After a 355-year run, Hudson’s Bay Company is closed for business.
What happened: The iconic Canadian retailer permanently shuttered its 80 remaining department stores, marking the end of North America’s oldest business, and one whose history is deeply interwoven with Canada’s.
- Around 8,300 HBC employees will be laid off without severance and most of their benefits.
Catch up: Weighed down by $1.1 billion of debt and burning what was left of its cash, Hudson’s Bay filed for creditor protection in March and has been liquidating its inventory ever since.
Why it matters: HBC’s demise doesn’t just mean the disappearance of a Canadian institution; it also brings to a close the era of the full-line, higher-end department store chain in Canada.
- The Bay was the last in a line of storied (and now defunct) department stores like Eaton’s, Ogilvy’s and Sears that served a growing cohort of middle-income Canadian households with everything from bedding to clothes to electronics.
- It’s a business model that has struggled for years, squeezed by discount hypermarkets like Walmart and Costco on one end and luxury retailers like Holt Renfrew and smaller boutiques on the other.
What’s next: While the HBC brand — now owned by Canadian Tire — is likely to live on in various merch sold at that company’s stores, The Bay that Canadians have known is likely gone for good.—TS