"Zellers is making a comeback — again"/ "New Zellers officially opens at Edmonton’s Londonderry Mall"

Oct. 29, 2025 "Zellers is making a comeback — again": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps on BNN Bloomberg:

Zellers is making a comeback — again.

The discount retailer that’s died and been revived several times since its 1928 beginnings will get another relaunch Thursday at Londonderry Mall in Edmonton.

The latest iteration will stick with the original’s emphasis on affordable family offerings but will pare back the kinds of merchandise sold and rethink the hulking properties Zellers once occupied.

The new retailer will take over much smaller spaces and be stocked with 

men’s, 

women’s 

and kids’ apparel, 

as well as home goods, 

luggage 

and seasonal items, 

but ditch other Zellers categories like toys and pharmaceuticals.

At the heart of the operation will be value because “that’s the one thing that never goes out of style,” 

said Joey Benitah, Zellers’ chief operating officer, in an interview with The Canadian Press ahead of the brand’s relaunch.

His family has been a fixture in Canada’s retail market for the last 50 years. 

It’s owned clothing chains like 

Fairweather 

and International Clothiers 

as well as houseware brands Bombay 

and Bowring. 

In 2019, Joey and his sister Rachel launched Wyrth, 

a home decor store targeted at millennials with locations in the Greater Toronto Area.

Les Ailes de la Mode Inc., a company the family owns that shares its name with a department store they once ran, 

acquired the Zellers name, 

its logo 

and the rights to mascot bear Zeddy, 

loyalty program Club Z 

and the Zellers portrait studio in August. 

Benitah wouldn’t confirm what his family paid for the rights, but court documents have suggested it could have been $100,000.

The trademarks were bought from Hudson’s Bay, which had owned the trademarks and operated sections dedicated to the brand in its stores before HBC collapsed under the weight of $1.1 billion in debt in March.

The chance to add Zellers to the family’s collection of brands felt like a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Benitah said.

“We’ve always loved the brand,” he said. 

“We’ve always understood the value and the storied history that the brand has.”

The family’s connections and experience in the retail world helped it move from idea to reality within three months, 

though the Londonderry location will be more of a teaser than final concept because Benitah is taking a phased approach to the relaunch.

That means he will start with a few key brands and product categories 

and keep adding as the chain grows.

While he hasn’t revealed how many stores he hopes to open, he said he 

“absolutely plans on bringing Zellers back to every major market across Canada in a relatively short time.”

He has initially targeted former HBC properties and has been signing leases with landlords for single floors or portions of the space the department store once held that measure no more than 50,000 square feet.

“We don’t need 250,000 square feet, 200,000 square feet. That’s not our vision for the future of Zellers,” Benitah said. “There’s a lot of space in these former Hudson’s Bay stores that we’re not going to be occupying.”

Court documents have shown the Benitahs want to take over HBC’s former Yorkdale Shopping Centre digs in Toronto and several other sites once used by the brand to relaunch the Les Ailes de la Mode department store. Joey Benitah would not comment on whether the Yorkdale space could possibly be used for Zellers.

The version of Zellers he will launch will include products from familiar brands like Reebok, Spyder, Chaps, DKNY, Disney, Marvel and Nickelodeon. More brands and other categories like footwear will follow.

A teddy bear version of the popular Zeddy character and an area where the stuffed animals can be customized will be introduced next year.

The company is also in talks to eventually develop a Zeddy-themed partnership supporting camps for kids affected by cancer. 

(HBC gave the Zeddy character to an Ontario camp for young people affected by cancer in 2012.)

Yet a few parts of Zellers’ history won’t be revived.

Toys and pharmaceuticals — past Zellers fixtures — will likely be omitted 

because “they are so overwhelmingly dominated by the likes of Amazon and Walmart.”

“If we don’t feel that we can offer very competitive or ideally, 

the best value in the Canadian market on any one particular department, 

I would rather stay away and let others focus on it,” 

Benitah said.

The Zellers diner also won’t make it into stores but “from a food and beverage standpoint, we are working on a number of very exciting, fun, interactive concepts and ideas that we’re going to be introducing in the near future,” he said.

