The relaunch of Zellers in Canada has been the hit of nostalgia shoppers didn't know they needed, with 25 locations debuting within existing Hudson's Bay stores earlier this year and, of course, lineups galore for the grand opening.

Though not everyone was all that impressed with the much-anticipated return of the department store chain — especially because of the prices — the success of its return has apparently been enough for the Bay to keep leaning into the Zellers hype.

Here's what the first new Zellers stores in Ontario look like https://t.co/4CGhdJNSpM #Toronto #Ontario #Zellers

— blogTO (@blogTO) March 22, 2023

HBC announced today new plans to invest more money in the Zellers brand to "increase the store's footprint across Canada."

"Zellers is now setting its sights on its next locations," the company writes in a press release, adding that at least some of the current Zellers boutiques will be expanded to include more product in larger spaces.

This will start with "up to" 21 new Zellers pop-ups to determine where expansion would work, the first of which will be in the flagship Hudson's Bay at the Toronto Eaton Centre.

People in Toronto are forming long lines to visit Zellers as it officially reopens https://t.co/FM5hx9Zm5X #Toronto #Zellers

— blogTO (@blogTO) March 23, 2023

Looking ahead past the pop-up stage, the release's wording is a bit unclear about whether the plan is to grow Zellers within the Bay shops or to open new standalone Zellers stores in the same shopping centres, only noting that there will eventually be "larger footprint stores in some or all of those same locations," depending on consumer response.

What we can be sure of is that, in typical Toronto fashion, there will be a lineup out the door for the Eaton Centre Zellers when it opens in June, especially given that our closest outpost of the retailer at the moment is the Scarborough Town Centre.

The rest of the pop-ups will roll out in August, with locations yet to be announced.