You did Canada well Zellers lasting longer than the target 1931-2019

Target Canada left so fast I’m surprised there was even a sign scar on those buildings.

I was cleaning out my closet the other day and found a zeller’s hanger. Oh the nostalgia

Towards the end of the Zellers era I went into one of their stores out of desperation looking for something I couldn't find anywhere else. I had my three year old son with me, and as we walked towards the back of the store my son slowed down, looked around, and said: "Daddy, everything here is old and broken." It truly was dismal, merchandise randomly piled everywhere, about half the ceiling lights not working, everything seemingly dingy and dirty. A sad end to a once iconic store.

"...acquired by a private equity firm..." Famous last words of so many once proud and established stores.

Getting your back to school shoes from Zellers in the 80's and 90's was an instant "not cool" death sentence for young kids.

Any department store: exists Walmart: I’m sorry, but you have exceeded your trial of existence.

Thank you for this video, absolutely spot on! I worked for Zeller's on and off for 10 years. I worked in the Health and Beauty department, Restaurant and after I completed my studies, I was offered a position in the Human Resources department. As a consumer, I miss Zeller's terribly. There was such a sense of community. The restaurant served as a gathering and meeting place for many local families and seniors. The restaurant food was good too! 3-D Club sandwich. Big Z Burger. Zeller's had great poutine. Also, Zeller's had the cheapest breakfasts in town. I suited up in that Zeddy costume several times too. When Zeller's closed it's doors forever, it was truly an end of an era. It was a time and a place, where community meant something.

RIP Zellers, I still miss that store and everyone definitely took it for granted

There are times I really miss Zellers. If only for the alternative to Walmart. Great Video!

Who remembers the 6 foot tall, quarter operated, Zeddy Ferris wheel in the entrance ways.

There’s still an abandoned Zeller’s in my hometown. Target never came in and replaced it so it’s still just there.

This is excellent Jake. I think this history would fall through the cracks if people like you didn’t cover it.

I still remember the Zellers closest to me. After that, it was target (and we know what happened to that) and before Zellers, it was a k Mart. It's safe to say the building hasn't had a good history 😐

It's back baby! Hudson Bay is bringing Zellers back to online and bricks and mortar next year.

I'm so glad Zellers is coming back in 2023. I miss that store.

I was one of the people CBC interviewed when Zellers in Etobicoke closed down. It was really sad to see a brand I grew up with disappear.

Jake you don’t know how much I have been wanted to see abandoned zallers ever since abandoned target Canada thank you for makeing this video!

"Non union lower prices" on the walmart sign. I didnt know that was a selling point 😂

I remember seeing Zeller's cargo containers and trailers on railroad cars in Canada and on occasion they strayed into the U.S. in and out of target stores. Although I think a lot of people tend to agree that Walmart is like a cancer once they move in they strive to put the competition out of business then jack the prices up.

oh man... zeller's diner gives me such a nostalgic feeling

Sad to see how many iconic canadian companies get swallowed up by American ones in recent times. Hell, Tim Hortons isn't even Canadian anymore.

In my hometown, Dawson Creek, BC, our Zellers sat empty for 10 years until a year ago when it was finally converted into a Save On. Didn't think they would ever do anything with it.

i still remember going to Zellers with my mom in Bedford Nova Scotia going to the restaurant having lunch. i was only 10 at the time

I worked the last two years zellers was open. I was one of the cashier's on the last day open after we closed that stayed behind and rang in everything to sell to the liquidators. We could only scan 99 items then we'd turn on our lights, the liquidators came over with a company credit card, then we'd start over. They'd have staff loading up our counters in between transactions. I remember having to search in between shelves for items hidden and left behind so the liquidators could buy it all. Leaving the empty store was emotional, we all hugged and cried. RIP

The zellers restaurants weren’t too bad! My grandad used to like going a lot.

