Zellers Food Truck Review: A Massive Blunder

March 23, 2023 at 4:28pm
By Jason Stettner

It was set to be the start of a magical day. The fun of dipping into a bit of Canadian nostalgia through Zellers. I had planned the day out actually, to go and get some food to then tour this Zellers pop-up. I thought it would be a pleasant, quick trip to have some fun and again capture some nostalgia.

For context, Zellers has been gone from the Canadian market for about a decade. It was a department store that was present within Canada for decades prior to it shuttering. Target had come in to replace it, with Target failing miserably within a very short time span. With that out of the way, The Bay decided to create a Zellers pop-up experience to cash in on the nostalgia that was the brand.

They offered a single day food truck and I thought it might be neat to take it in. With a side note, I actually have a giant stuffed Zeddy (the Zellers mascot) that I had won when I was young. So it’s a store that did matter in some small way I suppose. Upon arrival just prior to when they were supposed to start I arrived to a healthy sized line which was fine.

What greeted us was however one horrendous experience. Fifteen minute delays turned to twenty minutes delays turned to the line-up folks stopping to talk to us. It took two and a half hours to get food, thirty minutes from when they noted the food production had begun.

There were crowd rumors, a very angry crowd and many that had left throughout. I would have honestly left had the issues at play been more transparent, but after awhile sunk fallacy was in. I guess there was a propane issue, seemed like a bit of incompetence quite honestly from what I could make of it.

It was a complete pain, and ruined my experience with Zellers to the point I’m glad they’re out of the market now which is a shame. Furthermore that I won’t be personally shopping at The Bay again. What a dreadful time, so fair warning if it’s something you’re looking at doing.

This may come across as complaining to some degree, but I’m sure if you were in my perspective you’d have a similar thought as I felt ever so strung along. I do need to be honest in the type of work I do, so that’s straight up what I thought. They did offer us a free pop (value $1) as an apology while we waited at about the hour or so mark.

I asked if we were going to get any sort of money off the food or like at least a The Bay coupon, but I was told there was nothing to offer and that corporate was fine with the situation from the present supervisor. Just some context, which again, totally makes me come across as complaining which is fine. Now, let’s dive into just what I got.

The Food
There were many food items to choose from. I went with the Z Burger ($6), the Grilled Cheese ($3) and the Fries with Gravy ($3). The Z Burger could have used some sauce but it was decent and value wise worth the cost. The grilled cheese tasted quite good as well, though my sister’s cheese wasn’t melted at all.

The fries with gravy was shockingly good with an adequate quantity to it. I’d say food value wise it was actually quite great for what you get with a good truck. I would have been more than pleased if the situation getting to ordering wasn’t so unpleasant. It’s also debit/credit only.

The Zellers Store Pop-up
The interior area while small was certainly Zellers in spirit. They had some light posting areas showcasing Zeddy and a variety of clothing options to choose from. It’s not a massive space, but adequate for a pop-up. I grabbed a shirt as a souvenir and called it a day. It was fun for a photo or two as well.

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