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History
Last updated
November 08, 2008 |
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1960 |
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- Towers Marts of Canada brought the chain discount store concept
to Canada in November of 1960. A crash building program would open
12 discount plaza units of 100,00 square feet each in just over two
year. In Quebec, the stores went under the Bonimart banner.
The first store was opened at the corner of Lawrence Ave. East and
Midland Ave. Each selling department within a Towers store was
operated as a licensed concession.
- Read Elayne Freeman's first hand
account of opening day
here.
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Towers
radio commercial, circa 1960 |












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| 1961 |
- Talks are underway to open gasoline outlets at Towers Department
Store locations.
MORE
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| 1962 |
- A new store opens (the third) at Bloor and Dundas Sts. On the
opening day, the first 1,000 customers were sold silver dollars at
80 cents each. Seven sets of triplets, ranging in age from 3 to 24,
took part in the opening ceremonies. They helped Ben Rosenberg,
president of Towers Marts and Prosperities Ltd. fill a time capsule
and photographs and newspapers. The capsule will remain buried until
2062. [Editor's note: I wonder what happened to it?} Donald Jaffey,
president Allied Towers Merchants, said that centralizing
warehousing, bookkeeping and inventory control will help streamline
merchandising operations.
MORE
- Allied Towers Merchants Limited offers shares in this May 23
announcement in the Star.
MORE
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| 1963 |
- Shares of discount department store operator Towers Marts and
Properties Ltd. drop from a high of $9 to a level of $1 per share.
MORE
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Discounter
Ben Rosenberg, president of Towers Marts and Properties store chain,
announces March 6 that Towers is in receivership. Twelve of Towers'
13 stores are making money, he says. Attempting to cut costs, he
announces that Allied Towers Merchants Ltd. has just taken over
merchandising, cashiering and other in-store operations.
MORE
- The Star reports on May 29 that Allied Towers Merchants suffered
a $268,492 net loss for 1962. Three months earlier, Allied Towers
assumed the merchandising functions formerly done by Towers Marts
and Properties.
MORE
- Bankruptcy trustee J.L. Biddell comments on the affairs of
Towers Marts and Properties Ltd. "(They are) the most complicated
matter I have ever been connected with." About 120 creditors
consider a proposal that would keep the company in business.
MORE
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| 1964 |
- M.W. Brook is elected president and general manager of Allied
Towers Merchants.
MORE
- Maxwell Goldhar is appointed president and a director of Towers
Marts and Properties Ltd.
MORE
- Sales of Allied Towers Merchants Ltd. in the first seven months
compare favourably with 1963 figures.
MORE
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| 1973 |
- Toronto Star for October 5 reports that Eaton's, Simpsons, The
Bay and Towers will be open for the Thanksgiving Monday.
MORE
- In the October 27 edition of the Star, "a fight's shaping up
over extended store hours."
MORE
- In Canada, the Oshawa group introduces a hypermarket (department
and grocery store together) near Montreal and calls it Hypermarché.
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| 1974 |
- Falsely accused shoplifter at Towers Brantford store awarded
over $80,000 by the Ontario Supreme Court.
MORE
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| 1975 |
- The Kipling and Queensway Towers store is robbed by two men who
climbed to the roof of the store and down a vent. Over $5,000 in
men's watches and clothes are taken.
MORE
- Coles Book Stores Ltd., once had a connection with Towers - they
operated the toy, games and stationery concessions.
MORE
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| 1976 |
- Towers Department Stores joins with Hudson's Bay Co., the Great
Atlantic and Pacific Co. of Canada, F.W. Woolworth and Gambles to
create The Retail Research Foundation of Canada - a non-profit
organization that conducts quality, specification and safety tests
on a variety of products that retailers propose to sell to Canadian
consumers.
MORE
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| 1977 |
- Former president of Towers Department Stores pleads guilty to
fraud.
MORE
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| 1982 |
-
Towers Head Office moves from Orfus Road
to Airport Road in Mississauga.
MORE
-
Kent Drugs Ltd., a wholly owned
subsidiary of the Oshawa Group Ltd. operating under the name Drug
City, buys the assets of Metro Drugs Manitoba Ltd.