HBC had previously toyed with the diner concept when it brought back Zellers in 2023 as a pop-up and then permanent fixture in HBC locations. It mostly sold home goods and toys from Australian brand Anko but at times, promoted the venture with a food truck selling diner favourites.

The 2023 version of Zellers was more scaled back then the original concept developed by Waterloo, Ont., entrepreneur Walter Philip Zeller, who opened several Ontario stores in the early 1920s.

He was quickly bought out by American firm Schulte-United Ltd., but when it went bankrupt, Zeller bought back his original properties and revived the chain again in 1931.

HBC bought a majority stake in the company in 1978 and picked up the remaining interest in 1981.

There were 350 Zellers stores at the company’s peak, but most were closed by 2013, when the chain determined they weren’t viable.

Two remained in Toronto and Ottawa but were shuttered in 2020.

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

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/company-news/2025/10/29/zellers-is-set-for-another-relaunch-heres-what-the-new-owners-have-in-store/

Oct. 30, 2025 "New Zellers officially opens at Edmonton’s Londonderry Mall": Today I found this article by Craig Ellison on BNN Bloomberg:

Zeddy prepares to cut the ribbon at the Zellers store in Londonderry Mall on Oct. 30, 2025. (Cam Wiebe/CTV News Edmonton)

Zellers is alive, again.

The revived department store opened its first location at Edmonton’s Londonderry Mall when the shopping centre opened Thursday morning.

The new-format retailer will occupy 60,000 square feet on one floor of the northside mall’s store space that once hosted Hudson’s Bay, the historic Canadian store that closed the doors of its locations across the country at the end of June.

The new Zellers will feature goods such as 

apparel, 

home goods, 

seasonal items 

and luggage 

while using a smaller footprint than its predecessor.

The Londonderry location is the first former Bay space in Canada for which a new retail store has been announced. It was first slated to open on Aug. 29 then Sept. 1, but its opening was pushed into October.

While Joey Benitah, the chief executive officer of Zellers, hasn’t revealed how many stores the company hopes to open, he said he “absolutely plans on bringing Zellers back to every major market across Canada in a relatively short time.”

Benitah initially targeted former HBC properties and has been signing leases with landlords for single floors or portions of the space the department store once held that measure no more than 50,000 square feet.

“We don’t need 250,000 square feet, 200,000 square feet. That’s not our vision for the future of Zellers,” Benitah said. “There’s a lot of space in these former Hudson’s Bay stores that we’re not going to be occupying.”

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/2025/10/30/new-zellers-officially-open-at-edmontons-londonderry-mall/

The other 2 blog posts of the week:

"Meal kits went mainstream during COVID — but is it a food fad or the new normal?"/ "Why you should expect smaller candies at Halloween this year"

https://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/10/meal-kits-went-mainstream-during-covid.html

"Canadian Tire will start selling iconic Hudson's Bay blankets, donating proceeds to Indigenous fund"/ "B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu loses court fight to take over Hudson's Bay properties"

https://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/10/canadian-tire-will-start-selling-iconic.html

My week:

Oct. 31, 2025 Leo poll:

Samantha V, Calgary, Alberta, would like to know:

Do you plan to celebrate Halloween this year?

Yes, definitely    34.19% (1720)

I don’t celebrate Halloween    34.02% (1711)

No, I don’t plan celebrating Halloween this year    31.79% (1599)

My opinion: No, I don’t plan celebrating Halloween this year.  My family and I will be passing out chips to trick -or- treaters.

“

"Canadian Tire will start selling iconic Hudson's Bay blankets, donating proceeds to Indigenous fund"/ "B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu loses court fight to take over Hudson's Bay properties"

Oct. 16, 2025 "Canadian Tire will start selling iconic Hudson's Bay blankets, donating proceeds to Indigenous fund": Today I found this article on CBC:

Canadian Tire will begin selling the iconic Hudson's Bay point blankets 

and has pledged to continue a program started by HBC to donate the net proceeds to support Indigenous-led initiatives.

