Here are the locations of the first 12 new Zellers stores

CTV National News: Zellers comeback kicks off Heather Wright reports on the handful of locations where Zellers has reopened and will offer limited-time blasts from the past.

Zellers has opened the first of 25 new locations within Hudson's Bay stores across the country.

The Canadian retail chain launched 12 stores in Ontario and Alberta Thursday, along with a new retail website. The wave of store openings marks a comeback for the chain years after it closed its last standalone Zellers location.

Parent company Hudson's Bay Co. (HBC) shuttered nearly all of the original Zellers stores in 2013, with the final two stores closing in 2020. However, HBC announced in 2022 it planned to bring back the Canadian discount chain.

The new 10,000-square-foot Zellers stores will sell an assortment of products, including home decor, clothing, toys and baby and pet products, under the company's in-house brand name Anko. Products sold under the Anko label are exclusive to Zellers within Canada, reports The Canadian Press.

With this new generation of stores, Hudson's Bay Company said it plans to serve a "hint of the nostalgia that Canadians know and love." As part of those plans, it's also bringing back a version of the Zellers Diner.

While the floorplans for the new stores do not include a restaurant, the company will have food trucks at some locations offering top menu items from the original Zellers Diner. Those items, decided by nationwide poll, include the big "Z" burger, hot chicken sandwich, grilled cheese, chicken fingers and fries with gravy.

The trucks will be on hand at new locations in Alberta until March 25 and in Ontario until March 26. Following initial stops at the new store locations – and depending on the popularity of the comeback – the company says its mobile diner fleet will embark on a cross-country tour this summer.

Here are the locations of the new stores, by province. Stores indicated with an asterisk are now open.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

-Pacific Centre, Downtown Vancouver

-Aberdeen Mall, Kamloops

-Guildford Town Centre, Surrey

-7 Oaks Shopping Centre, Abbotsford

ALBERTA

-Kingsway Garden Mall, Edmonton*

-Medicine Hat Mall, Medicine Hat*

-Sunridge Mall, Calgary*

SASKATCHEWAN

-Midtown Plaza, Saskatoon

MANITOBA

-St. Vital, Winnipeg

ONTARIO

-Erin Mills, Mississauga*

-Burlington Mall, Burlington*

-White Oaks Mall, London*

-Scarborough Town Centre, Toronto*

-The Pen Centre, St. Catharines*

-Cambridge Centre, Cambridge*

-Rideau Centre, Ottawa*

-St. Laurent Centre, Ottawa*

-Cataraqui Town Centre, Kingston*

QUEBEC

Place Rosemère, Rosemère

Galeries d'Anjou, Ville Anjou

-Carrefour de l'Estrie, Sherbrooke

-Les Promenades Gatineau, Gatineau

-Les Galeries de la Capitale, Quebec City

NOVA SCOTIA

-Micmac Mall, Dartmouth

-Mayflower Shopping Mall, Sydney

-With files from The Canadian Press