I remember being really confused when Zellers wasn't there anymore. I live in Michigan, but my family normally spends most of the summer at a family cottage in Canada. We'd pass a few Zellers on the way up. Suddenly, when we came back one year, they were just GONE. It was kinda eerie. Also I swear every one of these episodes makes me hate Walmart even more.

I remember listening to an interview with some executive or other from Target, after they closed up shop, who stated that they did not understand that Canadians had the expectation when they opened here, they would have US prices as well as the same merchandise. Indeed I remember when Target started to struggle shortly after opening, they were putting out statements indicating they were never going to have US prices, even if it was the same stock as the US. Canadians were expecting something that was never going to materialize, and Target severely misunderstood the market!

My local Zellers was at the Erin Mills Town Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. Me and my Grandma would always go there and look around at the Toy department, then we would eat at it's Restaurant known as the Family Diner. The timeline of that store is actually quite funny. It's a massive store with 2 levels. It was one of the stores turned into a Target, with fancy Shopping Cart escalators. During it's short time as a Target, the prices were really high for stock that was never there. Then when they left, it sat vacant for a bit until Walmart of all stores bought the store and has stayed the same for a year or two now

Some of my best memories as a kid was visiting the Zellers at the mall close to my town. Became a Target and I would just tour the store and try to find evidence of the old layouts. Miss Zellers man. Even more than BiWay

So many good memories. When I came to Canada for 12 years ago as a high school-international student, I have spent so many weekends at Zellers, just browsing for so many merchandises I’ve never seen before. It was my favourite thing to do, especially when I was extremely lonely and struggled my teenage years in a completely new country. Never had I ever imagined that Zellers would vanish one day. I became a Canadian citizen two years ago, things have changed. I still miss Zellers, drastically.

Two points. I loved your history and all the photographs. You've done a great job. The one thing that I think you missed was that as a discount store, Zellers didn't discount. Products that were long gone from other stores, were still on Zellers shelves and often full price. There was a time, just pre-internet sales, in 1992 when I could go to Zellers and pick up toys for collectors in the United States. Toys that were long gone from the shelves in the USA. Secondly Zellers did acknowledge the old look of their stores in competition with Walmart and many stores had a major refurbishing. Small town locations stayed the same but even mid-sized cities got new stores. The problem was that they still didn't discount items that weren't selling. Walmart would have an item that if it didn't sell, were discounted to a few dollars and it was gotten rid of. Zellers didn't do that. I remember action figures from some movies that no one bought being cleared out by Walmart but a year later were still on pegs at Zellers. Often at nearly full price. If no one had bought them 1.5 - 2 years ago when the movie was popular, no one is going to buy them now. In retail, you can't have your shelves filled with merchandise that is not moving. I think you are right in the end, Zellers would have gone bankrupt. We saw other chains like Sears go under. One thing that might have saved Zellers if they could have held on, would have been the increase in the "buy Canadian" mentality. As Walmart's reputation for poor employee relations and damaging local producers and retail outlets became more known, more people started to buy elsewhere. People started to buy more Canadian. There was also a political component of that when George W was in the office and certainly in the last 4 years with Trump. I don't shop at Walmart ever and go to places like Giant Tiger and Canadian Tire. If Zellers still existed, it would be my department store.

The Walmart Canada sign having the tagline "non-union low prices always" is insidious

What a mess of a situation. I was really disappointed to see Zellers close, used to go there all the time as a kid. I did really grew to love Target back when I was in college though. They had better prices on some things, and usually had stuff I couldn't find at other stores. It really sucked to see them all close down after only being here for a few years. Now the only general store we have where I live is Wal-mart, it's pretty lame only having one option for that sort of thing now.

As a 90s kid from Canada, Zellers is a whole mood. We even have a local band named 1995zellers out here in the East coast.

I am not Canadian, never been either, but this depressed me. There's something special about a department store in the 80's and 90's. I wish I could have gone; Zeller's looked like such a nice place.

