Zellers to Open 21 Pop-ups in Hudson’s Bay Stores in Canada, Aiming to Shape Future Retail Strategy

Zellers is opening 21 pop-ups within Hudson’s Bay stores by August 11, spanning five provinces and almost all in new markets.

As well, the brand will open its next full store experience within a Bay store in the Bramalea City Centre in September.

Currently, the retailer has one pop-up operating at the Queen Street location in Toronto and 25 store-in-store locations operating in Canada.

“Pop-ups are a key ingredient in our expansion strategy, allowing us to explore and test in new markets, gather valuable customer insights, and fine-tune our offering before establishing larger format store locations,” said  Sophia Hwang-Judiesch, President of Hudson’s Bay in a statement.

“Our customers are very much part of our growth process, and together we will shape the future of Zellers, building a shopping experience that truly connects with communities across Canada.”

The company said pop-up footprints will vary from store to store, ranging from 1,000 to 2,800 square feet (with the exception of Queen Street in Toronto) depending on location. Zellers stores within Hudson’s Bay range from 8,000 to 10,000 square feet. The Bramalea store will be just under 10,000 square feet.

The company said the pop-ups serve as strategic market tests to determine future Zellers store locations.

George Minakakis, CEO, Inception Retail Group, and author of The New Bricks & Mortar: Future Proofing Retail, said he remains skeptical of Zellers as a strategy. 

“This was, after all, a forgotten failed brand. It’s not like Overstock buying Bed Bath and Beyond at a fire sale while there is still brand recognition. If you want to revitalize Hudson Bay as Canada’s department store, this is not the approach I would have taken,” he said.

“Hudson Bay and Zellers may have a historical connection but never reflected the same customer base.  Nostalgia is not a long-term strategy.  On the other hand, if Hudson Bay is going to change its whole value proposition, then it may fit.  This would then acknowledge that Hudson Bay, as we know it, is no longer viable and must change. 

“Of course, the pop-up strategy is not now new. It means temporary to me.  We’ve seen other department stores with shop-in-shops and they switch brands frequently.  From a branding perspective, I would never have called it “Zellers.” It simply tells me you want to compete against Walmart. Unless there is an outside chance you were going to rebrand some of these Bay locations to Zellers completely, I might be sold on this tactic. But I don’t see how damaging Hudson Bay’s image makes sense. And there is still a Trade Mark case pending over the Zellers brand.”  

Showcasing a curated assortment of quality, value and design-led Zellers merchandise, the pop-ups deliver a delightful bite-sized taste of Zellers. Moreover, the pop-up model provides a unique opportunity for Canadians to actively demonstrate where they would like to see the next Zellers store open, it said. 

“I am really happy to hear that Zellers is leveraging customer insights to learn what the customer wants from a product assortment perspective. The pop-ups are meant for exactly this. My only challenge with the Zellers rollout is the sub-par customer experience that is tied to The Bay,” said Liza Amlani, Principal and Founder of the Retail Strategy Group and The Merchant Life. 

“The Bay stores have their own challenges – from the lack of sales associates to archaic fixtures and signage. The entire store needs an update. Having Zellers pop-ups in The Bay stores makes it seem like HBC is grasping at straws to increase footfall with something new and shiny. Investment needs to be made to the in store experience in order to keep customers coming back.”

Doug Stephens, Founder of the Retail Prophet, said that regrettably he didn’t have much in the way of a positive take on Zellers.

“In fact, having visited one of the Zeller’s locations in St Catharines earlier this year, I honestly felt that in over 30 years of retail, I’ve never seen such an embarrassing retail launch,” he said. 

“The concept was dropped into the entrance area of a dilapidated store, with broken fixtures, stained carpets, terrible lighting, stock-outs and holes in their inventory and nothing in the way of storytelling or customer experience.  It was cringe-worthy to say the least. I can’t speak for all locations (existing or planned) but if they’re anything like the one I visited, they need to rethink the idea entirely.  If the Zellers brand wasn’t already dead, HBC seems intent on doing their best to kill it.”

Zellers is popping up at Hudson’s Bay stores in:

British Columbia

• Langley Willowbrook Mall
• Nanaimo Woodgrove Centre
• Penticton Cherry Lane Shopping Centre
• Prince George Parkwood Place
• Victoria Bay Centre

Alberta

• Lethbridge Centre Mall
• Red Deer Bower Place
• St. Albert Centre

Saskatchewan

• Regina Cornwall Centre

Ontario

• Windsor Devonshire Mall
• Kitchener Fairview Park
• Barrie Georgian Mall
• Burlington Mapleview Centre
• Oshawa Centre
• Pickering Town Centre
• Place D’Orléans
• Newmarket Upper Canada Mall

Quebec

• Brossard Champlain Mall
• La Salle Carrefour Angrignon
• Rockland Centre
• St- Bruno Les Promenades