Walter Philip Zeller

From The Waterloo Way Wiki

Introduction

Walter Zeller (October 21, 1890 - August 25, 1957) was the founder of discount retail chain Zellers. Founded in 1928, Zellers Inc. is Canada's second-largest chain of mass merchandise department stores, has 282 locations in communities across Canada and employs more than 35,000 people. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Zellers is currently a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company.

History

Walter Philip Zeller was born on a farm in Waterloo County, Ontario that his great-grandfather had purchased shortly after arriving in Canada from Germany. He remained on the farm until his family moved to nearby Kitchener (then Berlin) where he attended high school and worked as a delivery boy.

In 1912 he began working for the F.W. Woolworth Company as a stock boy but soon progressed to other positions. In 1914 he made the move to Kresge's (which later became K-Mart and then merged with Sears), where he made less money but thought that he could learn more about the retail business. His job entailed a move to the United States but he was back in Canada working for the Metropolitan chain of stores by 1923. In 1926 Metropolitan moved him back to the States, this time as General Sales Manager for New York.

By 1928, he had moved back to Canada and opened his own group of four stores in Ontario, operating in London, St. Catherines, Fort William and Guelph. His success was noticed and the American firm Schulte-United Ltd. bought him out. The depression of 1929-30 took its toll on the retail industry however and Schulte-United went bankrupt. Zeller saw this an opportunity. He bought back Schulte-United's Canadian properties, now numbering 14, closed 3 of them, and in 1932, Zeller's Limited opened once again. Its slogan was “Retailers to Thrifty Canadians.”

The company was near bankruptcy in its second year but Zeller persisted and the company grew steadily, doubling the number of stores and reaching more than $10 million in sales in the first decade. In 1952, in a move to expand into eastern Canada, it acquired the Federal chain of variety stores, adding more than a dozen new Zellers locations.

Zeller retired in 1955 at the age of 65.

The Hudson’s Bay Company says that Zeller was described as energetic and magnetic: “His drive in life was once likened to that of a man on an escalator who is impatient to get to the top: rather than waiting to be carried to his destination, he still takes the steps 2 at a time.”

Personal

Zeller married Nettie Lewis in 1912. They had two sons: C. Edward (named for Walter's brother), and Warren.

During the war he was Director-at-large of the National War Savings Committee and also served as a special advisor to the Chairman of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board. He was also heavily involved with the YMCA and the Kiwanis Club.

After Zeller died in 1957, he was buried in Montreal where the Zellers head offices were located.

Awards and accolades

A memorial window in the Church of the Good Shepherd in Kitchener is dedicated to Zeller. A 2000 Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest was also dedicated to him.