Pembroke’s Zellers store is among 64 across the country that will no longer operate past March 2013.

The store’s parent company, the Hudson’s Bay Company, made the announcement. All of the workers at the Pembroke store have received notice of the impending closure. The stores closing were not acquired by the United States retailer Target Corporation last year or did not have a previously scheduled closing date, according to Tiffany Bourré, external communications manager for the Hudson’s Bay Company.

The decision to close these stores came after a careful review of the company’s present strategy.

“It was decided it was not viable to operate these stores under the Zellers banner,” she said.

Before March the company will continue to consider options for the locations with the possibility of rebranding. Ms. Bourré could not say if the Pembroke store could be among those rebranded, as the process to explore options is still in the very preliminary stages.

The Zellers store began operating in Pembroke in 1998. Although Ms. Bourré would not say how many people are employed locally, she did say the average store has approximately 100 employees.

The store will operate business as usual with back to school and holiday promotions, Ms. Bourré noted. She added liquidation sales typically begin 10 to 12 weeks ahead of the expected closure date.

Tina Peplinskie is a Daily Observer multimedia journalist

tina.peplinskie@sunmedia.ca