Lesson plan

Wise Stores

Wise Stores was a department store chain located in Eastern Canada. It was founded in 1930 in Montreal by Alex Wise. By October 1988, the company had 28 stores and acquired 15 Continental outlets in eastern Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario to bring to 43 the total number of Wise locations. In 1992, the company acquired the even longer running and competitor Peoples department stores from British retailer Marks & Spencer. Under the terms of the purchase, the Wise and Peoples chains could not completely merge until the outstanding balance owed to Marks & Spencer for the transaction had completely been paid in full. Because of this restriction, Peoples was instead operated as a subsidiary of Wise. Wise was basically a discount department retailer with store dimensions averaging those of Hart, Greenberg and Peoples; in contrast to the larger-sized Zellers, Woolco and Kmart. Wise launched in June 1993 the chain Wizmart, a wholesale concept specialized in the sales of good derived from bankruptcies and closings. At its peak, the company operated five divisions: Wise Stores inc. (48 stores), Peoples Stores inc. (178 stores), Wizmart, KLHR Liquidation, and NRMA. On December 15, 1994, the company announced the shuttering of 13 Wise and Wizmart stores. The announcement would leave the Wizmart division with only location.…

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Article summary

Wise Stores was a department store chain located in Eastern Canada. It was founded in 1930 in Montreal by Alex Wise. By October 1988, the company had 28 stores and acquired 15 Continental outlets in eastern Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario to bring to 43 the total number of Wise locations. In 1992, the company acquired the even longer running and competitor Peoples department stores from British retailer Marks & Spencer. Under the terms of the purchase, the Wise and Peoples chains could not completely merge until the outstanding balance owed to Marks & Spencer for the transaction had completely been paid in full. Because of this restriction, Peoples was instead operated as a subsidiary of Wise. Wise was basically a discount department retailer with store dimensions averaging those of Hart, Greenberg and Peoples; in contrast to the larger-sized Zellers, Woolco and Kmart. Wise launched in June 1993 the chain Wizmart, a wholesale concept specialized in the sales of good derived from bankruptcies and closings. At its peak, the company operated five divisions: Wise Stores inc. (48 stores), Peoples Stores inc. (178 stores), Wizmart, KLHR Liquidation, and NRMA. On December 15, 1994, the company announced the shuttering of 13 Wise and Wizmart stores. The announcement would leave the Wizmart division with only location.…

Key claims

  1. date of death: 2004-01-12 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. date of foundation: 1930 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of death is "2004-01-12". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the date of foundation is "1930". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1359756381

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.