Zellers

Zellers, Inc.

Former type	Division
Industry	Discount retail store
Fate	Most store leases acquired by Target Canada, Walmart Canada or closed outright. Two locations are retained to serve as liquidation centres for other HBC retail chains.
Founded	1931
Founder	Walter P. Zeller
Defunct	March 31, 2013 (as a national retailer; two stores continue to operate as liquidation centres)
Headquarters	Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Number of locations	350 (1999), 2 (2017)
Products	Clothing, grocery, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelery, beauty products, electronics, toys, sports equipment, appliances, housewares
Owner	NRDC Equity Partners
Parent	Hudson's Bay Company
Website	Archive of Zellers.com

Zellers Inc. was a major Canadian chain discount department retailer based in Brampton, Ontario. It was founded in 1931, and was acquired by Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1978.

A series of acquisitions and expansions allowed Zellers to reach its peak in the 1990s, with 350 stores across the country in 1999. However, fierce competition by Walmart Canada and an inability to adjust to the increasingly volatile retailing industry resulted in Zellers losing significant ground in the 2000s with the subsequent acquisition of most of its stores by Target Canada in 2011. The history of Zellers, as a discount store, came to an end on March 31, 2013, when its remaining stores closed.

Two Zellers stores in Ontario continue to use the name of the defunct chain. These stores are liquidation centres for Hudson's Bay and Home Outfitters.

The company was founded in 1931 by Walter P. Zeller as "stores for thrifty Canadians". The chain began with the purchase of the fourteen Canadian locations of American retailer Schulte-United, all of which were in Southern Ontario. Almost immediately, Zellers initiated an aggressive expansion strategy. Within 25 years, Zellers operated 60 stores and employed 3,000 people. In 1952, in a move to expand into Atlantic Canada, it acquired the Federal Stores chain of variety stores, adding more than 12 new Zellers locations.

During this period of expansion, Zellers concluded a deal with W. T. Grant, a similar chain of American mass merchandise department stores. This arrangement allowed W.T. Grant to purchase 10% of Zellers shares, and eventually a 51% ownership in 1959. In exchange, the Grant Company made available to Zellers its experience in merchandising, real estate, store development, and general administration. Zellers' employees were sent to Grant stores and head office for training and the two companies made common buying trips to east Asia. In the 1950s, the chain again began opening new locations and, in 1956, opened its first self-serve location at the Norgate shopping centre in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. Stores opened in 1960 employed many new innovations, including the first in-store restaurant, the first auto centre, and the first suburban location.