Wise Stores was a department store

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...

 chain located in Eastern Canada

Eastern Canada

Eastern Canada is generally considered to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:* New Brunswick* Newfoundland and Labrador* Nova Scotia* Ontario* Prince Edward Island* Quebec...

. Founded in 1930 in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 by Alex Wise, Wise Stores expanded their presence in the 1950s with the arrival of shopping centres. In 1992, the company acquired the even longer running and competitor Peoples department stores from British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 retailer Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer

Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...

. In the 1990s, Wise also created a larger liquidation stores chain under the banner Wizmart.

In 1994, Wise shuttered 13 underperforming Wise and Wizmart stores..

Wise went bankrupt in 1995. Although the initial plan was to keep the Wise division as an ongoing business and to shut down the Peoples division, both chains finally closed down together. The original Wise store, located on St-Hubert street in Montreal, operated until the company's bankruptcy in 1995. Many of Wise's vacated spaces are now Hart Stores

Hart Stores

Hart Stores Inc. is a junior mid-sized discount department store dominant in the region of Eastern Canada. It was founded in 1960 by Harry Hart, in Rosemère, Quebec. Hart stores are based in the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario...

, a department store with a similar concept.
At their peak, Wise/Peoples had 128 stores doing $265 million in sales.

Locations

• Bathurst, New Brunswick
  Bathurst, New Brunswick
  Bathurst is a Canadian city in Gloucester County, New Brunswick.Bathurst is situated on Bathurst Harbour, an estuary at the mouth of the Nepisiguit River at the southernmost part of Chaleur Bay....
  
  — Chaleur Centre Mall
• Boucherville— Place Pierre Boucher
• Delson
  Delson, Quebec
  Delson is an off-island suburb of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is situated 8 mi/13 km SSE of Montreal within the regional county municipality of Roussillion in the administrative region of Montérégie. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 7,322.On its small territory, Delson is crossed...
  
  — Plaza Delson
• Greenfield Park
  Greenfield Park, Quebec
  Greenfield Park is a borough of the city of Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. It covers an area of , with a population of 17,491 as of December 2004. Greenfield Park is the only borough of Longueuil that has an officially bilingual status. It is primarily a post-war suburban area. Like the other two...
  
  — Place Greenfield Park
  Place Greenfield Park
  Place Greenfield Park is a large strip mall located in the Greenfield Park borough of Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. It is located on Taschereau Boulevard, extending from Gladstone Street to Margaret Street. It is jointly owned by RioCan and Kimco, and operated by RioCan...
  
  
• Laval
  Laval, Quebec
  Laval is a Canadian city and a region in southwestern Quebec. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the 14th largest city in Canada with a population of 368,709 in 2006...
  
  — Carrefour Laval
  Carrefour Laval
  Carrefour Laval is a super regional mall located in Laval, Quebec, Canada at the intersection of the Laurentian Highway and Laval Freeway...
  
  
• Laval
  Laval, Quebec
  Laval is a Canadian city and a region in southwestern Quebec. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the 14th largest city in Canada with a population of 368,709 in 2006...
  
  — Centre Saint-Martin
• Longueuil
  Longueuil, Quebec
  Longueuil is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly across from Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census totaled 229,330, making it the third largest city in...
  
  — Carrefour Super C
• Longueuil
  Longueuil, Quebec
  Longueuil is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly across from Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census totaled 229,330, making it the third largest city in...
  
  — Place Jacques-Cartier
• Montreal
  Montreal
  Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
  
   — Iberville Street
• Montreal
  Montreal
  Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
  
   —Plaza Côte-des-Neiges
• Montreal
  Montreal
  Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
  
   — Plaza Saint-Hubert
• Montréal-Nord
  Montréal-Nord
  Montreal North is a borough of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city of Montréal-Nord on Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It was amalgamated into the City of Montreal on January 1, 2002...
  
   — Place Levasseur
• Pierrefonds
  Pierrefonds, Quebec
  Pierrefonds was a city on the Island of Montreal. It ceased to exist on January 1, 2002. The city was located along the Rivière des Prairies at the western end of the island...
  
   — Pierrefonds Boul.
• Saint-Leonard — Jean-Talon Boul.
• Quebec — Carrefour Soumande