Walter Philip Zeller (October 21, 1890 - August 25, 1957) was a Canadian businessman and founder of discount retail chain Zellers.
Zeller was born in Waterloo County, near the city of Kitchener, Ontario. His great-grandfather settled in Breslau, Ontario after arriving from Germany. Prior to founding the store, Zeller moved to the US to work for various American retailers (F.W. Woolworth, Kresge's and Metropolitan) in the United States from 1912 to 1930, beginning as a stockboy. Zeller return to Canada and founded a chain of 12 "stores for thrifty Canadians" (as he put it) in 1931, giving it the name "Zeller's". The store's name was eventually changed to "Zellers" to make it more bilingually appropriate. Zellers was originally concentrated in southern Ontario but gradually expanded across the country. Zellers was headquartered in Montreal.
In 1952, American retailer W.T. Grant Company became the largest shareholder of the company, eventually owning a 51% controlling share. W.T. Grant Company sold its interest in Zellers in 1976 to Fields Stores Ltd., however Zellers reversed the acquisition by becoming the owner of Fields and its hardware subsidiary Marshall Wells Limited. In 1978, Hudson's Bay Company purchased Zellers and maintains it as a wholly owned subsidiary.
Walter Zeller lived to see the W.T. Grant Company control the company carrying his name; he died in 1957 and is buried in Montreal, at Mount Royal Cemetery in the Lilac Knoll section.
Zellers married Nettie Lewis in 1912 and had 2 sons, C. Edward and Warren Robert. Warren died in 1944 as a Flying Officer with the RCAF.[1]