Under an expanded partnership between Canadian Tire 

and the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, 

the retailer has guaranteed at least $1 million a year to support Oshki Wupoowane, The Blanket Fund.

The money will be used for grants that support 

grassroots Indigenous organizations 

and one-time cultural, artistic and educational projects.

Canadian Tire acquired HBC's intellectual property, including the iconic Hudson's Bay stripes, earlier this year for $30 million as part of the wind down of the retailer. 

The deal didn't include the company's art, artifacts and archives — some of which will be auctioned off next month.

While popular with shoppers today, the HBC point blankets have a problematic history because of their association with the company's colonial past. 

The blankets were once used as currency to trade by early European settlers in Canada, 

but there is oral history that says they were used to spread smallpox intentionally to Indigenous communities in the 1700s and 1800s.

The Blanket Fund was launched in 2022 in an effort for truth and reconciliation 

with an initial $1 million investment from the Hudson's Bay Foundation 

and a commitment to give 100 per cent of the net proceeds from the sale of Hudson's Bay point blankets to the fund.

“We are exceptionally proud to be the stewards of HBC’s legacy 

— and as one of the nation’s longest-standing companies, 

we don’t take the responsibility lightly,” 

said Greg Hicks, President and CEO of Canadian Tire, in a statement.

“The Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket is a Canadian symbol with a complex history, and through our deepened relationship with [the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund], 

we are committed to ensuring its 

cultural preservation 

and meaningful reconciliation for generations to come.” 

With files from CBC News

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canadian-tire-blanket-fund-9.6940989

My opinion: I like this article because it's about charity.

Oct. 24, 2025 "B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu loses court fight to take over Hudson's Bay properties": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps on CBC:

A B.C. billionaire who spent the summer fighting to move into former Hudson’s Bay properties found herself on the losing end of an Ontario Superior Court decision on Friday.

Judge Peter Osborne ruled that landlords for the collapsed retailer 

will not be forced to accept Ruby Liu as a tenant.

In his judgment, Osborne said he had “significant concerns” about Liu’s ability to meet the terms of the leases she wanted.

HBC declined to comment on his decision, while a spokesperson for Liu did not immediately respond to messages from The Canadian Press. 

Both parties have the ability to appeal the decision, though neither has announced plans to.

Major landlords including Cadillac Fairview, Oxford Properties and Ivanhoé Cambridge were opposed to Liu buying 25 former Hudson's Bay leases for $69.1 million.

Osborne’s decision was months in the making and came after he waded through 25,600 pages of arguments from a who’s who of commercial landlords and investors.

It was back in March that Hudson’s Bay, riddled with $1.1 billion in debt, filed for creditor protection. Unable to find a buyer, it later liquidated its 80 stores and 16 more from Saks, and then turned its attention to assets such as its leases, intellectual property and art.

A lease-bidding process netted a dozen bids for 39 properties. 

YM Inc., which owns mall brands like Bluenotes, took five for $5.03 million.

A landlord took one for $20,000.

But the biggest bid came from Liu, who dreamed of opening a new department store chain named after herself. She wanted up to 28 leases to accomplish the feat and in May, the Bay announced it was willing to sell them to her.

Three of them easily won court approval because they were at properties in B.C. malls Liu owns — Woodgrove Centre, Mayfair Shopping Centre and Tsawwassen Mills.

The remaining 25 became one of the most hotly contested issues in the Bay’s winddown.

Almost as soon as the Bay announced they’d sell the leases to Liu for $69.1 million, landlords met with her and came away with a wide array of objections.

Most said they found her unprepared. 

They said she had 

no business plan, 

and a team of inexperienced executives who had spent time as real estate agents and early child educators rather than retail leaders. 

Furthermore, they said that Liu's plans for dining, entertainment and recreation weren’t allowed under the leases she wanted to take over.

When Liu did produce a business plan, it estimated she could have at least 20 of her stores renovated — from the rundown state the Bay left them in — and operating within 180 days of signing leases.