MORE
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| 1983 |
- Ray Wolfe, chairman and president of
of Oshawa Group Ltd.,
announces that sales have increased 11.7 per cent to $2.12 billion.
This despite the lower profit from Towers Department Stores.
MORE
- Don Beaumont, vice-president of Marketing for Towers concedes
competition for toy sales from Toys "R" Us will likely be something
to be reckoned with. "We've watched them for many years and have
developed a healthy respect for them but Canada is another market,
another world. Many prosperous American businesses have moved to
Canada and have not enjoyed similar success."
MORE
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| 1984 |
- Shoppers are advised not to shop at the Riverdale Plaza or
Galleria Shopping Centre stores. The reason? If you want to cash a
cheque there you are going to have your photo taken.
MORE
- Oshawa Group profit is up. Towers Department Stores helps out.
MORE
- Towers, and other retailers, remove fake 'Cabbage Patch' dolls
from their shelves.
MORE
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| 1987 |
- W.L. Atkinson, president and chief executive officer of Towers
Department Stores Inc. is named to the Peel Region's first Junior
Achievement board of governors.
MORE
- Max Wolfe, founder of the Oshawa Group Ltd., passes away. He was
a grocer and businessman born in Lithuania in 1893 and raised near
Newmarket, Ontario. At age 16, with $25 cash and a $60 loan, he
bought a horse, wagon and load of apples and went into business. In
1914, he launched Ontario Produce Co. with his brother Maurice to
supply army bases. The operation expanded to become known as the
Oshawa Group Ltd. and at his death it included IGA, Food City, Dutch
Boy, Towers Department Stores and Drug City.
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| 1988 |
- Towers looks for experienced retail department managers for
"...our new 'Store of the Future' in Newmarket opening early 1989.
[Editor's note: This store never opened.]
MORE
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| 1990 |
- The October 4 edition of the Star reports that Woolworth Corp.
of New York is interested in putting in a offer for Towers, despite
Hudson's Bay Co. signed letter of intent to buy the 51-outlet
operation from the Oshawa Group.
MORE
- The Toronto Star, on October 23, reports that "Oshawa, Hudson's
Bay seal pact on store sale." While details are sketchy, a "definite
agreement to sell its bargain-basement Towers and Bominart
department store operations" for between $100 million and $150
million has been reached.
MORE
- The November 5 edition of Discount Store News reports that “Zeller's
parent gobbles up Towers - Hudson Bay Company buys Towers Department Stores Inc.
from Oshawa Group Ltd., Zeller's Inc.”
MORE
- On November 16, the Star reports that "Hudson's Bay to expand
despite slump."
MORE
- Zellers buys Towers/Bonimart from the Oshawa Group, 51 stores
for $181.5 million ($3.6 million per store, or some $60 per square
foot). Zellers buys another half billion dollars in sales and gets
an 18 percent market share. President Paul Walters predicts Zellers
will overtake Sears in 1991 sales. He also promises that Zellers
will remain headquartered in Montreal ("Our roots are here; we
wouldn't think of changing that"). Towers is doing some $90 per
square foot. The Zellers marketing will bring most of the stores up
to the Zellers productivity. [Ed. note.
site]
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| 1991 |
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- Discount Store News reports that “48 Towers due for remake.”
The March 4, 1991 article goes on to detail the conversion. John Urie, Zellers
executive vice president, expects sales of the latest Zellers
prototype stores "...to show double digit percentage increases."
MORE
- Toronto Star reports that "Zellers sees banner year, plans
expansion" in its March 6 edition. Paul Walters, Zellers president
and chief executive officer, says "We are not retrenching - not
pulling back and waiting for the storm to blow over. We intend to
dominate the Canadian mass retail market, pure and simple." The
purchase of Towers increased Zellers sales by about $500 million,
Walters said. Analysts indicate that the purchase grew Zellers slice
of the Canadian retail market to about 18 per cent, from 15 per
cent.
MORE
- The Toronto Star reports, on May 18, that despite the recession,
"Oshawa Group gains after Towers sale."
MORE
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1992 |
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- William L. Atkinson, president and CEO of Towers Department
Stores passes away. From 1967 until 1992, Mr. Atkinson was employed
by The Oshawa Group Limited.
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