Interesting! Not being Canadian, I had never heard of Zellers, but I think I would have loved it!

Hudson’s Bay Company coming into the story is like when an old protagonist from a different show cameoing in another series.

I learned a lot of new things when watching this video. The analogous reference to K-mart was for me, most helpful in understanding what Zeller's was to Canadians who knew it in its heyday. Thanks for these videos as it reminds me that no matter how grand any venture might be, every Human effort is ultimately ephemeral--a humbling thought, IMHO.

the location at @9:19 is at the Bayshore Mall in Ottawa right next to where I live. It was a Zellers, then was converted to a Target that, as stated never opened. Target declared they were moving out of Canada only 2 weeks before this store was to open. Ironically its now a Walmart

Why can’t America have a snazzy retail chain name? ZELLERS is just so much fun to say. Edit; Never mind, I forgot we have Piggly Wiggly, that is objectively the best name for anything ever

Target: Lets buy a well known and well liked Canadian retailer. Destroy it, replace it with not only stores that aren’t up to par with our American locations but are worse than the retailer they’re replacing. Plus while we’re at it let’s underestimate the brand loyalty Canadians have to Zellers. I’m sure it’ll work out Also severely underestimating the smothering might of Canadian grocery chains was a whoops.

Zellers was such a big part of my childhood, throughout my dads career with Bargain Harold's managing stores until the day they closed down in owen sound he moved onto Zellers working insane hours managing and transferring to stores that were not doing so well and his job was to find out why and to fix it, my childhood was spent going to my dads work, the last store he managed was in Mississauga was back in 2008 where he quit to pursue different things, but the stories he would tell me about people stealing, gang "payoffs" to having someone steal all the money out of the safe in his office, Zellers will always have a space in my heart!

I live in the US and completely understand how certain companies are have so much sentimental or nostalgic significance and what a tragedy it is to watch them fade away.

Target in the US: basically an upscale Walmart, and you don’t mind paying a little more to stay away from the people of Walmart. Target in Canada probably didn’t have that benefit because the people of Walmart are probably nicer and not nearly as sketchy.

The restaurants were actually quite good.I used to love the fish&chips.Many memories with mom bringing all of us to Zellers.

Zellers did make a comeback inside select Hudsons bay stores in Ontario

This brings me back, Zellers was the #1 place to buy toys as a kid. Being 19 now its sad to see my childhood store go but knowing the business side of why it happened just makes sense. Also target canada was an okay experience since they had great options for items but its true that they never had any stock. My parents tried to buy a couch and and printer, waited 2 months and got refunded.

I miss getting the Zellers Christmas wish list when I was little, would search thorough the catalogs choosing the stuff Id want Santa to bring. Good times!

I remember we got a mini explanation of Zellers when he was covering Target Canada. Now Zellers has its own episode. Thanks, Jake!

The last time I recall visiting a Zeller's was shortly after Easter. It was very telling of how bad things were when their clearance table for Easter chocolates had a hollow soccer ball made of chocolate that that shattered in the bottom of the box, and while discounted, they still wanted $10 give or take (I snapped a photo that is on a hard drive somewhere. I ended up getting a decent deal on a shopping cart (that I still have) as I had needed one given I was now more mobile. I have fond memories of going to Zeller's with my grandmother. She didn't drive so it was either my mom or my grandfather who took us (the latter of which always stayed in the car and would later complain about how long we spent in there, haha). I kind of miss Z Cola and their other flavours of store branded pop. My grandmother usually got the 3D club sandwich if we ate at the diner (otherwise it was usually McDonald's). As for Target Canada...you kind of knew right from the get go they were doomed. When the first shoppers came out and told reporters common items were cheaper even not on sale at Walmart something was amiss. Sort of a pity honestly given they didn't want to spend 5 years to get themselves into profitable territory. Sort of the same thing with Walmart opting not to compete with Costco and shuttering up Sam's Club here quickly.