Landlords thought the timeline was unachievable and argued her $400 million budget for the project 

— money they doubted she had readily available because her malls were $19 million in debt over the last two years — also wouldn’t suffice.

Liu, who made her fortune in Chinese real estate before immigrating to Canada, maintained her three malls prove she has what it takes. She argued landlords were battling her because she’s an “outsider” and not their preferred tenant.

The Bay and Pathlight Capital, the lender that stood to recoup the most from Liu’s deal, said the landlords objected because they wanted their properties back. If they got control of them again, they could lease their most venerable spaces to their pick of tenants — and could charge far more than the below-market rents in the Bay’s leases, some of which last for decades.

A return of the properties would also allow landlords to 

break the spaces into multiple smaller units for use by multiple tenants

or redevelop them into mixed-use 

or residential spaces.

In making his decision, Osborne had to consider section 11.3 of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, which allows the court to assign leases to a potential tenant against the objections of landlords.

The section asked him to ponder whether Liu is an “appropriate” buyer who will be able to meet the lease obligations and whether her deal has the support of the monitor, a court-appointed, independent third party which regularly reviews the Bay's creditor protection.

Monitor Alvarez & Marsal had said it thought Liu could meet all her financial obligations but added there's a “very real risk” she will not be able to succeed with the “monumental" task, because she is inexperienced and unprepared.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ruby-liu-hudsons-bay-court-fight-9.6952982

My opinion: 

For Ruby Lui: She still has money and her other BC mall properties.

For the Canadian customer: There are still a lot of stores in malls and online to shop at.

"Meal kits went mainstream during COVID — but is it a food fad or the new normal?"/ "Why you should expect smaller candies at Halloween this year"

Here are 2 news articles about food.

Dec. 26, 2021 "Meal kits went mainstream during COVID — but is it a food fad or the new normal?": Today I found this article by Jacqueline Hansen on CBC news:

Ready-to-make meal kits surged in popularity when COVID-19 hit, as more Canadians had to rely on their own cooking for sustenance. But it's unclear whether those new habits will stick.

Montreal-based meal-kit and grocery-delivery company Goodfood says it saw new customers pour in when the pandemic began.

"The pandemic was really just this big push, 

this huge tailwind behind the business," 

said Goodfood CEO and co-founder Jonathan Ferrari, at the company's micro-fulfilment centre in Toronto, where the company boxes and ships orders for customers in the city's downtown.

According to market research firm the NPD Group, 

before the pandemic, 

less than one out of every seven households had ordered a meal kit. 

But in 2020, that rose to nearly one in four — a 50 per cent increase.

The household penetration rate of online grocery orders increased even more, 

from about 11 per cent in 2019, 

to 26 per cent in 2020.

 And online orders of restaurant meals jumped from 39 per cent of households to 50 per cent.

"We've all gotten used to ordering food online, 

and I think that's a pandemic habit that's going to stick long after the pandemic has gone," 

said Vince Sgabellone, food service industry analyst for the NPD Group.

But as COVID-19 public health restrictions were lifted in the summer, Goodfood reported a 

loss of 19,000 subscribers, 

going from 317,000 in the third quarter of 2021, 

to 298,000 in the fourth quarter.

Germany-based meal-kit company HelloFresh, which delivers in Canada and elsewhere in the world, also lost thousands of subscribers recently, 

dropping from 7.7 million in its second quarter this year, to 6.94 million 

— though that's still up nearly 40 per cent from the same period in 2020.

HelloFresh also owns Chefs Plate, 

which only delivers in Canada, 

but the company doesn't break down subscriber data by brand or by country.

"Within the meal-kit business, we've always had a seasonality that's the opposite of the restaurant business … 

as customers tend to go out to patios and spend more time outside [in the summer]," 

said Ferrari. 

He added that the company has already seen a rebound in business over the fall months.

Goodfood recently opened its first two micro-fulfilment centres, in Toronto and Montreal, to offer customers delivery of meal kits and grocery items in as little as 30 minutes. Its on-demand delivery service is free for a limited time, but will eventually have a fee of $5.99 per month.

