Sayvette
Encyclopedia
Sayvette was a discount department store
wholly owned and operated in Canada
by Loblaw Companies Limited, a large grocery distribution and retail business, from 1961 until 1977.
The chain was first announced in February 1961, launching its initial store at Thorncliffe Market Place in a Toronto suburb (now East York Town Centre) that September. Over seventy thousand customers passed through the first Sayvette on September 7, 1961. Sayvette City, at the southwest corner of Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue (now Centrepoint Mall), opened in November, claiming to have the largest retail space in Metropolitan Toronto. Sayvette had carried St. Michael-branded goods from British department store Marks and Spencer.
The chain planned to have at least twenty 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 fact of competition from other discount department stores including the established Kresge, Woolworth and Zellers chains and from and new entrants Banner, Disc Buy and Sentry.
George Weston
's grocery store chain Loblaws stepped in in early 1965 to take over Sayvette. 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 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, and its stores in Barrie and Malton. More stores closings followed, and
in December 1977, the last store, in Ajax, closed.
At one time, the company gave out small tokens or coins, similar to coupons. The token was octagonal and in the centre had the following: "Sayvette 1 (cent) ONE CENTE" and around it in a circular fashion were the words: "REDEEMABLE FOR MERCHANDISE ONLY." 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.
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
wholly owned and operated in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
by Loblaw Companies Limited, a large grocery distribution and retail business, from 1961 until 1977.
The chain was first announced in February 1961, launching its initial store at Thorncliffe Market Place in a Toronto suburb (now East York Town Centre) that September. Over seventy thousand customers passed through the first Sayvette on September 7, 1961. Sayvette City, at the southwest corner of Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue (now Centrepoint Mall), opened in November, claiming to have the largest retail space in Metropolitan Toronto. Sayvette had carried St. Michael-branded goods from British department store Marks and Spencer.
The chain planned to have at least twenty 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 fact of competition from other discount department stores including the established Kresge, Woolworth and Zellers chains and from and new entrants Banner, Disc Buy and Sentry.
George Weston
George Weston
George Weston , Canadian businessman and founder of George Weston Limited, became Toronto’s biggest baker with Canada’s largest bread factory. Weston began his career at the age of twelve as a baker's apprentice and went on to become a bread route salesman...
's grocery store chain Loblaws stepped in in early 1965 to take over Sayvette. 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 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, and its stores in Barrie and Malton. More stores closings followed, and
in December 1977, the last store, in Ajax, closed.
At one time, the company gave out small tokens or coins, similar to coupons. The token was octagonal and in the centre had the following: "Sayvette 1 (cent) ONE CENTE" and around it in a circular fashion were the words: "REDEEMABLE FOR MERCHANDISE ONLY." 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.