burlington Mall
  • Cambridge – Cambridge Centre
  • Kingston – Cataraqui Centre
  • London – White Oaks Mall
  • Mississauga – Erin Mills Town Centre
  • Ottawa – Rideau Centre
  • Ottawa – St. Laurent Centre
  • Scarborough – Scarborough Town Centre
  • St. Catharines – The Pen Centre

Quebec

  • Anjou – Galeries d'Anjou
  • Gatineau – Les Promenades Gatineau
  • Quebec City – Les Galeries de la Capitale
  • Rosemère – Place Rosemère
  • Sherbrooke – Carrefour de l'Estrie

Nova Scotia

  • Dartmouth – Micmac Mall
  • Sydney – Mayflower Shopping Mall

The Zellers in-store experience will occupy approximately 8000-10,000 square feet of retail space, with Zellers' signature red and white branding and a curated selection of apparel, home décor, toys, baby and pet products.

Zellers' in-store and online shopping experiences will launch simultaneously and a precise launch date was not provided, aside from a general timeframe of "this spring".

____________________

Source: Hudson's Bay Company

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  • cslusarc
  • Pdone49
    • Pretty sure everything will be torn down. So it took how many years to do the crosstown with all the construction now it will be like downtown and they will have cranes 🏗️ everywhere on Eglinton Ave E and no where to shop.
    • Report Post
  • BaileySyd
    • This is really bad news for the mall--they were positioning it as a fashion centre with both Hudson's Bay and Simons. Even if HBC decides to open a Zellers in the former Hudson's Bay space, that's a downgrade from what the mall ownership was intending for the centre.
      I can't imagine that they are planning to put a Zellers there. There will be a Zellers section in Kingsway.

      If the mall owners thought that that was a fashion centre, they sorely missed the mark.
    • Report Post
  • TravellingChris
    • Interesting. Londonderry is a pretty lacklustre mall but it is nice having a Bay there for any online returns. I imagine that Simons has taken a chunk of business away from the Bay.
      This is really bad news for the mall--they were positioning it as a fashion centre with both Hudson's Bay and Simons. Even if HBC decides to open a Zellers in the former Hudson's Bay space, that's a downgrade from what the mall ownership was intending for the centre.
    • Report Post
  • TravellingChris
    • I think HBC is attempting what Sobeys has recently done in Western Canada. Over the last few years, Sobeys has converted a bunch of full-service Safeway and Sobeys stores which apparently had weak(er) same-store sales, to FreshCo in order to both respond to consumer demand for value as well as try to squeeze better performance out of a given location.

      This appears to be what HBC has done in choosing certain Hudson's Bay locations whose performance is evidently poor, with the idea that the company has little to lose in experimenting with an alternative format in those places. If the experiment succeeds in a given location, they could convert more space or even that entire store to Zellers. If the experiment fails, well the Bay store at that site was struggling anyway. In Edmonton Zellers is planned for a portion of Hudson's Bay in Kingsway Mall (a shopping centre in which Zellers previously operated quite successfully but where Walmart has now taken over the former Sears).

      It's interesting because there were recent rumours in Edmonton that HBC was considering exiting Kingsway, Londonderry and St. Albert Centre and just keeping its Southgate and West Edmonton Mall locations.