Treating meal kits as a luxury

One Toronto-based marketing firm questions whether fewer Canadians will find value in meal kits in the future — unless the marketing ultimately shifts.

"As the pandemic has gone on, 

the product of meal kits has gone from a necessity and a convenience item, 

to a luxury, to a treat," 

said Mo Dezyanian, president of Empathy.

In September, Empathy partnered with consumer research firm Vividata to poll 294 Canadians who currently subscribe to, occasionally use, or have tried and rejected meal-kit services in the past 12 months. T

he survey was sent to a nationally representative sample of Canadians aged 18 or older, excluding those who have never tried meal kits.

It found that 82 per cent of respondents said the pandemic played a role in subscribing to meal kits, 

and nearly half said it was due to restaurant closures during lockdowns.

The survey also found that 79 per cent of people who tried and rejected meal kits did so because they are too expensive.

"That was true across the board, 

regardless of financial situation, 

regardless of household income,"

 said Dezyanian.

Most of Goodfood's current selection of on-demand meal kits range from about $11 to $18 per serving. 

HelloFresh advertises its meal-kit subscriptions as priced between about $9 to $12 each,

depending on the number of recipes and servings ordered, 

whereas Chefs Plate meals cost $9 to $10. 

Montreal-based Cook It ranges from about $10 to $12 per portion. 

Any applicable shipping charges are additional.

While that doesn't mean people won't dish out the cash to buy them, Dezyanian says it may require a shift in marketing going forward.

"It's much like a Starbucks latte, where it's an accessible treat to you; you treat yourself and it makes you feel better," said Dezyanian.

Canadians cutting costs

The recently released Canada's Food Price Report estimates that the price of food will increase between five and seven per cent next year — or an extra $966 a year for the typical family grocery bill.

Food that comes in the form of delivered groceries or online meal kits is forecast to go up by slightly more, up to an additional eight per cent.

Lead author of the report, Sylvain Charlebois‎, suggests some people will trade the convenience of meal kits and grocery delivery for fully do-it-yourself solutions that cost less.

"People are going to become more frugal as a result of higher inflation," he said.

Meal-kit companies often spend a lot of money to get customers hooked with coupons and promo codes, but Charlebois says that can't continue forever.

"They were basically giving money to their own customers 

in order to generate business, 

and so now, they're going to have to rely on loyalty," 

he said.

But Sgabellone says, so far, the overall level of meal-kit usage in Canada is holding onto its pandemic boost.

"We've had 18 months or so to develop these new habits. 

That's a long time to get used to something. 

And if we've enjoyed it, 

we're going to continue it," 

he said.

Meal kits went mainstream during COVID — but is it a food fad or the new normal? | CBC News

• 9 hours ago

Meal kits are ok ,there is a whole bunch of pros and cons that come with ordering in meals instead of walking the many courtesy food laced maze like lanes in grocery stores in the name of savings. For one your not dragging your child accross many attractive labels designed and placed for their eyes to instigate unnecessary purchases .

 

• 10 hours ago

Had a friend sent me a coupon for a 'free meal kit' from one of these popular meal kit companies...but I had to put in my credit card number to place the free kit order... That was a mistake. The company then reordered a kit out of the blue and charged me a meal kit without my permission or choice of what I was getting. No email to warn me and they did it at 2am! I couldn't cancel that order in time and complained about this auto ordering problem..but got no where. I eventually figured how to stop my payments, but they keep on sending me auto emails telling me that I must gave made a mistake cancelling my orders with them. A "FREE" meal kit is a scam to hook you in...I advise to avoid at all cost. « less

 

• 13 hours ago

I tried Hello Fresh several times (because it was free) , it wasn't that bad, I can see a market for it.

Oct. 24, 2025 "Why you should expect smaller candies at Halloween this year": Today I found this article by Ritika Dubey on BNN Bloomberg:

Those dipping into the Halloween candy pile early might have noticed some unwelcome changes: portions so small the chocolate bar is more of a square or so few M&Ms you can count them on one hand.

The amount of chocolate content might be lower, too, with sugary substitutes added to the ingredients list.

