Miracle Mart (Canada)

Miracle Mart/M

Former type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail
Fate	Bankruptcy
Founded	1960
Defunct	1992
Headquarters	Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada
Products	Discount store
Parent	Steinberg

Miracle Mart was a discount department stores chain in Ontario and Quebec, Canada based in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. It was founded in 1960 by Montreal-based grocery chain Steinberg and its first store opened in 1961. Miracle Mart was initially supposed to operate under the name Steinberg-Woodward as part of a joint venture between Steinberg and Vancouver-based department store Woodward's, but the partnership rapidly ended.

Miracle Mart operated at mid-level and competed with the likes of Towers/Bonimart, Zellers, Woolco and Kmart. There was also a spinoff grocery chain, Miracle Food Mart, that operated exclusively in Ontario. 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 is now giant Astral Media.

The chain was facing financial problems since the early 1970s. In 1986, Steinberg closed several Miracle Mart department stores, including all Ontario stores outside of the Ottawa area. The remaining stores in Quebec and Ottawa that didn't close were renamed M, and the Miracle Mart name disappeared. The size of some Miracle Mart stores was also reduced upon their conversions as M stores. This rebranding strategy by the chain proved to be ineffective, as the M department chain was struggling financially and turned out to be as unsuccessful as its predecessor.

Miracle Mart's first logo appeared in 1962-66, when it had a mountain-like letter M. The second logo was shared with Steinberg's logo from the 1966 until 1980. It used Steinberg's font from Miracle Mart's inception until 1980 despite being uppercase. From 1980-83, Miracle Mart's logo was stylized as "Miracle Mart" in lowercase letters, with just the uppercase Ms in a different font, although a modified version started appearing in 1983. Majority of Miracle Mart stores kept the Steinberg logo after the 1980 logo change. The logo of M was pink from 1986 to 1991. In an attempt to capture the volatile retail sector, M modified its logo in late 1991 from pink to red, and added the word "aubaines" in diagonal and attached letters on the logo. But this wasn't enough. The M stores were liquidated in 1992, virtually the same time parent company Steinberg went bankrupt. The original store in Pont-Viau, Laval was still in operation when the company declared bankrupt.

Locations

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Quebec

• Brossard - Mail Champlain (now Les Ailes de la Mode)
• Châteauguay - Boul D'Anjou (now multiple tennants including Pharmaprix and Yellow Shoes)
• Chicoutimi - Place du Saguenay (burned on July 1st, 1980 and never reconstructed. Now Clément)
• Côte Saint-Luc - Cavendish Mall (closed in the 1980s, not rebranded as a M store. Now Cineplex Odeon and vacant space)
• Charlesbourg - Galeries Charlesbourg (now Hart, Géant des Aubaines and other tenants)
• Dollard-des-Ormeaux - Galeries des Sources (now Cinemas Guzzo, Marathon Souvlaki & Winners)
• Greenfield Park - Place Greenfield Park (closed in the 1980s, not rebranded as a M store. Now Winners, L'Equipeur and Ha Bay)
• Hull - Les Galeries de Hull (now split among multiple stores)
• Jonquière - Place Centre Ville (closed in 1986, not rebranded as a M store. Now Maxi & cie and mall space)
• Lachine - Galeries Lachine (now Rossy and Energie Cardio)
• LaSalle - Place Lasalle (now Cineplex Odeon and a Hart store)
• Laval - Carrefour Laval (now Rona L'entrepôt)
• Laval - Centre commercial St. Martin (closed in the 1980s, not rebranded as a M store. Now mall space.)
• Laval - Plaza Pont-Viau (now Cinéma Guzzo)
• Longueuil - Place Longueuil (first floor became M in 1986 whereas second floor became vacant. Zellers took first floor in 1992. Second floor now a medical centre.)
• Montreal - Place Alexis Nihon (now Zellers, Canadian Tire and Winners. Only the space occupied by Zellers was previously a M store.)
• Montreal - Place Versailles (now Zellers)
• Montreal - Plaza Côte-des-Neiges (closed in the 1980s, not rebranded as a M store. Now Zellers and Canadian Tire)
• Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville - Les Promenades Saint-Bruno (now Zellers and L'Equipeur)
• Sainte-Foy - Place Sainte-Foy (now Metro Plus, Archambault, Brunet and a few small stores.)
• Saint-Léonard - Jean-Talon Street East (now Maxi & cie)
• Sherbrooke - Place Belvedere (now Rossy, Pharmaprix and multiple small tenants)
• Sorel - Place Sorel (now L'Aubainerie and Rossy)
• Trois-Rivières - Centre Les Rivières (closed and demolished)

Ontario

• Bramalea - Bramalea City Centre (closed in the 1970s)
• Cambridge - Cambridge Centre (now Zellers)
• Dundas - University Plaza (closed in the 1980s)
• Hamilton - Upper James Street (Now Canadian Tire Store as of mid 1990's)
• London - Westown Plaza Mall (closed in the 1980s)
• Markham - Markville Mall
• Nepean - Bayshore Shopping Centre (now Winners)
• North York - Centerpoint Mall (formerly Town & Country Mall)
• Ottawa - Fairlawn Plaza (now Shoppers Drug Mart)
• Ottawa - Merivale Road at Meadowlands Drive (now Zellers)
• St. Catharines - The Pen Centre (closed in the 1970s)
• Scarborough/Toronto - Scarborough Town Centre (closed in 1986. Now mall space)
• Thornhill, Ontario: Shops at Don Mills and Steeles. 2900 Steeles Ave. E
• Windsor - Devonshire Mall (closed in the 1980s)

References