There’s one thing that no retail store had that would beat our iconic store…..THE ZELLERS CAFE 🤩

was on a class trip to ottawa in 2019, and our hotel was literally across the street from the ottawa zellers, everyone was losing their shit when they saw it

Love that I'm learning about companies that now don't exist in a country that I don't live in and somehow I still feel sad for them... Also you should do an abandoned on the UK Woolworths

I’m Canadian. Thank you for this. ❤️ brings back so many memories from when I was kid in the late 80’s early 90’s.

I really hope this comeback is going to be successful. Man did I miss Zellers…

8:14 "They made terrible distribution decisions..." *shows Maple Leafs apparel* Me: "Well there's your first mistake right there."

There's still a largely intact abandoned location in Moose Jaw, SK. The rear portion of the store was turned into government offices not even a year ago, but the branded front entrance doors remain, uncovered. I think the old slogan ('The lowest price is the law!') is even still visible on an interior wall.

Fun Fact= Zellers is back…..sort of in my Area anyways, and hare’s what I mean about again in my Area at least Hudson’s Bay has Revived Zellers in the form of having a Zellers inside their Hudson’s Bay Store. But in that Mall’s Dictionary it Shows that the Hudson’s Bay is on the Upper Floor, and Zellers is on the Lower Floor. But if you go to the Mall itself The Lower Floor still has the Sign of Hudson’s Bay and when you look inside it even looks like a Hudson’s Bay. And that’s not all if you go on to the Zellers Website itself they have Very Limited Items on their Website. But on a Separate Note I still hear that jingle in my head on occasion. There’s something about that tune “Zellers Where The Lowest Price Is The Law” about how that VO Lady sang it makes it so catchy to me, in all of those Commercials when I was a kid. And on a final note for some reason I could still clearly see the Zellers that I frequented from back in the day as if it is still open. And I think my most clear memory of Zellers from back in the day is me needing to cut through it to get to that Closes Best Buy after crossing the Zellers Parking Lot and a few Streets, and then on my way back I would take a Detour and Head Down to the Lower Floor of Zellers to see what Good Physical Media that they have and want, and then I would head to the Toy Section to see what Yu Gi Oh Products that the they would have in the store at the time. Mostly for my Birthday/Holiday Shopping, but if I happen to go shopping during any other time of the year I would go through the same process.

Nostalgia at its best.. Canadian kids who grew up with Zellers will never forget the wheel ride outside the front doors or the diner. The small town where I live had one my entire life until mid 2012 and it sat abandoned until Giant Tiger bought the property.. never forget

The Zellers in my town, Bracebridge, is still intact and hasn’t been painted or anything. You can still read “Zellers the lowest price is the law” in the discolourations of where the signage was.

I miss large dept stores, not really any left in in my part of Canada anymore. Even Walmart is starting to look like Zellers during its' final years.

This one is always personal to me, my Grandma would always take me to Zellers while she shopped there, often window shopping, because we were making due with our means. I remember we’d eat at the diner they had there all the time. I miss having those experiences with her, ever since her passing. I always get that nostalgic memories of moments I spent with her there, whenever I seen that logo. For some reason I remember the times we spent at Zellers more than Walmart, even though we spent time at Walmart was more recently, it always felt so impersonal at Walmart, like you get in and get out as fast as possible.

I actually live pretty close to the Bells Corners Zellers in Ottawa, which I think was one of the two last in the world. I still have that nostalgic feeling every time I hear about Zellers. Kids these days will never understand the times we actually had fun.

I had a zellers near my house connected to a mall with amazing restaurants but when zellers changed to target it failed immediately and the mall was torn down and i still miss the restaurants and the amazing staff 🥺

Best childhood memory of Zeller's: My mom paid with a $100 dollar bill and I was like "wow! 100$!!". Then the cashier pulled out and showed me a $1000.00 bill and blew my mind lol

Zellers trips were the best as a kid, they had a nice location at our local mall which was later replaced by Target, and now it's a Walmart

In a town called Hanover in southwestern Ontario, our Zellers actually was one of the 87 that was sold off. It's now a Giant Tiger, and it actually does rather well even though there's a Walmart right down the road.

