By mid-August, a series of Zellers retail pop-up shops are anticipated to appear across Hudson’s Bay stores in five provinces and will serve as test spots for permanent Zellers locations.
(HBC ) says the 21 new pop-ups will be much smaller than the last batch of retail locations.Pop-up shops are typically used to introduce new products, test a new market, or raise awareness for a cause. In Zeller’s case, the temporary retail spaces will be rolled out to gauge consumer interest.
“Pop-ups are a key ingredient in our expansion strategy, allowing us to explore and test in new markets, gather valuable customer insights, and fine-tune our offering before establishing larger-format store locations,” HBC president Sophia Hwang-Judiesch said in a July 18 news release.
“With these pop-ups, our expansion strategy will be fuelled by the interest and feedback from our customers across the country.”
Pop-ups will be installed in Hudson’s Bay stores in five provinces. Plans are in place for five in B.C., three in Alberta, one in Saskatchewan, eight in Ontario, and four in Quebec.
In 1978, HBC purchased Zellers and made it a discount division of the retailer. In just over a decade, however, HBC ended up selling the majority of its storefronts to Target during the American retailer’s brief expansion into Canada.
HBC reintroduced the brand in March by situating a number of retail units inside its Hudson’s Bay locations. The stores were around 9,000 sq. ft. each, while the new pop-ups will be approximately 1,000 to 2,800 sq. ft.
The company did not indicate whether any stand-alone Zellers stores would open in the near future.
It was also announced that Hudson’s Bay will open a full-sized store in the Bramalea City Centre mall in Brampton, Ont., in September. The plan was reported previously after HBC announced it would be closing its store inside the Burlington City Centre mall in Burlington, Ont.
