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*[[Dollard-des-Ormeaux]] - [[Galeries des Sources]]
*[[Dollard-des-Ormeaux]] - [[Galeries des Sources]]
*[[Hull, Quebec|Hull]] - [[Les Galeries de Hull]]
*[[Hull, Quebec|Hull]] - [[Les Galeries de Hull]]
⚫
*[[Joliette]] - [[Galeries Joliette]]
*[[Lachine, Quebec|Lachine]] - [[List of small shopping centres in Montreal#Galeries Lachine|Galeries Lachine]]
*[[Lachine, Quebec|Lachine]] - [[List of small shopping centres in Montreal#Galeries Lachine|Galeries Lachine]]
*[[LaSalle, Quebec|LaSalle]] - [[Place LaSalle (Montreal)|Place Lasalle]]
*[[LaSalle, Quebec|LaSalle]] - [[Place LaSalle (Montreal)|Place Lasalle]]
Line 59: Line 58:
*[[Charlesbourg, Quebec City|Charlesbourg]] - [[Place Lebourgneuf]]
*[[Charlesbourg, Quebec City|Charlesbourg]] - [[Place Lebourgneuf]]
*[[Greenfield Park, Quebec|Greenfield Park]] - [[Place Greenfield Park]]
*[[Greenfield Park, Quebec|Greenfield Park]] - [[Place Greenfield Park]]
⚫
*[[Joliette]] - [[Galeries Joliette]]
*[[Jonquière]] - [[Place Centre Ville]]
*[[Jonquière]] - [[Place Centre Ville]]
*[[Laval, Quebec|Laval]] - [[Centre commercial St. Martin]]
*[[Laval, Quebec|Laval]] - [[Centre commercial St. Martin]]
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===Ontario===
===Ontario===
====Later converted as M====
*[[Ottawa]] - [[Bayshore Shopping Centre]]
*[[Ottawa]] - 1595 [[Merivale Road]]
====Never carried the M name====
*[[Barrie]] - [[Bayfield Mall]]
*[[Barrie]] - [[Bayfield Mall]]
*[[Brampton]] - [[Bramalea City Centre]]
*[[Brampton]] - [[Bramalea City Centre]]
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*[[Mississauga, Ontario|Mississauga]] - Iona Square; Park Royal Plaza; Westwood Mall
*[[Mississauga, Ontario|Mississauga]] - Iona Square; Park Royal Plaza; Westwood Mall
*[[North York, Ontario|North York]] - [[Centerpoint Mall (Toronto)|Centerpoint Mall]]; [[1700 Wilson Avenue (Toronto)|Sheridan Mall]]; [[Bathurst and Sheppard]]
*[[North York, Ontario|North York]] - [[Centerpoint Mall (Toronto)|Centerpoint Mall]]; [[1700 Wilson Avenue (Toronto)|Sheridan Mall]]; [[Bathurst and Sheppard]]
*[[Ottawa]] - [[Bayshore Shopping Centre]]; [[Donald and St.Laurent Blvd]]; [[Fairlawn Plaza]]; [[Merivale Road]] at [[Meadowlands Drive (Ottawa)|Meadowlands Drive]]
*[[Ottawa]] - [[Donald and St.Laurent Blvd]]; [[Fairlawn Plaza]]
*[[St. Catharines]] - [[The Pen Centre]]
*[[St. Catharines]] - [[The Pen Centre]]
*[[Scarborough, Toronto|Scarborough]] - [[Scarborough Town Centre]], Markham Corners Plaza (Markham Rd. and Sheppard Ave.), [[Parkway Mall]] (formerly Parkway Plaza)
*[[Scarborough, Toronto|Scarborough]] - [[Scarborough Town Centre]], Markham Corners Plaza (Markham Rd. and Sheppard Ave.), [[Parkway Mall]] (formerly Parkway Plaza)

Revision as of 22:49, 18 February 2022

Miracle Mart
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryRetail
Founded1961
Defunct1992
FateBankruptcy, Dissolved
HeadquartersSaint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada
ProductsDiscount store
ParentSteinberg

Miracle Mart was a chain of discount department stores with locations in Ontario and Quebec, Canada based in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. The chain was renamed to simply M in the mid-1980s.

