When Zellers returns to Windsor this summer, it will be returning to familiar territory. The retailer has confirmed its new Tecumseh Mall location will occupy the same interior mall entrance it once used before leaving Windsor more than a decade ago. The store will also feature an exterior entrance beside Giant Tiger. The Windsor location is expected to open in July, although an exact opening date has not yet been announced. The store is part of Zellers’ expanding comeback strategy following the successful opening of its first standalone location in Edmonton last fall. “Windsor was a very natural fit for this next chapter of Zellers’ expansion,” Zellers Chief Operating Officer Joey Benitah said in a statement sent to CTV News Wednesday “Tecumseh Mall stood out as an ideal partner - not only because of the strong alignment on timing and vision, but because of the deep history Zellers has within this community,” he said. For marketing experts, that history could prove valuable. “Zellers positions itself on nostalgia,” said Pushpinder Gill, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Windsor’s Odette School of Business. “It’s an old brand coming back.” Gill said that nostalgia extends beyond shoppers who remember the chain’s heyday. “It’s not just boomers who are going to be benefiting from this nostalgia,” he said, pointing to what marketers call “collective nostalgia” – an attachment to brands and experiences people may never have personally lived through. Still, Gill said the retailer faces significant competition from established players including Winners, Marshalls, Giant Tiger, Walmart, and Dollarama. The first new Ontario Zellers location is scheduled to open in Toronto on June 18. Windsor’s store is expected to follow a few weeks later.