Trick-or-treaters hoping the trend is temporary are likely to be disappointed, as climate change and other factors are expected to make higher cocoa prices a new long-term reality.

Companies trying to manage sky-high prices for ingredients can only pass along so much of the cost to consumers, so they have turned to 

portion sizes, 

alternate ingredients 

and other strategies as well.

Cocoa prices have more than doubled over the past two years due to 

poor weather 

and crop disease 

in West Africa, 

which supplies more than 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa.

The North American benchmark price for a tonne of cocoa stood at US$6,207 on Wednesday, according to the International Cocoa Organization, which releases a daily average of futures prices for the commodity in London and New York.

That’s down from December’s peak of US$11,984, 

but it’s still 60 per cent higher than two years ago. 

Prices had held steady at around US$2,500 for more than a decade leading up to 2023.

“It has come down a little bit from its peak, but it’s still almost triple what it used to be,” said Jo-Ann McArthur, president of Nourish Food Marketing.

“You can’t absorb that as a manufacturer.”

Signs of a pivot have already emerged. 

Hershey Co. launched chocolate nuggets filled with pumpkin spice latte flavour this fall, 

while its Reese’s peanut butter cups got a Halloween makeover with werewolf tracks — substituting half the chocolate coating with vanilla cream. 

(Some of these new variations are not yet available in Canada.)

With the nuggets, “they’ve used that filling to really change the composition of the Halloween candy to reduce the amount of chocolate,” McArthur said.

“They’re turning a negative into a positive. 

That’s clever product innovation.”

Some chocolate makers are also using cocoa substitutes, 

such as chocolate powder 

or a shea butter mix 

to reduce ingredient costs, 

McArthur said.

“You’re going to have to fundamentally use less cocoa, less chocolate,” she said. 

“With climate change, this is probably a long-term phenomenon.”

Climate scientist Anna Lea Albright said climate change-induced heavy rainfalls in West Africa are affecting cocoa yields.

“We find that heavy rainfall is damaging, so in a very broad sense, 

that poses a risk to cocoa production without adaptation,”

said Albright, an environmental fellow at Harvard University’s Center for the Environment.

On top of that, factors such as El Niño are factors in year-to-year variation, she added.

Environmental impacts are making cocoa pricing more volatile. 

According to the International Cocoa Organization, 

prices surged in early June on concerns about production in Ivory Coast 

but eased on optimistic forecasts for production in Ghana and Latin America. 

They rose again in late June after heavy rains in West Africa, 

which could worsen the outbreak of diseases that harm crops.

Albright said other non-climatic factors, 

such as rising fertilizer costs 

are also adding to cocoa supply disruptions.

“It’s going to be challenging for any manufacturers who use cocoa in their products,” said Tim Webb, partner for supply chain and procurement at KPMG in Canada.

“It’s unlikely that cocoa prices will return to more normalized levels given

tight supplies, 

tariffs 

and the added compliance cost of tracing and disclosing cocoa supplies,” 

he said.

Some chocolate makers raised prices to adjust to the rising ingredient costs earlier this year, 

while others have downgraded their sales estimates as consumer demand wanes.

Chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli AG, a global powerhouse, in July reported higher cocoa costs and lower volumes in its mid-year report, with the slower sales largely concentrated in North America.

Hershey’s, meanwhile, announced earlier this year it was raising its retail prices, 

and in some cases, shrinking the packaging with the same price. 

The price increases, however, were not reflected in Halloween packaging.

The average price increases were in the low double-digit percentages to make up for the higher cost of cocoa and other ingredients.

Prices of confectionary products rose 9.2 per cent in September, compared with 5.8 per cent the previous month, Statistics Canada reported on Tuesday.

Webb said chocolate manufacturers need to focus on 

building resilience across their supply chains 

by diversifying sourcing regions 

and investing in long-term partnerships with farmers.

“Stability comes from managing price cycles strategically,” 

he said.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2025.

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/economics/2025/10/24/more-trick-less-treat-expect-smaller-candies-at-halloween-as-prices-rise/