TORONTO (AP) — Canadian retailer Hudson’s Bay Co. says it will close most of its 64 remaining Zellers Inc. stores that aren’t being converted to Target stores, affecting up to 6,400 jobs.
A spokeswoman for Hudson’s Bay Co. said Thursday that the Zellers parent company has been contemplating what to do with the brand since last year, when it sold the majority of the leases for the discount stores to Target Corp.
Tiffany Bourre says most of the remaining stores will be closed by March 2013.
Bourre says the company hasn’t ruled out the possibility of maintaining some of the store locations and opening them under another retail banner.
Target plans to open 125 to 135 stores in Canada. It has purchased the leasehold interests of 189 sites currently operated by Zellers Inc.
