Going, going, gone: Ottawa's last Zellers closing its doors

Wait, there's still a Zellersin Ottawa?

Yes, but not for long.

The Bells Corners Zellers is one of just two remaining stores in Canada. The other is in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke. Both stores, which are stocked with discounted merchandise from the Bay, are set to close by the end of January.

• Hudson's Bay to shutter last 2 Zellers stores in Toronto and Ottawa

Zed's dead, baby

One shopper browsing the aisles of the Bells Corners Zellers last week described the store as a hidden gem.

"I don't think they advertised it enough, and maybe they're trying to protect the sales at the Bay," the shopper ventured.

Zellers, the once-mightydiscount department store chain where "the lowest price [was] the law,"was established in London, Ont., in 1931. In 1978, the retailer was purchased by Hudson's Bay Company. At the chain's peak in 1999, there were350 Zellersstores across Canada.

Many Canadians will recall the chain's earworm jingles and slogans "Only you'll know how little you paid!"its teddy bear mascot,Zeddy, andcollecting Club Z points always zed, never zee.

But pressure from Walmart sent Zellers into the red by 2006.

In 2011, the Bay reached a roughly $1.8-billion deal to sell the leases of 189 Zellers stores to Target and close the remainder save for three locations by March 2013.

Of the three locations, Montreal and Surrey closed in 2014. That same year, the Ottawa location re-opened, leaving it and Toronto store as the sole remaining Zellers stores.

At the Bells Corners location, where remaining merchandise is being sold off at up to 90 per cent off the lowest ticketed price, another bargain hunter blamed poor management for the chain's demise.

"I used to love to shop here before it was messed....It was total mismanagement from the very, very beginning."

Shoppers looking to make a final stop at Zellersthis month should try to get the store before 10 a.m.

An employee told CBC News on Monday the store starts turning away customers after it reaches capacity shortly after opening.

CBC asked the Hudson's Bay Company howmany employees in Ottawa are affected by the Zellers closure. SpokespersonTiffany Bourrsaid it is company policy not to reveal staffing levels at individual stores.