Sears Canada
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Sears Canada Inc. (more commonly referred to as "Sears") is a retailer, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, that operates in all provinces and territories across Canada with 123 department stores, 43 Sears Home stores, 143 Dealer stores, 15 Outlet stores and a general merchandise catalogue, employing 50,000 people throughout the company.
Today, Sears of the United States owns 55% of Sears Canada.
Sears Canada began its operations as Simpsons-Sears Limited, a catalogue retailer, in 1952. The company was formed as a joint operation of Robert Simpson's Company of Canada and the Sears, Roebuck & Co. of the United States.
In 1973-1974, the company changed its banner to Sears, and in 1978 Simpsons-Sears was split into two different companies (though some Sears stores continued to informally carry the hyphenated name into the 1980s). The Hudson's Bay Company acquired Simpson's in 1978, and renamed all of those stores as The Bay by 1991. Some stores in Quebec were acquired by La Maison Simons.
In 1995, Sears Canada opened Sears Whole Home furniture stores located in power centres, and renamed them Sears Furniture and Appliance stores in 1999, to reflect the addition of major appliances. In 2003, Sears Canada again renamed their Furniture and Appliances store to Sears Home stores. This change was intended to reflect their broader appeal for customers seeking a one stop experience for re-making their home decor. The stores' product line was expanded to include Home Installed Products and Services such as floor coverings, customer drapery, and other installed home related products in many locations.
In 1999, Sears Canada acquired The T. Eaton Company Limited. With this acquisition, Sears Canada gained Eaton's stores and the trademark name, among other things.
Eaton's was relaunched as Eatons - unit of Sears Canada in November, 2000, with seven upscale stores located in Canada's major cities. This operation was unsuccessful, however, and in 2002, the few eatons stores that were not closed were put under the Sears name. Many said that the stores were too upscale and too thinly scattered across the country for it to have ever been profitable and worthwhile.
See also
- List of Canadian department stores
- Sears Holdings Corporation - overall holding company for Sears and Kmart
- Sears - department store unit
- Kmart - discounter retailer
External links
- Sears Canada (http://www.sears.ca)