Zellers

Zellers was a Canadian discount store chain founded by Walter P. Zeller in 1931. It was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1978, and after a series of acquisitions and expansions, peaked with 350 locations in 1999. However, fierce competition and an inability to adapt during the early stages of the retail apocalypse resulted in Zellers losing significant ground in the 2000s.

In January 2011, HBC announced that it would sell the lease agreements for up to 220 Zellers stores to the US chain Target for $1.825 billion. In turn, Target announced its intention to convert many of them to Canadian locations of Target, and re-sell the remainder to other parties such as Walmart Canada, resulting in their liquidation and eventual closure. While HBC initially retained 64 Zellers locations, it announced on July 26, 2012, due to their lack of profitability, all of them would be liquidated and closed by March 31, 2013. Ultimately, all but three selected stores were closed in 2013. When the chain ceased, HBC converted the three remaining Zellers-branded locations into liquidation outlets for The Bay (concurrently renamed Hudson's Bay), however those stores too eventually closed ending the brand on January 26, 2020.

In 2023, the defunct Zellers brand name was formally reintroduced as a store-within-a-store concept inside Hudson's Bay department stores. In 2025, however, it proved to be a short lived stint, as HBC filed for bankruptcy and permanently closed all Hudson's Bay stores, resulting in the final end to the Zellers brand.