Zellers is planning more Ontario stores after testing its latest comeback at Edmonton’s Londonderry Mall.
A new location opens Thursday, Nov. 12, at Cambridge Centre, 355 Hespeler Rd. in Cambridge, Ont. Stores at Shoppers World in Brampton and Malvern Town Centre in Scarborough are planned for 2027. Each will be about 25,000 square feet.
The retailer says sales at its existing stores keep beating expectations.
For Edmonton shoppers, the news comes a year after Londonderry became the first Zellers under the brand’s new owner. What people bought there helped shape what Ontario shoppers will find on the shelves.
It started in Edmonton
The new Zellers opened at Londonderry Mall in north Edmonton on Oct. 30, 2025. It took over about 60,000 square feet on the main floor of the mall’s empty Hudson’s Bay store, and Zeddy cut the ribbon.
In January, chief operating officer Joey Benitah said traffic had stayed steady since opening and sales were beating the company’s internal targets. Zellers hasn’t released sales figures.
Ontario came next. A Toronto store opened at 80 Orfus Rd. on June 18, 2026, and Cambridge follows this week.
What sold in Edmonton
One surprise in Edmonton was how well toys sold.
Benitah originally wanted to leave toys out, because he was worried about competing with Walmart and Amazon. The small selection at Londonderry changed his mind.
“They were among our highest sellers,” he told The Canadian Press in June.
The Ontario expansion includes a wider toy selection, with plush toys, puzzles and outdoor games, along with snacks, party supplies and seasonal products. Clothing is still the core, with brands including Adidas, Dickies, Von Dutch, Juicy Couture and Bass Creek, and NFL merchandise was added recently.
The new Ontario stores are also smaller than Edmonton’s, at about 25,000 square feet each compared with Londonderry’s 60,000.
Every new Zellers so far
| Location | Status as of Nov. 10, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Londonderry Mall, Edmonton, Alta. | Open since Oct. 30, 2025 |
| 80 Orfus Rd., Toronto, Ont. | Open since June 18, 2026 |
| Cambridge Centre, Cambridge, Ont. | Scheduled to open Nov. 12 |
| Tecumseh Mall, Windsor, Ont. | Delayed, new date to come |
| Shoppers World, Brampton, Ont. | Planned for 2027 |
| Malvern Town Centre, Scarborough, Ont. | Planned for 2027 |
What’s happening in Windsor?
The Tecumseh Mall store was supposed to open in July.
AM800 reported in August that the City of Windsor had issued a compliance order to the mall’s owner over renovation work done without the required building permits. Zellers says the project is still moving ahead and it will announce a new opening date.
It would be a homecoming of sorts. Zellers used to be in the same mall.
Opening week in Cambridge, and Zeddy’s return
The Cambridge store moves into part of the former Hudson’s Bay space. Opening week runs Nov. 12 to 15, with balloon animals, face painting and popcorn with purchase.
The first 100 customers get a free Zeddy keychain.
Starting the same day, Zeddy is back on the shelves in every Zellers store, Edmonton included. He comes as a classic plush bear and as a smaller keychain.
Zellers is also working on Zeddy’s World, a section where shoppers can buy a bear and dress it up. There’s no launch date yet.
What about the Zellers diner?
The Zellers Restaurant was a big part of the old stores, known for its burgers, fries with gravy and hot chicken sandwiches.
The new stores don’t have a sit-down restaurant. Zellers brought the diner back in a different form instead: a food truck called the Zellers Diner on Wheels.
It made its first stop at the Toronto opening in June. The menu included the Big Z burger, a hot gravy chicken sandwich, chicken fingers, grilled cheese, and fries with gravy. Zellers said the truck would come to opening weekends at its new stores across Canada.
Zellers hasn’t said whether the truck will be at Cambridge this week.
Is Zellers coming to Calgary?
Not yet, but it’s been talked about.
In June, Benitah told The Canadian Press that Zellers was negotiating leases in five markets: Brampton, Scarborough, Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa.
“Ultimately, we’re looking to be in every major market from coast to coast,” he said.
Since then, Brampton and Scarborough have been confirmed. Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa haven’t. Zellers hasn’t given an update on those talks, and negotiating a lease isn’t the same as signing one.
For now, Edmonton is the only Zellers west of Ontario.
Who owns Zellers now?
Not Hudson’s Bay. The Bay went into creditor protection in 2025 and closed all its stores.
In August 2025, Les Ailes de la Mode, a Quebec retailer run by the Benitah family, bought the Zellers name, logo and Zeddy from Hudson’s Bay. The company calls this version “Zellers 3.0.”
How is this different from the Zellers inside The Bay?
The 2023 comeback put small Zellers sections inside Hudson’s Bay stores that were still open, along with an online store.
This time, Zellers has a new owner and its own standalone stores. Several of them, including Edmonton and Cambridge, are moving into spaces The Bay left behind.
The name is the same, but expect a different mix of products from both the original chain and the sections inside The Bay.
How Zellers got here
1928: Walter P. Zeller opens his first store, on Dundas Street in London, Ont.
1931: Zeller relaunches the chain, which grows into a national discount store
1978: Hudson’s Bay Company buys Zellers
2011: Target buys most Zellers leases for its move into Canada
2013: Most Zellers stores close
2020: The last two stores, in Etobicoke and Nepean, close
2023: Zellers returns as sections inside Hudson’s Bay stores
2025: The Bay shuts down, and Zellers is sold to Les Ailes de la Mode
Oct. 2025: The first new standalone Zellers opens in Edmonton
June 2026: Toronto opens at 80 Orfus Rd.
Nov. 12, 2026: Cambridge is scheduled to open
Have you been to the Zellers in Edmonton or Toronto? Tell us how it compares to the one you remember.
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