Sayvette was a discount department store in Canada from 1961 to 1977. The chain was announced in February 1961, and launched its first store at Thorncliffe Market Place in a Toronto suburb (now East York Town Centre) that September. Over 70,000 customers passed through the first Sayvette on September 7, 1961. Sayvette City, at the southwest corner of Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue (now Centerpoint Mall), opened in November, claiming to have the largest retail space in Metropolitan Toronto. Sayvette carried St. Michael-branded goods from British department store Marks and Spencer.
The chain planned to have at least 20 stores across Canada. The company's main investor, American real-estate businessman Marvin Kratter, decided to sell one month after opening. Two more stores opened in 1962 (in Mississauga and in London). The chain lost $1.5 million that year in the face of competition from other discount department stores including the established Kresge, Woolworth and Zellers chains and from new entrants Banner, Disc Buy and Sentry.