History

The company was founded in early 1961 as Miracle Mart Limited by Montreal-based grocery chain Steinberg's.[1] Later in the year, Steinberg's associated itself with Vancouver-based chain Woodward's.[2] They opened their first store on October 11, 1961 in Pont-Viau under the trade name of Woodward Steinberg.[3] A second store with the same trademark opened in November 1961 at the Place Greenfield Park shopping centre.[4] The partnership between Steinberg's and Woodward ended in 1962 due to differences of opinions, and the two Woodward Steinberg stores were converted to the Miracle Mart name.[5]

Miracle Mart operated at mid-level and competed with the likes of Towers/Bonimart, Zellers, Woolco and Kmart. There was also a similarly named grocery chain, Miracle Food Mart (Steinberg's rebranded all their Ontario grocery stores to Miracle Food Marts on January 15, 1969), that operated exclusively in Ontario.[6] Often found together, some locations with both a grocery and department store were regrouped under the single name Beaucoup.[7]

In order to provide photographic film-processing services at Miracle Mart stores, a company was created by the Greenberg brothers, named Angreen Photo, which evolved into Astral Photo and became giant Astral Media.[8]

M stores logo

After years of losses, parent company Steinberg's underwent in the mid-1980s a restructuring plan to rebrand the chain to the shorter name of M.[9] By then, Miracle Mart had made profits only twice since its founding.[10] The transformation of Miracle Mart locations into M stores was done in different phases. Miracle Mart at Carrefour Laval was the first location to convert as a M store and the only one to do so in the year of 1985.[9] Four additional stores in Greater Montreal were converted to the M name by August 1986; specifically at Promenades Saint-Bruno, Place Longueuil, Mail Champlain and Pont-Viau.[9] Four more stores, again all located in the Montreal area, were added to the M cluster on April 8, 1987: Châteauguay, West Island Mall, Place Lasalle and Galeries Lachine.[11] The remaining 11 Miracle Mart stores were renamed in August 19, 1987.[12]

Overall, only 20 of Miracle Mart's 31 stores transitioned to the M nameplate.[9] The other 11 locations (7 in Ontario and 4 in Quebec) were closed during the restructuring process.[13] This basically erased the chain from Ontario except for two Ottawa stores that rebranded as M.[13] Other Miracle Mart stores had already been closed in the 1970s and first half of the 1980s due to poor performance.

The M sub-chain was initially successful and promising.[14] In December 1986, the five M stores saw their sales increased while the remaining Miracle Mart-branded locations continued to decline.[14] Despite a good start, the M chain began to go downhill after the last Miracle Mart stores were renamed in 1987, and was soon experiencing the same financial woes that had plagued its predecessor.

When Socanav took over Steinberg's and was trying to sell parts of the company off, a buyer for the poorly performing M stores could not be found.[15] The chain went bankrupt in June 1992 and the liquidation of the stores began in early July.[16] The original store in Pont-Viau, Laval was still in operation when the company declared bankruptcy. The final four locations closed on August 29, 1992; they were the stores at Place Versailles, Carrefour Laval, Les Promenades St-Bruno and 4325 Jean-Talon Street in Saint-Léonard.[17][18]

Locations

Quebec

Later converted as M

Never carried the M name

Ontario

Later converted as M

Never carried the M name

References

  1. ^ "2 Chain Groups May Be Forming Battle Lines". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 1 Mar 1961. p. 19.
  2. ^ "Steinberg and Woodward Talk of Chain". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 24 June 1961. p. 25.
  3. ^ "Miracle Mart - Woodward Steinberg opening - Newspapers.com". Archived from the original on 2021-11-17.
  4. ^ "Discount: News & Ideas". Women's Wear Daily. New York. November 14, 1961. p. 22.
  5. ^ "Woodward Discount Share Taken Up by Steinberg's". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 9 May 1962. p. 38.
  6. ^ "46 Miracle Food Marts open tomorrow: Steinberg's is reincarnated as discount chain in Ontario". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 14 January 1969. p. B4.
  7. ^ "MM to be big profit maker:Dobrin". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 24 July 1975. p. 15.
  8. ^ "Bell acquires Astral Media for $3.38-billion | Financial Post".
  9. ^ a b c d "Miracle Mart stores get new name, concept". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 21 August 1986. p. D1.
  10. ^ "Steinberg to close 11 units of Miracle department stores". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 22 March 1986. p. B4.
  11. ^ "M stores are opened". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 9 Apr 1987. p. D16.
  12. ^ "Steinberg banking on M store being phoenix for Miracle Mart". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. 20 August 1987. p. B11.
  13. ^ a b "Miracle Mart to close 11 of 31 stores". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 21 March 1986. p. C1.
  14. ^ a b "Steinberg expects profit margins to improve at revamped M stores". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 4 Dec 1986. p. C4.
  15. ^ "M Stores likely to be shut: analysts: no buyers for Steinberg's money-losing department-store chain, insiders say". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 2 June 1992. p. B1.
  16. ^ "M Stores chain winds down operations". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 10 July 1992. p. B5.
  17. ^ "Curtain to close on another piece of the failed Steinberg empire:". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 27 August 1992. p. C1.
  18. ^ "M store listing". 1992-1993 Montreal phone book. Bell Canada. 1992-12-01.
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