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rfmcdonaldYesterday, I went shopping at Zellers, at 1255 The Queensway in the Kipling-Queensway Mall.
I forget where I learned that two Zellers stores were still open in Ontario, one of them in Toronto. Maybe it was the Wikipedia page; maybe it was an article that popped up in my RSS feed. As noted by Toronto Life's Frances McInnes way back in January 2013, after Zellers sold most of its locations to the promising Target Canada a very few stores remained open as liquidators for the HBC. The Zellers location in British Columbia closed late last year, but the Ontario locations remained open.
I really wanted to see this store. The idea of actually seeing another Zellers, iconic Canadian chain store of my childhood, excited me. The trip down to the Queensway would be a bit of a trek, far from downtown Toronto, but I like doing treks. The last time I saw a Zellers in operation was in my June 2012 visit to the closing Zellers in the Galleria mall. For all that it was a down at the heels chain, it was Canadian, functional enough and familiar enough that after the news of Target Canada's closure came, at least some people wondered if the chain that had provided Target Canada with so many of its locations might revive. (The #bringbackzellers went viral.) Accounts of the store varied significantly, Dexter Brown's March 2014 account being more downbeat, Rita Zekas' October 2014 Toronto Star review being substantially more positive, and this Smart Canucks shopping forum thread being mixed. I had to find out for myself.
It was actually easy enough to get down there. I just had to travel to the western end of the Bloor-Danforth line to Kipling station, and from there take the 44 Kipling Southbound to the Queensway, in substantially less than an hour. I had more confusion finding the entrance to the mall, on the southeast corner of the Queensway's intersection with Kipling Avenue.
I can confirm Kipling Queensway Mall's Yelp listing. It is a grim place, half the storefronts in the main building's central corridor remaining vacant. Its two anchor stores still remain. One, on the western end, is a Sobeys.
On the eastern end sits the Zellers.
Although the store kept the Zellers brand, the red signage of old remaining, taking a look around at the store's contents revealed a place that did function almost exclusively as a clearance centre for the HBC. Men's and women's clothing dominated, with furniture and heavier goods being distributed around the edges of the store.
There were some very steep discounts.
Considering only the clothes, what struck me about Zellers' stock is the extent to which it as not necessarily very desirable. Many of the clothes came in colours I wouldn't wear, in overly bright colours, say, like the polo shirts below. More, almost all of the clothes were in small sizes. Does this latter factor reflect the general upsizing in the Canadian population?
I had not gone with the intention of actually buying anything. As I walked through the racks, some shirts did pop out at me. Fitting-room selfies occurred.
Certain small elements reminded me of old Canadian retail. Remember those paper DVD bins?
Remember those wire book racks at the cash lines?
I came away from the store with a favourable impression. The Zellers' location is depressing and any chain identity has attenuated to the point of non-existence. I doubt very much the vestigial chain can ever be revived into a viable national brand, nostalgia aside. That said, it's a perfectly good liquidation store with some good purchases.
I came away with a couple of nice shirts. Note, if you would on the last photograph below, the very steep discounts. (The Father's Day 20% special will be running until the end of next weekend, for whatever it's worth.)
I forget where I learned that two Zellers stores were still open in Ontario, one of them in Toronto. Maybe it was the Wikipedia page; maybe it was an article that popped up in my RSS feed. As noted by Toronto Life's Frances McInnes way back in January 2013, after Zellers sold most of its locations to the promising Target Canada a very few stores remained open as liquidators for the HBC. The Zellers location in British Columbia closed late last year, but the Ontario locations remained open.
I really wanted to see this store. The idea of actually seeing another Zellers, iconic Canadian chain store of my childhood, excited me. The trip down to the Queensway would be a bit of a trek, far from downtown Toronto, but I like doing treks. The last time I saw a Zellers in operation was in my June 2012 visit to the closing Zellers in the Galleria mall. For all that it was a down at the heels chain, it was Canadian, functional enough and familiar enough that after the news of Target Canada's closure came, at least some people wondered if the chain that had provided Target Canada with so many of its locations might revive. (The #bringbackzellers went viral.) Accounts of the store varied significantly, Dexter Brown's March 2014 account being more downbeat, Rita Zekas' October 2014 Toronto Star review being substantially more positive, and this Smart Canucks shopping forum thread being mixed. I had to find out for myself.
It was actually easy enough to get down there. I just had to travel to the western end of the Bloor-Danforth line to Kipling station, and from there take the 44 Kipling Southbound to the Queensway, in substantially less than an hour. I had more confusion finding the entrance to the mall, on the southeast corner of the Queensway's intersection with Kipling Avenue.
I can confirm Kipling Queensway Mall's Yelp listing. It is a grim place, half the storefronts in the main building's central corridor remaining vacant. Its two anchor stores still remain. One, on the western end, is a Sobeys.
On the eastern end sits the Zellers.
Although the store kept the Zellers brand, the red signage of old remaining, taking a look around at the store's contents revealed a place that did function almost exclusively as a clearance centre for the HBC. Men's and women's clothing dominated, with furniture and heavier goods being distributed around the edges of the store.
There were some very steep discounts.
Considering only the clothes, what struck me about Zellers' stock is the extent to which it as not necessarily very desirable. Many of the clothes came in colours I wouldn't wear, in overly bright colours, say, like the polo shirts below. More, almost all of the clothes were in small sizes. Does this latter factor reflect the general upsizing in the Canadian population?
I had not gone with the intention of actually buying anything. As I walked through the racks, some shirts did pop out at me. Fitting-room selfies occurred.
Certain small elements reminded me of old Canadian retail. Remember those paper DVD bins?
Remember those wire book racks at the cash lines?
I came away from the store with a favourable impression. The Zellers' location is depressing and any chain identity has attenuated to the point of non-existence. I doubt very much the vestigial chain can ever be revived into a viable national brand, nostalgia aside. That said, it's a perfectly good liquidation store with some good purchases.
I came away with a couple of nice shirts. Note, if you would on the last photograph below, the very steep discounts. (The Father's Day 20% special will be running until the end of next weekend, for whatever it's worth.)
