Zellers returns to Canada, 9 Ontario stores planned

Nearly a decade after it closed its doors nationwide, Zellers is set to return to Canada.

The retailer announced Wednesday the planned Canada locations of 25 “Zellers store experiences” within Hudson’s Bay stores.

According to the company, the physical locations will be accompanied by the first-ever Zellers e-commerce site, Zellers.ca.

In the Greater Toronto Area, there are three planned locations – one in Erin Mills Shopping Centre in Mississauga, one in Scarborough Town Centre and one in Burlington Mall.

The full list of Ontario locations is as follows:

• 
  Erin Mills, Mississauga
• 
  Burlington Mall, Burlington
• 
  White Oaks Mall, London
• 
  Scarborough Town Centre, Scarborough
• 
  Pen Centre Shopping Plaza, St. Catharines
• 
  Cambridge Centre, Cambridge
• 
  Rideau Center, Ottawa
• 
  St. Laurent Center, Ottawa
• 
  Cataraqui Town Centre, Kingston

The company says all locations across Canada will open simultaneously, along with Zellers.ca.

The stores are expected to be between 8,000 to 10,000 square feet, depending on location.

WHY DID ZELLERS CLOSE?

In early 2011, U.S. department store chain Target acquired the leaseholds for 189 Zellers locations throughout Canada for $1.825 billion from the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC).

The majority (125) of Zellers locations operating at the time were converted into Target retailers. This left the HBC with 64 remaining Zellers locations.

In 2012, HBC said it decided that keeping the retailer alive was not financially viable.

Zellers closed the doors of its last Canadian location in 2013.

The Zellers converted into Targets were also quick to fold – in 2015, the U.S retailer withdrew from Canada.