Bruh target Canada was a joke, nothing ever on the shelf’s and you could always go across the street to a Walmart and get everything cheaper,

A similar thing happened when Masters tried to enter the Australian hardware market. No research, not understanding the market. Losing about $2 billion dollars. Then the main hardware chain in Australia, bunnings, made the same mistake in the UK.

Brings a tear to my eye! The memories of the single seat carousel at the entrances. Zeddy the bear and the restaurant. 😢. Woodbine mall….Zellers entrance. Best way to enter the mall with amazing smells coming from the restaurant

Zeller's was notorious for not having any of their flyer/sale items in stock. I remember in the early 2000's, I went into one two days before Christmas to buy some last minute decorations. The place was empty on the busiest shopping day of the year.

7:58 I remember that Target location at the newly constructed CF Polo Park outlet building. Before they closed down, and was left vacant for a few years until three other companies bought the rental space. That Target Canada space now resides as a Winners/Homesense, and some other health related company. But man, it's quite odd that I always remembered the one Zellers chain alongside Grant Park Mall (before I went to Grant Park High School) when I was young. Then I remember their closing sale, how it converted to a Target Canada chain, and just a year later, they announced their closure. Then three years after that, Canadian Tire stepped in, and purchased the space. Most of the fixtures and whole exterior were painted a different colour. And to this day, it's still there. Man, how times have changed... Although, I have concerning doubts that the Hudson's Bay Company will go under next.

9:45 I remember going in to that Zeller's even after Target Canada closed down. It was honestly pretty depressing. I think there are plans to turn it into a Winner's or Marshall's now, although I haven't been to that part of town since Covid started, so it might still be empty.

I’m glad I got to witness this store before it closed.

It's so weird seeing all these old Zeller's locations that were like 15 minutes from where you grew up in B-roll on a huge KZfaq channel you watch 😂 At 5:05 my jaw just about hit the floor because that building now sells ridiculously overpriced furniture and I bought a couch there a couple years ago. Moved to the city long after the building had changed ownership so my head almost exploded when I saw it 😂

12:36 that was the Zellers I used to work at when I was a teenager. I have worked there for 6 years... until it closed. So many good memories!

In my perspective I think Zellers would’ve been bought out by Loblaw‘s if Target didn’t step in Zellers would have sold presidents choice and no name Products in its grocery department & all stores would’ve stayed open it would’ve been renovated to look better. I’d picture that in an alternative reality

Such a good video Jake. I loved it. Thank you for bringing me back to my childhood and early teens. I remember many times walking around the Zellers that was close to where my mum lives to this day and just having the greatest time. I never enjoyed shopping as kid and still don't but something about Zellers made it fun. I also remember getting so many posters from there, ranging from my favourite music artists to cute puppies. I also got so many school supplies from there over the years at such great prices. I miss it. The one near my mum's was always booming. You would have never known that particular store was closing if it wasn't for the signs that told you it was. I know I'm repeating myself but I loved the video. Really well done. 😊

That must've been a lot of fun (and really interesting) putting that together. I have a lot of fond memories of Zeller's growing up and was always kind of saddened by it's demise.

I remember going into various Zellers stores in the GTA trying to find good deals when they were liquidating everything. It was quite surreal doing the same thing with the Target stores in the same locations only a year later.

Target CEO: I DECLAREE BANKRUPTCCYYYY

i got lost in that zellers at 0:48 , my mom paged me over the loud speaker to go to meet her at the skillet. Great video man. Brought back lots of memories. I remember riding the lame ass ferris wheel out side the store and watching heckle and jeckle in the little movie house they had.

