Zeller's CEO, Tommy Zellers was gunned down early this morning by a deranged employee of the American retail giant Target Corp.
The cheap-chic retailer, known to fans of its high style, low price format as “Tar-zhay,” had announced just hours earlier it would open 100 to 150 Canadian stores by 2014 by taking over many of Zellers’ leaseholds. Mirroring the horrific murders in the United States this week where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head at point blank range, Zellers (the man) was also shot at close range by his attacker. But are these the only similarities?
Gifford's attempted murder has outraged Americans and opened furious debate on whether political rhetoric is partly to blame as the polarized political landscape in America continues to worsen. Many have called attention to Sarah Palin's placement of crosshairs on Gifford's state of Arizona and have accused the former Alaskan Governor of encouraging violent overthrow as a means of governmental change. Is life imitating art in Canada?
"Absolutely," argues Jim Donaldson, Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Toronto. "Here comes Target with their fancy gun scope logo talking about "changing the landscape" of Canadian retail and "putting a bullet in the head of high prices. It's not that far of a leap to connect the murder of Tommy Zellers and this message of violence."
But others are not convinced, Randall Flagg, of no fixed address summed it up neatly when he said, "Sometimes crazy people just shoot people in the face. It's the circle of life dude. Hakuna matata."
The debate rages on.