Edmonton Mall First to Land New Zellers Store After HBC Closures

The Zellers sign hangs over the entrance of a store in Quebec City on Jan. 13, 2011. The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot

A new Zellers store has been announced for an Edmonton mall that will fill a space left vacant after the Hudson’s Bay store closed.

Zellers stores across Canada were closed in 2013 by then-owner Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). The brand made a comeback in 2023 with popup stores in some HBC locations until HBC filed for creditor protection earlier this year, closing down all its locations across Canada.

The new Zellers store will open on Sept. 1 in Londonderry Mall, located in the city’s north end, according to an Aug. 28 announcement by mall owner Leyad, a Montreal-based real estate developer.

The developer said it was the first landlord in Canada to secure a new store to replace the former HBC mall spaces.

Leyad CEO Henry Zavriyev told The Epoch Times that they had been approached by a number of retailers about the space.

“I think one thing for us was that we were a little bit nostalgic about HBC in general,” he said during a phone interview.

“We like the idea of shopping Canadian, supporting a Canadian brand, and we have confidence in the operator and their ability to execute on their store concept,” he said.

Zavriyev said that retail has been “resilient” and has gone through “a renaissance” over the past few years.

“If you look at retailers, a lot of them are thriving, and it has to do with the operators.”

The store will occupy about 60,000 square feet on the main floor where the Hudson’s Bay store used to be, according to the announcement.

The store will offer clothing for women, men, and youth as well as “contemporary home décor,” the company said. It said the brand would be combining its “rich heritage” with “modern design and value-driven offerings.”

The Hudson’s Bay Company permanently shut down its stores across Canada in June, after the company filed for creditor protection in March. HBC said it faced “significant challenges” in paying landlords, vendors, and suppliers. Company representatives also said it was facing problems meeting “employee payroll obligations.”

HBC was Canada’s oldest company, having been incorporated in 1670 as a fur-trading enterprise.

The company once owned the Zellers brand, which has since been sold to Les Ailes de la Mode, whose parent company is Fairweather I.N.C Group, according to media reports.

Zellers Popups

After HBC closed most of the Zellers stores in 2013, it announced a comeback for the brand in 2023 with 10,000-square-foot popup stores appearing in HBC locations.

Zellers first opened during the Great Depression. Its founder Walter P. Zeller was born in Waterloo County, Ont., in 1890, and started working in retail at the F.W. Woolworth Company’s stockroom in 1912, according to HBC’s website.

Tara MacIsaac contributed to this article.