Great content. Anyone who was born in the 80s or maybe even 90s has been watching this dynamic shift in retail. When I was a kid we used to go to the mall to eat, goof off and play in the arcade. Now most malls have limited services and maybe if you're lucky there's an anchor store. Not quite sure how I feel about it all because I do like having merchandise shipped directly to my door. It's nice to see people documenting these locations and companies as they fade into history.

Man, I remember when our Zellers shut down. Everyone was so hopeful we would get a target. The building died a few years later and it finally came down late last year, all that remains of that plaza is the beer store. EDIT: 10:50 HOLY CRAP THAT'S THE ONE!

Anybody remember Zeller's early 2000's advertising? It was fire, they really latched into the indie music movement of the era. I'll bet a lot of Canadians were introduced to Joel Plaskett, the Salteens and the Be Good Tanyas through Zeller's advertising. For one summer Zeller was the coolest kid on the block.

I remember going to Zellers and I ate at the restaurant it was one of the most beautiful brands ever thanks a lot Walmart I blame you stupid Walmart

Great video!! It brings back memories of growing up in the 80s and 90s in Guelph ON. I remember Mom shopped at Zellers, Bargain Harold's or the BiWay, and Kmart.

Walmart is a stain. I loved Zellers as a kid and as an adult it wasn't often the Go-To, but there were somethings they had that I couldn't find anywhere else. True story, I bought my coffee table there in 2006 and it still works great. Thanks for the great video and the trip down memory lane.

That "Country Fair Mall" is in my Hometown of Fort Erie. My mother was a manager at the Zellers there most of my childhood... Crazy to see it in one of your videos. Very well done!

11:00 is in the small town I live in, and seeing that building every time I go grocery shopping next door is a very eery reminder of my childhood growing up in Canada in the 90s...

There was a chain store in the midwest called ShopKo that was super near and dear to my heart. I now believe they're all closed, I'm assuming couldn't compete with Target as they were very similar. They would be a fun store to cover on this series. Seeing Zellers made me think of it, as I do believe some northern stores were actually turned into Zellers at one point here in the US. Love these videos Jake! so far I've watched every single one up until this point, and man, the quality of these just keep improving, honestly one of my favorite series to watch here on KZfaq. Excited to see what the future holds for you and these videos as the consumer market changes. You've made me very very interested in the topic myself, Thank you!

Ah yes, I remember Zellers when I was a kid with shopping malls like Sheridan Centre, Square One and Erin Mills Town Centre having Zellers as one of their anchor stores and then Target came and went in such a short period of time Sheridan Centre's planned location never even opened if I recall while the Square One location not lasting too long either while I am not sure if the Erin Mills Town Centre location never opened or closed. Edit: 12:26 timestamp is the Sheridan Centre location that never opened btw.

Ugh I miss Zellers 😢 my grandma used to take me to buy VHS tapes and toys every time I stayed at her house. Plenty of good memories there 💕

It's interesting that you mentioned the diner. I remember spending time having a meal with my family in the Kanata location at Hazeldean Mall. Always decent food and friendly staff.

Thanks, this bring back troves of memories as a kid. When our parents use to bring us here, and take us shopping so we could pick out a new hot wheels or action figure. Really precious stuff. Thanks for the memories.

Oh yeah! This is that store from the Target episode

No one: I don’t have a video to watch Bright sun films: **Uploads**

ZELLERS IS BACK BABY!!!

Actually, Target was given 10's of millions in grants and tax cuts and support by local, Provincial, and Federal funding. Target made it appear that they were investing in jobs, the Canadian economy, and purchased most of the Zellers stores. Then after soaking the Canadian people they closed up shop and made a bundle at the expense of the Canadian people. Target made, not lost money in what they did and got away with it. The loss that Target claims is only on paper. Based on potential sales and profit. Personally, I really liked Zellers, was a great store.