Zellers returns — kind of — but the lowest price isn't quite the law

Shoppers at a Hudson's Bay store in Burlington, Ont., might be surprised to see the typical black typeface of their familiar department store give way to bright red signage — equally familiar to most Canadians who shopped for anything from housewares to hardware from the 1970s onward.

The name and logo of Zellers hang from the rafters on the upper floor of the Burlington Centre Bay store, hidden in a corner near the toy section just past a broken escalator.

It's not a standalone, full Zellers in the style of decades past. It's a pop-up store inside an existing store rather than a full outlet of the discount department store that had hundreds of locations across Canada until the early 2000s.

The Zellers pop-up had only a few items for sale when visited by CBC Radio's The Cost of Living in late September.

There were fewer than 20 clothing items for adults, mostly labelled "Canada" with red and white styles. There was a small selection of wine glasses, pillows and bedsheets, and several toys up for grabs.

It was a far cry from the broad selection in a full discount department store such as Walmart or Giant Tiger.

Customers used to the famous "law of low prices" that Zellers commercials referenced in jingle form may have been surprised at the pricing. The items at the pop-up discount brand were priced identically to nearby HBC stores, such as the Sherway Gardens Hudson's Bay in suburban Toronto.