{"id":745793,"date":"2026-06-18T21:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/745793\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T21:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T21:11:15","slug":"zellers-toronto-why-the-retailers-comeback-could-be-an-uphill-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/745793\/","title":{"rendered":"Zellers Toronto: Why the retailer’s comeback could be an uphill battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Retail Prophet Doug Stephens discusses Zellers\u2019 comeback to the Canadian market and whether nostalgia will attract customers. <\/p>\n

Zellers has officially made its grand opening in Toronto, reviving one of Canada\u2019s most recognizable brands that experts say will need more than just nostalgia to stick around.<\/p>\n

The discount retailer opened a new store Thursday morning on Orfus Road (80 Orfus Rd.), marking its first traditional location in the Greater Toronto Area since the last remaining city store closed back in 2020. Most stores closed in 2013<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve realized there\u2019s definitely a movement toward affordability,\u201d said retail analyst Bruce Winder, who attended the store opening. \u201cWe\u2019re in an affordability crisis, and that market is far from saturated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Toronto location follows the opening of a standalone Zellers store in Edmonton last fall and comes as the company explores additional sites in markets including Brampton, Scarborough, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver. An additional location<\/a> however is set to open at Windsor\u2019s Tecumseh Mall in July.<\/p>\n

Chief operating officer Joey Benitah previously said the long-term goal is to rebuild the chain\u2019s national footprint.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, we\u2019re looking to be in every major market from coast to coast,\u201d he said in a previous interview.<\/p>\n

Nostalgia may get shoppers in the door<\/p>\n

The return is likely to resonate with Canadians who remember the retailer\u2019s heyday, when Zellers operated many stores across the country and became known for everything, such as Club Z loyalty cards introduced back in 1986.<\/p>\n

But experts say nostalgia can only take the brand so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll give you the simple answer first: no, nostalgia won\u2019t be enough,\u201d said retail analyst Doug Stephens in an interview with CP24 Breakfast. <\/p>\n

Winder too, also echoed that same viewpoint.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be careful about nostalgia as a retail strategy. I don\u2019t think it makes sense as a retail strategy by itself. I see it more as the icing on the cake.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said nostalgia may attract curious shoppers and generate publicity, but long-term success will depend on offering competitive prices and products people actually want and can actually rely on. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll get people there once, which is great. It\u2019ll get media talking about it, but to really keep people coming back to the store, you need to offer value,\u201d he noted. <\/p>\n

Competing in a crowded discount market<\/p>\n

The new store will carry apparel, home goods, luggage and seasonal merchandise. It was also feature familiar brands on shelves such as Adidas, Juicy Couture, Dickies and Von Dutch.<\/p>\n

Stephens said the retailer enters a highly competitive landscape dominated by major longtime players such as Walmart, Canadian Tire, Dollarama and Giant Tiger.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, you have to bring some sort of unique value to the market, some sort of unique experience or product assortment that the consumer is not going to find anywhere else,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

For Winder, the choice of Orfus Road is an early signal of the company\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrfus Road is a value street, a value area,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely sending a message of value to the consumer that they mean business.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Retail Prophet Doug Stephens discusses Zellers\u2019 comeback to the Canadian market and whether nostalgia will attract customers.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":745794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[712,45,49,48],"class_list":["post-745793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-apple-news","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/745794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}