Zellers trademarks sold to Quebec retailer, court documents show

Shoppers browse products at a Zellers pop-up store in Scarborough Town Centre Mall, in Scarborough, Ont., on Thursday, March 23, 2023. The defunct retail brand is returning with an Edmonton store. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Zellers is making a comeback with its first new store set to open in Edmonton next week.

Landlord Henry Zavriyev says Londonderry Mall in the city's north will be home to a Zellers location in a space formerly occupied by Hudson’s Bay.

The president and CEO of Montreal-based real estate developer Leyad says many retailers were interested in the space after Hudson’s Bay moved out.

It's the first Zellers location to launch since its branding was sold as part of Hudson’s Bay's liquidation.

Zavriyev says Zellers is taking over the main floor of a two-floor 60,000-square foot space where Hudson’s Bay had been.

A "soft launch" of the store is slated for Monday, and Zavriyev says clothing and home goods will be among its initial offerings.

"We think it'll do very well," Zavriyev said in an interview.

"We think that Canadian shoppers want to buy Canadian brands."

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.

"The Zeddy teddy bear will be back," he said, adding the range of merchandise would likely expand over time.

"We think it's a tremendous offering for Edmonton and for that Londonderry area."

Zellers trademarks became available for sale after Hudson’s Bay filed for creditor protection in March, under the weight of tremendous debt, and eventually shut down all of its stores. To recoup some of the roughly $1 billion owed to lenders, it put assets, including its leases and trademarks, up for sale.

A filing made with Ontario’s Superior Court over the summer shows the Zellers brand intellectual property was sold recently, allowing the company to distribute $100,000 to Restore Capital, one of the Bay's lenders, on Aug. 7. It is unclear if the $100,000 is the purchase price Les Ailes de la Mode paid.

While the Bay needed court permission to sell assets like its own name and its stripes motif to Canadian Tire for $30 million, sales with a small dollar amount don’t need a judge’s approval under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.

As part of the Canadian Tire sale, the home goods and outdoor gear store got the rights to Zellers slogan “lowest price is the law.”

The Zellers department store was acquired by Hudson’s Bay in 1978 but diminished in stature for many years, when discount retailer Walmart expanded dramatically in the Canadian market.

Hudson’s Bay revealed in 2011 that it would sell the majority of its remaining Zellers leases to rival Target Corp. It closed more stores by 2013 but kept a few liquidation outlets open until 2020, which eventually shuttered.

Around the same time, Hudson’s Bay failed to renew Zellers trademarks and the Moniz family of Quebec filed several trademark applications for Zellers Inc., Zellers Convenience Store Inc. and Zellers Restaurant Inc.

Hudson’s Bay and the Moniz family wound up in court over the rights to the logo while the Bay worked to open a series of pop-up Zellers shops in its department stores that mostly stocked Kmart Australia-developed brand Anko. The pop-ups eventually became permanent but folded when the Bay collapsed.

Hudson's Bay did not comment for this story.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2025.

Tara Deschamps and Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press