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Sayvette was a discount
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
from 1961 to 1977. The chain was announced in February 1961, and launched its first store at Thorncliffe Market Place in a Toronto suburb (now
East York Town Centre East York Town Centre is a neighbourhood shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Overlea Boulevard in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood. History The shopping centre was opened to the public in 1960 as the Thorncliffe Market ...
) that September. Over 70,000 customers passed through the first Sayvette on September 7, 1961. Sayvette City, at the southwest corner of Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue (now Centerpoint Mall), opened in November, claiming to have the largest retail space in Metropolitan Toronto. Sayvette carried St. Michael-branded goods from British department store
Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...
. The chain planned to have at least 20 stores across Canada. The company's main investor, American real-estate businessman Marvin Kratter, decided to sell one month after opening. Two more stores opened in 1962 (in Mississauga and in London). The chain lost $1.5 million that year in the face of competition from other discount department stores including the established Kresge, Woolworth and Zellers chains and from new entrants Banner, Disc Buy and Sentry. In early 1965, Sayvette was taken over by Loblaw Companies Limited, a large grocery distribution and retail business. In May 1967, the company advertised itself as “the new Sayvette” with the slogan "If You Knew Sayvette a Little Better, You’d Like It a Lot More". The company's fortunes began to improve, and profitability led to new plans for expansion plans. In 1973, the chain had 11 stores in southern Ontario. During the recession of the mid-1970s, Sayvette's fortunes declined as it failed to establish its place between discounters like K-Mart and Woolco, and full department stores like Eaton's and Simpsons. In the summer of 1975, Sayvette closed its three Metropolitan Toronto stores (North York, East York and Scarborough), and its stores in Barrie ( Bayfield Mall became Canadian Tire) and Mississauga Dixie Plaza became Knob Hill Farms locations. More store closings followed, and in December 1977, the last store, in Ajax (Harwood and Bayly), closed. At one time, the company gave out small tokens or coins, similar to coupons. The tokens were octagonal, and were printed with the words: "Sayvette 1 (cent) ONE CENTE" in the centre and "REDEEMABLE FOR MERCHANDISE ONLY" around the edge in a circular fashion. They were a light weight metal, possibly a brass coloured aluminum. They were franked on each side with the same information. Customers could save up the tokens and were permitted to use a number of them at one time.


Other locations

* Cambridge Shoppers Mall (Currently Tri-City Centre),
Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers. The city had a population of 138,479 as of the 2021 census. Along with Kitchener and Waterloo, Cambridge ...
* Westmount Place Plaza,
Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the close proximity of the c ...
* Wellington Road South,
London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...
* Tecumseh Mall,
Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...
* Dixie Plaza,
Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...
* Harwood & Bayley,
Ajax, Ontario Ajax (; 2021 population: 126,666) is a town in Durham Region in Southern Ontario, Canada, located in the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area. The town is named for , a Royal Navy cruiser that served in the Second World War. It is approxi ...
* Bayfield Mall,
Barrie, Ontario Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is political ...


See also

* List of Canadian department stores


References

{{reflist Loblaw Companies Retail companies established in 1961 Retail companies disestablished in 1977 Defunct retail companies of Canada