The Bargain! Shop Holdings, Inc., also known as TB!S, is a Canadian discount variety store chain operating in all

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provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, except PEI. The Bargain! Shop originated as a closeout store division of Woolworth Canada, developed out of some of the

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

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s of Bargain Harold's in 1991. The chain averaged and grew into 90 stores within just a year of its establishment. In late 1993, in order to try to make the Woolworth variety stores profitable in Canada, 101 of 123 Woolworth stores were converted to The Bargain! Shop, therefore bringing the total number of stores to 194. Some of the larger

Woolco Woolco was an American-based discount retail chain. It was founded in 1962 in Columbus, Ohio, by the F. W. Woolworth Company. It was a full-line discount department store unlike the five-and-dime Woolworth stores which operated at the time. At ...

stores were also converted to The Bargain! Shop. In late 1999, in a rush to try to pay the debt on time, Venator Group Inc. closed 109 stores (including all stores in the province of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

) and sold the rest of The Bargain! Shop chain to a Canadian investment company. However, the closures only reduced sales from $259 million to about $100 million. In 2008, it was announced that The Bargain! Shop had acquired 93 of the former SAAN locations. They are mostly located in

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (), is the list of regions of Canada, region of Eastern Canada comprising four provinces: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. As of 2021, the landma ...

and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

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In September 2012, The Bargain! Shop began re-branding their stores to Red Apple in most towns.

References

External links

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Red Apple
Retail companies established in 1991 Discount stores of Canada Companies based in Mississauga F. W. Woolworth Company 1991 establishments in Canada {{canada-retail-company-stub