Is Zeddy coming back, too? And is he pronounced "Zeedy" by Americans? Inquiring minds want to know.

Roland Parliament was the voice of Zeddy back in the day.  I recorded him regularly at Eastern Sound on Yorkville (which is now the Four Seasons Hotel).  Hope Zellers hires him again.

https://twitter.com/cspotweet/status/1559938380439363587?t=_bwf4dPjFW26Azmfpy06Zg&s=19

amazing thread with pictures! about their restaurant offerings, do not read if hungry

turkeytop wrote:

We miss Zellers and we miss BiWay. But Giant Tiger is trying admirably to fill the void.

Well being a thrifty senior and a Scot to boot, I rather like Giant Tiger.  I find their clothing lines to be of good quality and very reasonably priced.  For a discount store they don't sell junk like some other much larger retailers. 

.I never minded Zellers. I know some didn't like them at all, but overall I had no issues with them. Like Giant Tiger the clothing lines were good quality at a decent price.  Only difference was that Zellers had a much larger variety. Let's see what happens next year. 

And never forget Towers:

"At Towers, everything connects,
The last day of one sale
Is the first of the next."

RadioActive wrote:

Is Zeddy coming back, too? And is he pronounced "Zeedy" by Americans? Inquiring minds want to know.

I don't think Americans thought too much of that pronunciation.  They felt it seemed kinda "zee-dy"
(darn - it sounded better in my head aka "seedy")
 

No Giant Tigers here in Richmond Hill.  I have to go to Stouffville.

betaylored wrote:

Still bummed they botched the Canadian version of Target

If Target had stuck it out Zellers wouldn't be reopening.  Target opened too many stores too soon.  They didn't have their distribution worked out properly, and that's why all of the empty shelves even during the grand opening.  A store like Target should never have empty shelves, especially for a grand opening.

The price difference between the US and Canadian Target stores was overblown.  Walmart is more expensive here too. Target dropped the very popular Zellers restaurants and replaced them with Starbucks.  They should have kept the restaurants in store.  Zellers had picked up most of Target's clothing lines years earlier and when Target did open people didn't see enough of a difference in what was being offered.  Also for some reason Target stores had a small hardware department.  People here would not go to a store like Target for hardware, especially when there likely would be a Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Lowe's, Rona or Home Hardware close by. 

And let's not forget: (There was one in Lawrence Plaza that I remember very well.) The chain eventually became Woolco in Canada and then stopped gathering Wool(co) altogether. 

Woolco stores in Canada eventually were converted into Walmart.  Walmart bought the chain except for any downtown locations or stores that were unionized. 

Walmart rolled out the converted stores slowly and took years before the change over was complete.  Initially Walmart didn't put out many flyers and relied on their Everyday Low Prices.  However this concept was not known that well in Canada, and Canadian shoppers were accustomed to sales.  After 18 months Walmart doubled the number of flyer drops per year and eventually had a flyer every week, similar to their competition. Walmart would never call anything a sale, but rather "New Lower Prices."

Initially Walmart didn't do anything special for Boxing Day/Week and sales suffered badly as customers went to the competition for bargains.  Within two or three years Walmart also had Boxing Day/Week specials promoted on TV and with a flyer. 

Speaking of outlets that no longer exist... Now where did I put that little tiny pencil you needed to fill out the order?

 

If you're not shopping Bargain Harolds, you're paying too much.

Happy to hear Zellers will be back. In downtown Toronto, there's no Giant Tiger. Walmart is the only option. 

Peter the K wrote:

It seems like a classic case of "You don't know what you've got until it's gone."  When Zellers was being liquidated lots of people were saying "good riddance" and looking forward to the big red bullseye.  Likewise with Woolco turning into Wal-Mart.

Now everyone is waxing nostalgic for Zeddy and the Skillet Restuarant.  And if I had a buck for each time I heard someone lament the passing of $1.44 day...

By the way, anyone shopped at a K-Mart in the U.S. lately?  
 

A few stories I have read recently mentioned that K Mart in the US is down to about 20 stores and Sears around 15.  Maybe they will survive somehow on line.

Tomas Barlow wrote:

By the time it left Zellers stores were dirty and neglected, the prices weren’t great and the selection was lacking. Giant Tiger has done a wonderful job of filling the void. The stores are clean, the merchandise is of good quality and the prices, especially the flyer prices, are lower than discount grocery stores and Walmart.

Giant Tiger does not have enough stores though, and none in downtown Toronto.
Their locations are just too far away.

It amazes me that Giant Tiger didn't try to snatch up ground level space where Honest Ed's used to be. 
They would have done quite well!!