 | |
| Industry | Department store |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1930 |
| Founder | Alex Wise |
| Defunct | 1995 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Wise Stores was a department store chain located in Eastern Canada. It was founded in 1930 in Montreal by Alex Wise. [1]
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By October 1988, the company had 28 stores and acquired 15 Continental outlets in eastern Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario to bring to 43 the total number of Wise locations. [2]
In 1992, the company acquired the even longer running and competitor Peoples department stores from British retailer Marks & Spencer. [1] Under the terms of the purchase, the Wise and Peoples chains could not completely merge until the outstanding balance owed to Marks & Spencer for the transaction had completely been paid in full. [3] Because of this restriction, Peoples was instead operated as a subsidiary of Wise. [4]
Wise was basically a discount department retailer with store dimensions averaging those of Hart, Greenberg and Peoples; in contrast to the larger-sized Zellers, Woolco and Kmart. [5] Wise launched in June 1993 the chain Wizmart, a wholesale concept specialized in the sales of good derived from bankruptcies and closings. [6] At its peak, the company operated five divisions: Wise Stores inc. (48 stores), Peoples Stores inc. (178 stores), Wizmart, KLHR Liquidation, and NRMA. [7]
On December 15, 1994, the company announced the shuttering of 13 Wise and Wizmart stores. [8] The announcement would leave the Wizmart division with only location. [9]
Peoples declared bankruptcy on January 13, 1995, while Wise avoided it but would still get liquidated anyway. [10] Wise eventually went bankrupt too on January 31, 1995. [11] Wise's incapacity of paying the amount it owed Marks & Spencer for the Peoples acquisition was the main reason for the demise of both chains. There were 53 Wise and 73 Peoples stores in operation at bankruptcy. [10] [12] The original Wise store, located on 6751 St-Hubert street in the La Petite-Patrie neighbourhood, operated throughout the entire 65 years of the company. [13] [14] Its founder Alex Wise was still chairman of the company as late as December 1994. [15] He died on January 12, 2004, at the age of 97, [16] and one of his three sons who presided the company with him, Ralph, died on October 21, 2015. [17]
29 of Wise and Peoples's vacated spaces became Hart Stores in August 1995. [18] Another 27 former locations of Wise/Peoples were acquired also in August 1995 by Winnipeg-based Gendis which used them to open mainly new Metropolitan Stores and to a lesser extend stores from its other banners such as Red Apple and Greenberg. [19] Six other stores (all Wise locations) had already been sold in March 1995 to Rossy by the liquidator in charge of disposing the bankrupt retail chain. [20]
