Towers Department Stores


Towers, operating as Bonimart in Quebec, was a Canadian discount department store chain owned by the Oshawa Group, a now-defunct grocery retailer and distributor.

History

Towers Marts began as a New York-based chain. The first Canadian store was opened on November 15, 1960 in Scarborough, Ontario. In March 1962, a group of Towers concessionaires incorporated as Allied Towers Merchants Ltd. After Towers Marts went bankrupt in 1963, Allied Towers Merchants Ltd., purchased the 13 Canadian stores, initially acquiring only 43% of the outstanding shares and eventually getting full control of these Towers stores.
In Quebec, the chain traded as Towers in the 1960s. The name was changed to Bonimart in April 1971, starting with the stores in the Greater Montreal, as part of a program by owner Oshawa Group to promote the French character among its subsidiaries in the province.
Each department within Towers stores operated as a licensed concession. Some Towers/Bonimart stores offered services such as restaurants, photo labs, and pharmacies within the store. Some stores were also paired with an IGA or Food City grocery store.
In October 1990, Towers/Bonimart's 51 stores were purchased by Hudson's Bay Company which intended to merge them with its Zellers subsidiary. One store was transferred to The Bay and four others were going to be sold or closed. The transaction was met with strong opposition from the New York-based F. W. Woolworth Company which also wanted to purchase the chain.
In April 1991, 47 of the Towers/Bonimart stores were rebranded with the Zellers banner. The remaining stores held closeout sales under their original name, some of them lasting until the fall of 1991. While ownership of the Towers name is unclear, the Bonimart trademark is the property of Sobeys, the successor of the Oshawa Group.

Slogans

  • "At Towers everything connects - the last day of one sale is the first of the next".
  • "Extra Special For Your Family--Towers."
  • "You made us part of your family at Towers."
  • "Towers. Your family's extra special store."
  • "At Towers, we've got the right idea!"

Mascot

Towers' mascot was an animated squirrel named Sparky. At the time of the Zellers buyout, print ads featured Sparky arm-in-arm with Zellers' bear mascot, Zeddy.

Locations

Ontario: other than GTA

  • Barrie
  • Belleville
  • Bracebridge
  • Brantford
  • Burlington
  • Hamilton
  • Collingwood
  • Kitchener
  • London
  • Niagara Falls
  • North Bay
  • Oakville Trafalgar Rd., Oakville, Ontario
  • Ottawa
  • Ottawa
  • Ottawa
  • Owen Sound
  • Peterborough
  • St. Catharines
  • Stratford
  • Sudbury
  • Waterloo ; became Zellers in 1991 and later Walmart.
  • Welland: 1000 East Main Street. Currently: Canadian Tire Financial Services Limited
  • Woodstock

Greater Toronto Area

  • Brampton 400 Queen St. W., Brampton, Ontario
  • Bridlewood Mall 2900 Warden Ave., Toronto, Ontario
  • Dixie Plaza 3100 Dixie Rd., Toronto Ontario
  • High Park 2290 Dundas St. W., Toronto, Ontario
  • Jane & Finch Mall, 3929 Jane St., Toronto Ontario
  • Kipling & The Queensway 1255 The Queensway, Toronto Ontario
  • Midland Lawrence Plaza 2650 Lawrence Ave. E., Toronto Ontario
  • Rexdale Mall 2267 Islington Ave., Toronto, Ontario
  • Riverdale Plaza 449 Carlaw Ave, Toronto, Ontario
  • The Galleria Mall 1245 Dupont St., Toronto, Ontario
  • Westside Mall 2400 Eglinton Ave. W., Toronto Ontario
  • Westwood Mall 7205 Goreway Dr., Mississauga Ontario

Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia

  • Charlottetown Paired With an IGA grocery store, converted to Zellers and later Target in 2013. Since closure of Target store has been converted into several retailers.
  • Summerside Converted to Zellers and paired with an IGA.
  • Bedford This store was transferred to The Bay as Zellers had a location in Sunnyside Mall located across from Bedford Place. The Bay closed this location January 1996. Store was converted to Zellers in the summer of 1996 having relocated from Sunnyside Mall. The store was converted to Target in 2013 and later subdivided into Fit for less and Giant Tiger.
  • Dartmouth - Cole Harbour Opened in 1986. Converted to Zellers in 1991. The store converted to Walmart in 2012 as part of 39 Zellers leases sold by Target to Walmart Canada.
  • New Minas Converted to Zellers in 1991. The store was also paired with an IGA grocery store. With the takeover of Towers; Zellers continued operating the two locations during the 1990s. Due to Zellers having a larger location nearby at County Fair Mall and IGA closing due to the takeover of the Oshawa Group by Sobeys, Gardens Mall was closed and demolished in early 2000s. The site was redeveloped into open air plaza anchored by Walmart.
  • Bridgewater

New Brunswick

Quebec

  • Châteauguay
  • Greenfield Park
  • Laval
  • Laval
  • Longueuil
  • Montreal
  • Sorel
  • Ste-Foy
  • St-Jean-sur-Richelieu
  • Saint-Léonard