It was once an iconic brand across Canada – but now it’s a very rare bird on the horizon.
In fact, the Zellers store at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre is one of only three left in the country to bear the sign of the once prominent retailer, now one of several “banner” trademarks of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
The South Surrey store reopened June 27 – after undergoing months of renovations following a March 14 fire – becoming the third operating Zellers location, along with stores in Montreal and Toronto.
HBC retains the leases of some 20 former Zellers stores; Target acquired leases for 189 Zellers locations during its expansion into Canada in 2011.
But Tiffany Bourre, senior manager of external communications for HBC, said Wednesday the company has no plans for the Zellers to surface anywhere else at this time.
The current store focus remains “fashion apparel and a refined home-product offering, with a shared merchandise mix with other HBC banners,” she said.
She acknowledged that rebranding the Semiahmoo Shopping Centre location had been under consideration at one point.
“It was really about opportunities in the market,” she said. “There were a number of factors under consideration, but this market had offered an opportunity and it was decided to keep it operating as a Zellers.”
Bourre said there are no new plans for the store at present.
“The (current) format is still fairly new, so we’re not looking at adding or changing anything so far,” she said, noting the company will continue to study how the format connects with consumers.