'Oh my God, you're my brother': Man in his 70s discovers 6 unknown siblings
After receiving a DNA kit one Christmas from his son-in-law, Hugh McCormick soon discovered that he had six unknown siblings, with whom he shared the same birth parents.
Zeddy the bear. Dining at the Skillet. These are just some of the core memories Canadians have of shopping at what once was Canada’s iconic retailer, Zellers.
The Hudson’s Bay Company, which owns the Zellers brand, announced its plan on Wednesday to bring back the department store within some current HBC stores, as well as online, next year.
The announcement was met with excitement among past customers who are eager to relive in the nostalgia of browsing Zellers’ aisles again. Canadians wrote to CTVNews.ca about their fondest memories of Zellers stores and what they’re looking forward to the most in their return.
For many, Zellers played a large role in their childhood upbringings. Some recalled the quintessential part of the Zellers shopping experience: dining at the in-store restaurant. “The Skillet,” which was later renamed as the “Zellers family restaurant,” was a ‘50s-themed diner that offered shoppers a place to eat at in some locations.
Dong Ngo from Halifax, N.S. recalled dining at the ‘50s themed diner as a child, followed by browsing the clothes aisles.
“I have vivid memories of being a young child and sitting in the large part of the shopping cart as my mother took me around the store. From the food to being chauffeured around the store, Zellers was the childhood place to be,” Ngo wrote to CTVNews.ca in an email on Wednesday.
One reader described the restaurant as a “special sight,” recounting its neon lights with ‘50s crooners playing in the background.
“With all the chrome and neon lights; the trademark '50s theme would always make my eyes bug out in awe, and the ambiance was always perfected with proper music from said era, often Elvis Presley, Big Bopper, Buddy Holly,” Tyson Bastien of Gatineau, Que. wrote.
The department store also carried a variety of Canadian designer clothing brands such as Alfred Sung, some shoppers said.
“I miss Zellers stores, they were a Canadian company geared towards Canadians. It would be great to see them return,” Alexandra Bickerton of Hamilton, Ont., wrote.
Zellers’ mascot “Zeddy the teddy bear” was the friendly face most children growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s remember at the toy section. Some store locations also had a small mechanical ferris wheel that children could ride.
“When I was younger, I would go to Zellers with my mom and I would get excited to get on the Zeddys mini ferris wheel when we got there,” said Whitney Echum of Thunder Bay, Ont.
Past employees also shared their excitement for the department stores’ revival.
“It was such a great place to work with loyal customers. Great inventory at great prices. I loved my time working at Zellers,” Colleen Williams of Mississauga, Ont., a former cashier, wrote.
A past restaurant manager called working at the in-store diner one of the “highlights” of their life.
In 2013, most Zellers stores across Canada were closed and only a few locations remained open as liquidation outlets until 2020. However, last year Zellers gained a resurgence after the Hudson’s Bay Co. set up pop-up shops in its department stores in Ontario and Quebec.
After receiving a DNA kit one Christmas from his son-in-law, Hugh McCormick soon discovered that he had six unknown siblings, with whom he shared the same birth parents.
Four years on, the controversy over whether airlines owed refunds to passengers after cancelling hundreds of thousands of flights during the pandemic continues to simmer, aggravated by a sluggish, opaque complaints process.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
A new study projecting declining rates of cancer cases and deaths in Canada demonstrates the success of prevention and early detection programs, but also highlights areas where more work is needed to save and prolong lives, researchers say.
Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks hung on for a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.