Bring on the nostalgia: Zellers celebrates grand re-opening in Calgary
Dozens of Calgarians lined up in excitement Thursday morning at Sunridge Mall to be among the first to experience the grand re-opening of Zellers.
The new store, located within the top floor of the Hudson’s Bay, is one of 25 new Zellers shops popping up across Canada.
In honour of the event, customers were given the chance to win prizes while being entertained by a DJ playing nostalgic songs.
It’s a moment that many Calgarians like Jean Weiss have been waiting for since the last Zellers closed back in 2013.
“We need more store like this in the city the way the economy is and today by the look of this lineup, I think they’ll get the message,” she said.
Others shoppers like Trish Plant agree that the price point of a store like Zellers is favourable to many consumers looking to save a little extra cash.
“Zellers used to have a really great price on everything and a great selection, I used to buy my kids clothes here all the time because of it,” said Plant.
“Now mostly with inflation it’s these really great deals that are important and it’s something from the past that makes it fun."
Zellers staff at Calgary's Sunridge Mall, Thursday March 23, 2023
FOOD TRUCK FAVOURITES
The Calgary Zellers location at Hudson's Bay in Sunridge Mall featured food from Zellers Diner on Wheels on March 23, 2023. Speaking of old favourites, shoppers also had the opportunity to choose from a variety of classic food items at the Zellers Food Truck outside Sunridge Mall’s entrance open from noon to 5:30 p.m.
Clarence Redden was the very first one in line and couldn’t wait to relive an old experience.
“It’s the nostalgia," he said. "Me and my daughter and my family used to go to the restaurant at Zellers every Sunday, we’d meet the same people and the waitresses knew us by name."
“It was a time to remember all those times back in the 80s and today I’ll be ordering one of everything on the menu.”
The five menu items are the big ‘Z’ burger, hot chicken sandwich, grilled cheese, chicken fingers and fries with gravy.
The Calgary Zellers location at Hudson's Bay in Sunridge Mall featured food from Zellers Diner on Wheels on March 23, 2023. The chain’s Zeddy mascot is also expected to make a return soon.
Additional Zellers store openings will be phased in over time and the retailer says it isn’t ruling out the potential for stand-alone locations, according to Hudson’s Bay Co. spokeswoman Tiffany Bourré.
She adds that private label products are exclusive to Zellers within Canada and there is no crossover between Hudson’s Bay and Zellers stores.
"IT’S GOING TO BE A CHALLENGE": MARKETING EXPERT
Despite the nostalgic feel and experience for Zellers shoppers, some retail experts suggest that the re-brand may not prove succesful in the long-term.
David Finch, marketing professor at Mount Royal University’s Bissett School of Business, says the retail landscape has changed dramatically since Zellers closed its doors nearly a decade ago.
"It’s going to be a challenge given the dominance of Walmart and Amazon and the heavy shift towards e-commerce," Finch said.
"So Hudson’s Bay is trying essentially to leverage an existing asset which is the Zellers brand to drive incremental traffic and revenue."
Finch adds that the past Zellers slogan of "where the lowest price is the law" also no longer applies.
"The global purchasing power of Amazon, and Walmart too, now live by the strategy of the lowest ‘cost’ is the law, not the lowest price," he said.
"This is where Zellers is going to be challenged, they just won't be able to have the purchasing power, the influence to be able to lower their costs enough to be able to compete effectively on price as a single dimension."
The COVID-19 pandemic has also been noted as a major turning point that fast-tracked e-commerce sales, with Finch pointing to roughly 85 per cent of Canadians who purchased items last year from Amazon and 35 per cent who bought from Walmart.
It means the nostalgia of a brick and mortar store could wear off faster.
"So there's going to be a very specific group of people of a certain age and socio-economic capacity that the Zellers brand appeals to, but the challenge is, those are likely the same people that also see Walmart as a nostalgic brand because they entered Canada in the early 1990s,” Finch said.
"That group will also be highly sensitive to price. This is where Zellers, just frankly, can't compete."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
BREAKING Manitoba government tables bill to end ban on homegrown recreational cannabis
Manitoba is planning to lift its ban on the home growing of recreational cannabis.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.