Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith P.
That store was a bizarre design from the start and was always star-crossed. If you remember, it began as a Simpson's, to let them move out of their original 1920s-vintage store that Sears had taken over. That in itself was a real shame as the old Simpson's there was a gem of a store.
But the new one was a big disappointment from day one and did not improve when it flipped over to The Bay. Every department was shrunken from what it once was. It was located at the end of a very bad mall that had virtually no customer draw within it other then what became Sears at the opposite end. There was no real visibility to the fact that it was a department store from Chebucto Rd. There was just a tiny amount of surface parking and instead it depended upon a dark, multilevel parking garage which Halifax shoppers traditionally hate to use, with rickety, cold and dangerous-feeling elevators to take you up to the store floors. Then once it was built, the store never changed from what it was like on day one, with virtually no improvements or new interior finishes. It was just bad all around.
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All true Keith P.
HBC's value is in their real estate portfolio not running Department store chains. They owned the old Halifax Bay store not the mall. In selling it they wound up with cash in pocket ($12m) and unloading a dog of a store as Keith P skillfully articulated. That building isn't currently owned by HSC. Although what used to be West End Mall is, the former Bay store is owned by Rank I think.
Apparently The Bay wanted the old Eaton's store in HSC but lost to Sears in the end. Ironically The Bay would have been the better choice.