      The fly in the ointment is going to be the landlords. The owners of the mall may start to object if HBC changes more than a small portion of a given Hudson's Bay store. A Zellers will attract a different type of customer than a Hudson's Bay and the landlord (as well as other mall tenants) may view it as a downgrade. It's ancient history now, but when HBC bought Woodward's department stores in 1993 a lot of malls objected to HBC's plans to replace a given Woodward's with a Zellers store instead of The Bay.
      Hudson's Bay has announced that they are closing their store in Edmonton's Londonderry Mall after 51 years. I do wonder about the duration and terms of their lease--if they are still locked into their lease for some time yet, would they replace the Hudson's Bay store with a Zellers?
    • Report Post
  • BaileySyd
    • Retail Insider reports that Hudson’s Bay To Shut Londonderry Mall Store In Edmonton in August. It was estimated that they do the same annual sales as the Shoppers' Drug Mart in the same mall.
      Interesting. Londonderry is a pretty lacklustre mall but it is nice having a Bay there for any online returns. I imagine that Simons has taken a chunk of business away from the Bay.
    • Report Post
  • cslusarc
  • apnayloags
    • Pretty sure the Bay at Eglinton Square will be closing as there is a proposal for condo’s on the property. The is proposal on both north and south side from Victoria Park to Birchmount. There will be no stores to shop around as they will tear them all down. Not sure how the metro link will work as there will be more people then trains to support the volume.
      So the entire mall will be gone ? Or just the bay?
      Well that would suck if the mall closed down as its a good place sometimes if u need stuff in a jiffy
    • Report Post
  • elec0T3
    • The Bay at Eglinton Square is 2 levels (it used to have a third level but that was removed in renovations in the late 90s, early 2000s). The store is currently oddly configured - almost all regular Bay departments are on the first floor, only small and major appliances, furniture are on the second floor. The rest of the second floor is a Bay Clearance Centre. Thought moving everything to the first floor was a way of getting ready for Zellers on the second floor but Eglinton Square wasn't on the initial list.
    • Report Post
  • cathyjohnson
    • Can't Wait for Zellers TO Reopen,ALWAYS loved it💓💓💓
    • Report Post
  • cslusarc
    • The Bay store at Eglinton Square is about 115,000 sq ft from the mall's site plan and categorized in 2020 as a "Silver" tier store based on sales. I've seen photos on Google showing an escalator, does the store have 2 or 3 levels?
    • Report Post
  • Pdone49
    • Pretty sure the Bay at Eglinton Square will be closing as there is a proposal for condo’s on the property. The is proposal on both north and south side from Victoria Park to Birchmount. There will be no stores to shop around as they will tear them all down. Not sure how the metro link will work as there will be more people then trains to support the volume.
    • Report Post
  • caiphn
    • No 3D clubhouse?! Sadness.
    • Report Post
  • CannonFodder
    • Oh man that clubhouse was my goto
    • Report Post
  • apnayloags
    • Will we see zellers stuff @ eglinton square mall ??
      The Bay there is really needing some old touches lol
    • Report Post
  • ToolTimer999
    • My big Zeller's memory was buying the 89c metal cans of Allen's apple juice and having to wait till I got home to open it up with a can opener.

      It was really nice apple juice and it was cheap.
    • Report Post
  • jacnel
    • Is there REALLY such fond memories of Zeller's out there? I just remember dreading every time my parents dragged me into one of those stores. Sears too, hated that store so much.
      I personally have a lot of fond memories of Zellers. Back when I was a child and my grandparents lived in Elora, we would often go out to the Zellers in Fergus for lunch. I have such fond memories of eating grilled cheese with my grandmother, which are so important to me since she would pass away a few years after that.

      Zellers for me was never a particularly great store by any retail metric. The stores were often understaffed and a big mess, however there was this humble, positive, feeling that I and I think many other Canadians got when they shopped there, which has since gone away with the demise of the chain. Back in 2011 when HBC announced it was selling its Zellers leases to Target I was really excited and didn't think I would miss Zellers, but now that Zellers is gone I've realized there was so much more to the chain that I never thought of. It was a humble store, a positive place to shop at, the staff were great, and overall Zellers provided a lot of good vibes. It's often that you don't know what you've lost until after you've lost it, and I think for many Canadians that's how we feel about Zellers.

      Will HBC's revival of the chain be exactly like its predecessor? Probably not. But if they can bring back at least some of the feeling that I and many other people got from Zellers when it was still around, then I think it's going to be successful.
    • Report Post
  • Quentin5
    • Yeah, I think they are missing the plot. Those may be common orders, or easy to do in a food truck, but they aren't the meals that drew people.
      Like BoatyMcBoatface, crowdsourcing is not always the best way to do things.
    • Report Post
  • lecale
    • Yeah this was on their Instagram where you could vote for the top 5 items they'll serve out of the food truck.

