Wise Stores
Wise Stores was a department store chain located in Eastern Canada. Founded in 1930 in Montreal by Alex Wise, Wise Stores expanded their presence in the 1950s with the arrival of shopping centres. In 1992, the company acquired the even longer running and competitor Peoples department stores from British retailer Marks & Spencer. In the 1990s, Wise also created a larger liquidation stores chain under the banner Wizmart.
In 1994, Wise shuttered 13 underperforming Wise and Wizmart stores.[1]
Wise went bankrupt in 1995. Although the initial plan was to keep the Wise division as an ongoing business and to shut down the Peoples division, both chains finally closed down together. The original Wise store, located on St-Hubert street in Montreal, operated until the company's bankruptcy in 1995. Many of Wise's vacated spaces are now Hart Stores, a department store with a similar concept.
At their peak, Wise/Peoples had 128 stores doing $265 million in sales.
Locations
- Bathurst, New Brunswick— Chaleur Centre Mall
- Boucherville— Place Pierre Boucher
- Dartmouth, Nova Scotia— Mic Mac Mall
- Bridgewater, Nova Scotia - Bridgewater Mall
- Liverpool, Nova Scotia— Main Street
- Truro, Nova Scotia— Truro Mall
- Delson— Plaza Delson
- Greenfield Park— Place Greenfield Park
- Laval— Carrefour Laval
- Laval— Centre Saint-Martin
- Longueuil— Carrefour Super C
- Longueuil— Place Jacques-Cartier
- Longueuil— Chemin de Chambly
- Montreal — Iberville Street
- Montreal — Plaza Côte-des-Neiges
- Montreal — Plaza Saint-Hubert
- Montréal-Nord — Place Levasseur
- Pierrefonds — Pierrefonds Boul.
- Saint-Leonard — Jean-Talon Boul.
- Quebec — Carrefour Soumande
- Lachute — Carrefour Argenteuil
- Hawkesbury— Main Street
- Montmagny— Galeries Montmagny
- Chandler — Rue Commerciale
- Chandler — Place du Hâvre (Peoples)
- Gaspé — Place Jacques-Cartier
- Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, — Les Promenades du Cuivre
- Joliette, Quebec, — Les Galeries Joliette
- Trois-Rivières, Quebec, — Carrefour Carnaval
- Victoriaville, Quebec, — Boulevard des Bois-Francs N. (Place Sogestec)
- Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, — Commercial Street
- Cornwall, Ontario, — Pitt Street
References
See also
Peoples Department Stores Inc. (Trustee of) v. Wise