Towers, operating as Bonimart in Quebec, was a Canadian discount department store chain owned by the Oshawa Group, a now-defunct grocery retailer and distributor.[1]
History
Towers Marts began as a New York-based chain. The first Canadian store was opened on November 15, 1960, in Scarborough, Ontario (at the corner of Lawrence Ave. East and Midland Ave).[2] In March 1962, a group of Towers concessionaires incorporated as Allied Towers Merchants Ltd. After Towers Marts went bankrupt in 1963, Allied Towers Merchants Ltd., purchased the 13 Canadian stores, initially acquiring only 43% of the outstanding shares and eventually getting full control of these Towers stores.[3] In Quebec, the chain traded as Towers in the 1960s. The name was changed to Bonimart in April 1971, starting with the stores in the Greater Montreal, as part of a program by owner Oshawa Group to promote the French character among its subsidiaries in the province.[4]