Zellers

Early History

Walter P. Zeller was born in Waterloo County, Ontario. He learned his trade by working in the offices of three early department store chains: the American-owned F. W. Woolworth, S.S. Kresge Company, and the Canadian-owned Metropolitan Stores.

In summer 1928, W. P. Zeller established a new chain of department stores, focused on selling products worth 5 cents to a dollar. In October, American retailer Schulte-United acquired the Zellers Limited chain, naming Zeller as one of their two Canadian vice-presidents. Zellers Limited stores rebranded as Schulte-United the following year. They expanded to 14 locations in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario.

Schulte-United went bankrupt in both the United States and Canada in January 1931. That November, under Zellers Limited, W. P. Zeller repurchased the stores. Decades later, Zellers would promote this as their founding year.

Expansion

In 1952, Zellers purchased Federal 5-10-15c to $1 Stores Ltd, growing the brand from 35 to 52 stores. Zellers had 54 stores as of 1954, when they sold 50 per cent of the company to American retailer W. T. Grant Company. W. P. Zeller died in 1957.

In early years, most Zellers locations were in downtown areas. During the 1960s and 1970s, shopping centres located away from urban centres increased in popularity, particularly in the rapidly growing suburbs. As many malls needed over 100 acres of land, these locations were often at the agricultural edges of communities. Stores at these malls were often called “Zellers County Fair.”

W. T. Grant attempted to sell its controlling interest of Zellers in 1975, but could not find a buyer. The American company went bankrupt in February 1976. Both Winnipeg’s MacLeod Stedman stores and Vancouver’s Fields Stores Ltd. bid on Zellers, the latter acquiring a controlling interest in June. Later that year, Zellers took over its parent company.

HBC purchased a majority stake in Zellers in 1978. Before the purchase, HBC did not have a strong retail presence in the Atlantic provinces.

Zellers acquired another discounter named Towers, known as Bonimart in Quebec, in 1990. Most of the stores were rebranded, but others closed.

American discount department store Wal-Mart entered Canada in 1994, buying and renovating 122 Woolco stores. This was followed by the construction of larger stand-alone locations. Many Canadian retailers changed their operations to compete, with Zellers emphasizing their Canadian ownership, and branding themselves as “Truly Canadian” by 1995.

By 1998, Zellers had 298 stores and its main rival, Kmart Canada, had 112 stores. HBC purchased Kmart, planning to convert a portion to Zellers and The Bay, while closing the remainder. Kmart’s Brampton, Ontario, head office became home to Zellers.

In 1998 Zellers opened Best Value stores in small retail outlets. By 2000, these stores became Zellers Select and were aimed towards small towns. The last location closed in 2013.

Target Lease Acquisition

In 2003, American investor Jerry Zucker began rapidly buying shares in HBC. He took over 82 per cent of ownership in 2006, becoming CEO and governor.

Consumer perception of Zellers stores was said to have improved during the initial years of Zucker’s ownership, as stores were refreshed. Despite the boost, there were rumours that HBC would sell larger Zellers locations to American discount department store Target.

HBC agreed in 2011 to sell the leases for up to 220 of the 279 Zellers locations to Target Corporation. The remaining locations would remain as Zellers. At least 100 to 150 Targets were to open by 2014.

Target Canada locations began opening in 2013, but by April 2015 all store locations closed. Causes of the closure included higher prices than American stores, and issues keeping stores stocked with inventory.

Zellers was also wound down. Three Zellers locations remained open as The Bay clearance stores. The final two locations closed in January 2020.

Revivals

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, HBC failed to renew its Zellers trademarks. A Quebec family registered the trademark in 2021, opening two stores in Sorel-Tracy. HBC sued to regain control of the mark.

In 2021, HBC opened a single Zellers “shop-in-store” location in Burlington, Ontario. Throughout 2023, the concept expanded to 78 locations nationwide. Many of its products were by Anko, the house brand of Kmart Australia. HBC went bankrupt in 2025, closing all locations.

That same year, the Zellers trademarks were purchased by Les Ailes de la Mode Inc. It opened a Zellers in Edmonton’s Londonderry Mall in October 2025, with plans to announce more locations.

Marketing

During its final decades, Zellers released memorable promotions and taglines.

Club Z was a points program launched in August 1986. By 1990, more than 3.5 million Canadians were members, or 80 per cent of customers. Points could be redeemed for products from a special catalogue.

Also in 1986, Zellers introduced a line of toys and children’s wear featuring a mascot called Zeddy Bear. This character made store appearances and was associated with the “Cub Club,” a marketing program directed to children, which by 1998 had 550,000 members.

The first Zellers Restaurant opened in 1932, at their Ottawa location, paired with a tearoom. In 1960, the concept was reformatted as a “lunch counter,” branded as The Skillet. In the 1990s, locations rebranded to simply Zellers Restaurant. As of 1990, the chain had 165 full-service restaurants.

Beginning in 1988, Zellers had a variety of advertising taglines based on “the lowest price is the law.” Marketing focused on value, as Zellers was seen as “uncool” in its time. Some ads even suggested secrecy about where the items were purchased. Other ads promised “Only you know how little you paid,” and that the store offered “Everything from A to Z”. Attempts to make the store fashionable were short-lived.