Security!!! In Tisdale!

FTLComm - Tisdale - December 30, 1998  
Shoppers were greeted Boxing day with a security guard at the main entrance into the Zellers store in the Tisdale mall. In many places this would not have seemed out of the ordinary but in Tisdale it is almost shocking. The cover story by management is for returns, but it is much more likely that this is part of the advertising approach by the company to give the impression that prices in this outlet are a "steal".

As mentioned in Ensign November 13 Zellers is closing this outlet and it will reopen under the new name "Best Value". Many smaller Zellers stores are being converted in this manner since Zellers acquired K-Mart and Fields. The owner, Hudson Bay Company, wants to upgrade the products in its Zellers stores to even more competitively face WalMart. Fields was essentially a clothing chain and its outlets all smaller. Meadow Lake's Zellers is being transformed into a Fields store while several similar sized outlets like the Tisdale one are being remade into "Best Value". As you can see, merchandise is vanishing from the store and being shipped elsewhere and the rest of the stock
sold off at reduced pricing.

The new Best Value store will take shape over the next two months for an opening in March. During that time as stock is cleared from areas of the store it will be renovated and re-coloured to establish itself in its new format. The home electronics section will be expanded to more then double its size, jewelry will be eliminated and the restaurant will remain as a part of the operation. Manager Diduck said that it is an exciting project to be involved in and he is looking forward to the new challenges of the change over. He emphasised that the store will respond more to the needs of the community with products and lines of products that reflect Tisdale and the Tisdale marketplace so that the new Best Value will continue to be a department store with the things that bring customers from a long distance to the present store.