A discount retailer is making a comeback in Canada, opening its first 25 “Zellers store experiences” within Hudson’s Bay, including in Cambridge, Ont.
Hudson’s Bay announced Wednesday, out of the 25 locations, nine are planned for Ontario, with Cambridge Centre being one of the chosen spots.
“I think it’s really exciting. I would definitely want to shop there,” local shopper Sarah Kennedy told CTV News. “Hopefully it has the same business model of being a lower priced Canadian business.”
The stores are expected to be between 8,000 to 10,000 square feet – depending on the location.
“Opening in communities across the country, the brick-and-mortar locations will complement the first-ever Zellers.ca ecommerce site,” Hudson’s Bay said in a release.
The company said all locations across Canada will open simultaneously with the Zellers website. Zellers.ca is already up and running but products are not yet available for purchase.
“Customers will be greeted with a thoughtful selection of design-led products across home decor, toys, baby, apparel and pets, housed within Zellers' signature red and white that will guide customers along in their retail journey,” Hudson’s Bay said.
One shopper in Waterloo region said he's excited for Zellers to return.
"It's going to bring back a lot of old memories," said Pete Hugo, a Cambridge shopper. "You’d always get a good deal there. They’d always challenge the price to be the lowest. In these times now that’s got to be a good thing, right? Plus the quality of the material and the stuff that they had – they were good."
It’s been more than a decade since Zellers locations closed nationwide.
American retail giant Target acquired the majority of Zellers locations from Hudson’s Bay Co. in 2011, converting the stores into Target retailers before withdrawing from Canada in 2015.
Shirley Lichti is a retired marketing professor at Wilfrid Laurier University and founding partner at Marketing Magic. The former professor wrote a case study on Target’s acquisition of Zellers and what led to its flop in Canada.
“So many Canadian consumers had already been shopping at Target in the U.S., where prices were really cheap. When they opened in Canada, they couldn’t offer those same prices for a number of different reasons,” Lichti said.
“Another thing was that they didn’t anticipate the differences in consumer behaviour between Canadians and Americans.”
Last summer, brand owner, Hudson’s Bay Co. said the goal with the new locations is to tap into the nostalgia of the brand.
"We know how special Zellers is in the hearts and minds of people in Canada," said Adam Powell, Zellers' chief business officer in Aug. 2022. "Zellers is a brand deeply rooted in the Canadian experience."
Lichti believes Zellers will thrive if the retailer returns to its roots of offering low prices and discounted merchandise.
“If [Hudson’s Bay Co.] Can bring back Zellers the way consumers remember it, they should be able to do well with it,” Lichti said. “They’re not going to be able to offer the same low prices. Are they going to disappoint consumers if their prices are higher? I don’t really know.”