      When Zellers was around, I never had the Big Z Burger but their clubhouse sandwich and fries was the bomb!
      Yeah, I think they are missing the plot. Those may be common orders, or easy to do in a food truck, but they aren't the meals that drew people.
    • Report Post
  • mrweather
    • Or at least their canned gravy supplier!

      • Big Z Burger vs. Hot Dog
      • Hot Chicken Sandwich vs. Poutine
      • Fries and Gravy vs. Quesadilla
      • Veggie Burger vs. Grilled Cheese Sandwich
      • Chicken Fingers vs. Onion Rings
      Yeah this was on their Instagram where you could vote for the top 5 items they'll serve out of the food truck.

      When Zellers was around, I never had the Big Z Burger but their clubhouse sandwich and fries was the bomb!
    • Report Post
  • Quentin5
    • I remember doing the 2-4-1 coupons on battered fish with fries & tartar sauce lunches. That's the only time I went: not exactly for the food but the deal.

      The food trucks need to have 2-4-1 coupons to really evoke what eating at Zellers was like.
      With inflation they might bring it back as the 1-4-2 coupon :(
      I think my biggest Club Z purchase was a $100 CD tower lol. Certainly still do not have that!
      But CDs might come back someday 😄

      I still have an old cassette player, apparently they are coming back!
    • Report Post
  • lecale
    • Its weird that i don't remember the meals from the Zellers restaurant, just that they were good.

      But i do still have a director's chair purchased with Club Z points.
      I think my biggest Club Z purchase was a $100 CD tower lol. Certainly still do not have that!
    • Report Post
  • lecale
    • I remember doing the 2-4-1 coupons on battered fish with fries & tartar sauce lunches. That's the only time I went: not exactly for the food but the deal.

      The food trucks need to have 2-4-1 coupons to really evoke what eating at Zellers was like.
    • Report Post
  • BaileySyd
    • Its weird that i don't remember the meals from the Zellers restaurant, just that they were good.

      But i do still have a director's chair purchased with Club Z points.
      I can't recall ever eating there but imagine that I must have.

      I still have a lamp that I got with Club Z points. All other stuff has long since been donated.
    • Report Post
  • Quentin5
    • Or at least their canned gravy supplier!

      • Big Z Burger vs. Hot Dog
      • Hot Chicken Sandwich vs. Poutine
      • Fries and Gravy vs. Quesadilla
      • Veggie Burger vs. Grilled Cheese Sandwich
      • Chicken Fingers vs. Onion Rings
      Its weird that i don't remember the meals from the Zellers restaurant, just that they were good.

      But i do still have a director's chair purchased with Club Z points.
    • Report Post
  • lecale
    • Thats a good idea 😃
      Lets hope they held on to their original recipes 😎
      Or at least their canned gravy supplier!

      • Big Z Burger vs. Hot Dog
      • Hot Chicken Sandwich vs. Poutine
      • Fries and Gravy vs. Quesadilla
      • Veggie Burger vs. Grilled Cheese Sandwich
      • Chicken Fingers vs. Onion Rings
    • Report Post
  • Quentin5
    • So, they don't have room in the HBC's for a full restaurant so they are going to have Zellers food trucks at the grand openings of the new Zellerses.

      You can vote on what the food trucks will offer on Instagram (10 choices, 5 will make the cut)


      Zellers rolling out food trucks for Canadians 'craving a taste of nostalgia'
      https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/zellers ... -1.6249296
      Thats a good idea 😃
      Lets hope they held on to their original recipes 😎
    • Report Post
  • lecale
    • So, they don't have room in the HBC's for a full restaurant so they are going to have Zellers food trucks at the grand openings of the new Zellerses.

      You can vote on what the food trucks will offer on Instagram (10 choices, 5 will make the cut)


      Zellers rolling out food trucks for Canadians 'craving a taste of nostalgia'
      https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/zellers ... -1.6249296
    • Report Post
  • gr8dlr
    • The Zellers restaurant seems universally well-regarded in this thread, a position with which I heartily concur.

