Opening of new Zellers in Edmonton delayed

Some would-be Zellers shoppers in Edmonton left empty-handed on Monday after the new store in Londonderry Mall didn't open on schedule.

The Edmonton opening of the revived Zellers department store has been delayed.

Londonderry Mall staff told CTV News Edmonton on Monday, the day the retailer was slated to open in the former Hudson’s Bay location at the northside shopping centre, that they expect Zellers will open later this week.

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Leyad, a Montreal-based real estate development firm that owns the mall, announced last week that Zellers would be opening in the northside shopping centre on Labour Day and would occupy 60,000 square feet on one floor of the former Hudson’s Bay, the historic Canadian retailer that closed its doors at the end of June.

The Londonderry location is the first former Bay space in Canada for which a new retail store has been announced, said Henry Zavriyev, Leyad’s president and chief executive officer.

CTV News Edmonton heard people started lining up at 9:30 a.m. Monday for a noon opening, and saw several goods and displays inside the store as though it was ready for shopping but no staff inside it.

“I’m very glad Zellers is here,” shopper Annette Couture told CTV News Edmonton outside the store.

“It will give Walmart competition, and that’s what we need. Edmonton needs this, Londonderry needs this, so I’m very happy to have them back.”

Mall security cleared the lineup of would-be Zellers shoppers by 12:30 p.m.

The Hudson’s Bay Company, which declared bankruptcy in the spring, sold its name and trademarks to Canadian Tire in May for $30 million, including Zellers’ ‘Lowest Price Is The Law’ slogan.

Canadian Tire outbid 13 other bidders for the intellectual property of what was then the country’s oldest company, which dated back to 1670.

A filing made with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada shows Hudson’s Bay transferred Zellers trademarks to Les Ailes de la Mode Inc. on Aug. 6.

The trademarks transferred include the Zellers name and logo as well as the rights to mascot bear Zeddy, loyalty program Club Z and the Zellers portrait studio.

Government records showed Les Ailes de la Mode, a defunct Quebec retailer, is run by business mogul Isaac Benitah.

Benitah and his family have run home goods chains Bombay and Bowring as well as clothing chain Fairweather and International Clothiers.

Zavriyev said the new Edmonton location is the only Zellers store opening for now across Leyad’s portfolio of retail space.

Hudson’s Bay opened pop-up Zellers stores inside 25 of their department stores two years ago, including at Edmonton’s Kingsway Mall and Southgate locations. The parent Bay closed most Zellers locations in 2013, shuttering the final two in 2020.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny and The Canadian Press