TOWERS DEPARTMENT STORES

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

History

The first store was opened in 1960 in Toronto (at the corner of Lawrence Ave. East and Midland Ave.). Each selling department within a Towers store was operated as a licensed concession. In Quebec, Towers was known as Bonimart. In 1990, Towers/BoniMart's 51 stores were purchased by Zellers for $181.5 million, and converted to the Zellers name. Zellers had been a unit of the Hudson's Bay Company since 1978.

The flagship store is now a Zellers store.

Tower's jingle: "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 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. See also: List of Canadian department stores