      Maybe HBC should just forgo the stores and open a chain of retro/vintage Zellers restaurants. Sounds like that has a chance of being successful.
      The really old Eaton's and Honest Eds used to have a hot dog kiosk. It was the only reason when I was a kid I was ok to go there sometimes.
    • Report Post
  • tradinghumble
    • This will be a huge flop
    • Report Post
  • TorontoWest91
    • lol unless they bring back old brands like Cherokee ... doubt it... I think this will fail.
    • Report Post
  • TravellingChris
    • Sure won’t mind some competition for walmart.
      Target was nice but didn’t last…..
      Looks like The Bay is desperate for business

      In the age of rising taxes and inflation, people have cut down spending…..exceptions alwsys there but its forcing many to cutdown expenses

      When is zellers reopening ??!
      I think HBC is attempting what Sobeys has recently done in Western Canada. Over the last few years, Sobeys has converted a bunch of full-service Safeway and Sobeys stores which apparently had weak(er) same-store sales, to FreshCo in order to both respond to consumer demand for value as well as try to squeeze better performance out of a given location.

      This appears to be what HBC has done in choosing certain Hudson's Bay locations whose performance is evidently poor, with the idea that the company has little to lose in experimenting with an alternative format in those places. If the experiment succeeds in a given location, they could convert more space or even that entire store to Zellers. If the experiment fails, well the Bay store at that site was struggling anyway. In Edmonton Zellers is planned for a portion of Hudson's Bay in Kingsway Mall (a shopping centre in which Zellers previously operated quite successfully but where Walmart has now taken over the former Sears). It's interesting because there were recent rumours in Edmonton that HBC was considering exiting Kingsway, Londonderry and St. Albert Centre and just keeping its Southgate and West Edmonton Mall locations.

      The fly in the ointment is going to be the landlords. The owners of the mall may start to object if HBC changes more than a small portion of a given Hudson's Bay store. A Zellers will attract a different type of customer than a Hudson's Bay and the landlord (as well as other mall tenants) may view it as a downgrade. It's ancient history now, but when HBC bought Woodward's department stores in 1993 a lot of malls objected to HBC's plans to replace a given Woodward's with a Zellers store instead of The Bay.
    • Report Post
  • Quentin5
    • The Zellers restaurant seems universally well-regarded in this thread, a position with which I heartily concur.

      Maybe HBC should just forgo the stores and open a chain of retro/vintage Zellers restaurants. Sounds like that has a chance of being successful.
      I like how you think 😎
    • Report Post
  • cslusarc
    • Does any current Hudson's Bay store currently have any restaurants? Polo Park (ex-Eaton's) and St Vital do not now.
    • Report Post
  • CannonFodder
    • Without the restaurant its an almost guaranteed fail 😕
      The Zellers restaurant seems universally well-regarded in this thread, a position with which I heartily concur.

      Maybe HBC should just forgo the stores and open a chain of retro/vintage Zellers restaurants. Sounds like that has a chance of being successful.
    • Report Post
  • NO CARRIER
    • I'd love a reason to not shop at Walmart. They get my money because there aren't any real alternatives in the area anymore.

      I do have good memories of Zellers. Especially the Fridays when they'd drop balloons from the ceiling and the restaurant.
    • Report Post
  • gr8dlr
    • Guarantee this zellers experiment will fail.
    • Report Post
  • apnayloags
    • Sure won’t mind some competition for walmart.
      Target was nice but didn’t last…..
      Looks like The Bay is desperate for business

      In the age of rising taxes and inflation, people have cut down spending…..exceptions alwsys there but its forcing many to cutdown expenses

      When is zellers reopening ??!
    • Report Post
  • U4IA
    • Zellers was a good alternative at the time. Prices were decent, and quality was great for kids clothes. Hit or miss on other things, but the store was always sort of in a weird state, and you could find odd gems now and them.

      But, turning a corner of the bay into zellers and expecting some magic seems a bit hopeless. The coming soon sign has been up for months, and I dont see any progress so far.
    • Report Post
  • blackbirdman
    • Won't make it past 5 years before they start closing zellers down for good.
    • Report Post