Zellers keeps trying to make a comeback. After the closure of The Bay where Zellers pop-ups were thought to make the department store relevant again, it seemed we'd seen the last the last of attempts to revive the brand. In the 1990s, Zellers numbered 350 stores across Canada. By the time Target came in and bought 220 Zellers, it left and orphaned and unwanted 70 locations that began slowly closing until there was none. As for Target, it was only a few shorts years in Canada and they retreated back across the border. All the old locations now have different stores in them.
As The Bay struggled in post-Covid times, Zellers was brought in to help the store sales with a wave of nostalgia and product lines. However, the American owner of HBC had pretty much sold most things of value and so the oldest company in Canada was liquidated including the Zellers popups in Bay stores across Canada.
In receivership, leases and namesakes and anything of value are being sold off with oversight by the court. Canadian Tire bought The Bay name and key intellectual property for around $30 million. It is believed that they open parts of the business under The Bay name and sell things like Hudson Bay blankets.
But no one knew what was to come of Zellers. No mention was made whether it's name or intellectual property was sold. Now we know the answer. It was. A group associated with retailer Fairweather. The details on the new Zellers are few. It is in Edmonton's Londonderry Mall and around 60,000 square feet. But whether it has a grill, carries certain products and the like is a mystery.
The word is though that the new Zellers is looking at Winnipeg but it unknown whether it will go to St. Vital or Polo Park or neither. A credible owner now has control over Zellers. A lot of eyes will be on the new Edmonton location to see if it will be turning up in Winnipeg in 2026.
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