Zellers will be added to the growing list of major retail stores shutting its doors in Trail as its parent company announced closures of most of its remaining stores in Canada on Thursday.
Tiffany Bourre, Hudson’s Bay Company external communications manager, confirmed the venerable company will close its 64 remaining Zellers stores in Canada that aren’t being converted to Target stores.
Notice of the change was delivered to the 85 employees at the Trail location—and 6,400 people nationwide—Thursday morning, but no indication was given as to the future of the Trail franchise.
“We’re looking at options right now,” said Bourre when contacted by the Trail Daily Times.
While no firm date has been given for any of the closures, Bourre said the stores won’t be open beyond next March, 2013.
Bourre said each of the affected Zellers stores was no longer considered viable, including the Trail location, which had been open in the city for over 30 years.
However, the company hasn’t ruled out the possibility of maintaining some store locations like Trail and opening it under another retail banner.
When several current Zellers employees were asked about the closure, as well as Waneta Plaza manager Linda MacDermid, they declined to comment.
Earlier this year, Bourre quelled a rumour that Zellers was closing its plaza location after news that 84 former stores were acquired by Target.
That same month Your Dollar Store closed in downtown Trail, while Liquidation World was liquidated in 2010.
If the closure goes through, it will be the second HBC-owned store to exit the Silver City in less than one year.
In early spring, HBC closed the downtown location of its Fields store, part of a nationwide closure of 141 stores.
Fields, like the Zellers outlet, was a value-priced merchandise store that sold apparel, home, health and beauty products.
“We currently don’t have any plans to open another HBC banner (in Trail) and we don’t know what the landlord’s plans are for that store location,” said Bourre after Fields was closed.
