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Many consumers eager to embrace Target

Published: 17 January 2011

The loss of an iconic Canadian brand name such as Zellers might bother some people, but many others are simply looking forward to it being replaced with a better shopping alternative.

Zellers is poised to become the latest of several retail chains Canadians grew up with that no longer exist. This week, U.S. giant Target Corp. said it is buying the rights to most Zellers stores across the country from Hudson's Bay Co. Target is slated to begin operations in Canada in 2013 and the Zellers name is not expected to survive in any meaningful way after that...

Louis Gialloreto, a retail and brand-management expert with McGill University in Montreal, said there is minimal sentimentality among Canadians with regard to Canadian-owned stores or those they grew up with.

"They're just looking for the best deals," he said. "Canadians have shown over the years that they vote with their feet.

"If you were to say to them, 'This company, which is Canadian and has been around for a long time is going to go bankrupt unless Canadians start buying more from them,' they'd say, 'Okay. Give me a better value proposition and I'll buy from you.' "

Read full article: The Gazette, January 15, 2011

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