Hart Stores Inc. is a mid-sized value-driven department store in Eastern Canada. It was founded in 1960 by Harry Hart, in Rosemère, Quebec. Hart Stores is based in the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The head office used to be in the Montreal borough of Anjou but moved to Laval, Quebec, a northern suburb of Montreal, in early 2006.
The company operates 130 stores across Canada, branded as "Hart" and "Hart Home", primarily in smaller and suburban markets. Before running into financial difficulties in 2011, the chain had 92 stores under the Hart and Bargain Giant banners, extending as far east as Newfoundland.
The average store is approximately 2,000 - 5,000 m2. The company positions itself within the market as a niche marketer. The target customer is low-to-average income consumers. Hart's pricing strategy is to implement everyday low prices and a high/low strategy.[1]
Hart sells multiple private labels, mostly acquired from their acquisitions of other retailers including Bentley and Stokes.
Hartco
The Hart clothing retail operation was one of several diverse retail and inside-sales businesses that operated under the Hart family umbrella. Computer retail and corporate IT services fell under their Hartco brands (managed independently from Hart Stores), included Metafore, Northwest Digital, CompuSmart,