Winnipeg Retail

[horrorbro123]

Clarks Shoe Store Is Coming Back To Winnipeg But This Time Outlet Collection Winnipeg Location

[Winnipeg Grump]

Originally Posted by cslusarc

I wonder if Hudson's Bay will start to shelf-pull non-clearance priced merchandise from potentially liquidating stores like St Vital (1117), sending more clearance merchandise from Polo Park (1140) to St Vital, turing St Vital into a Clearance Centre for a potential 12 -16 week liquidation process.

Was in the Polo Park location Sunday and it was weird - the 1st floor area they were packing up perfumes and at The Bay 'Stripes' area on the east side - folks had bought everything because there was no inventory there. Except all of the other parts of the store were business as usual - you would have no idea what was going on because they were just running their normal promotions and inventory everywhere else looked normal.

[bomberjet]

I was at Polo Hudson's Bay yesterday. And it was quite busy. My wife went for the stripes stuff and the clerk said it was sold out last week already.

A lot of people were using gift cards. Most people actually, from what I noticed while waiting in line. As were we.

[CoryB]

Re the great flush of an iconic Canada brand, aka Hudsons Bay.

The proposal that was moving forward today said points are already void and you have about three weeks before the gift cards disappear.

In terms of "non clearance" merchandise, considering it is being fairly widely reported that the chain effectively doesn't own most of the stock in their stores that could be a really interesting situation. It is not uncommon that stores like The Bay would receive merchandise from brands like Levis with no cash upfront and then pay based on goods sold and keep a percentage of revenue from goods sold. Only like other chains before them, when they get in a financial squeeze they stop paying those suppliers. That is quite likely why perfumes and perhaps cosmetics were being pulled from stores as how the merchandise that is essentially "on loan" will be handled will depend on the supply contract terms.

I have I feeling that Putman Investments is already preparing a bid for certain Hudsons Bay assets such as the brand name, the stripes trademarks, thee Zeller's brand, customer data, the website, etc. They have a pretty strong history of successfully acquiring extremely distressed retail assets and somewhat successfully monetizing them when the old company gets sunk with debt. See HMV/Sunrise Records, Toys R Us, etc

[FactaNV]

Originally Posted by CoryB

Re the great flush of an iconic Canada brand, aka Hudsons Bay.

The proposal that was moving forward today said points are already void and you have about three weeks before the gift cards disappear.

In terms of "non clearance" merchandise, considering it is being fairly widely reported that the chain effectively doesn't own most of the stock in their stores that could be a really interesting situation. It is not uncommon that stores like The Bay would receive merchandise from brands like Levis with no cash upfront and then pay based on goods sold and keep a percentage of revenue from goods sold. Only like other chains before them, when they get in a financial squeeze they stop paying those suppliers. That is quite likely why perfumes and perhaps cosmetics were being pulled from stores as how the merchandise that is essentially "on loan" will be handled will depend on the supply contract terms.

I have I feeling that Putman Investments is already preparing a bid for certain Hudsons Bay assets such as the brand name, the stripes trademarks, thee Zeller's brand, customer data, the website, etc. They have a pretty strong history of successfully acquiring extremely distressed retail assets and somewhat successfully monetizing them when the old company gets sunk with debt. See HMV/Sunrise Records, Toys R Us, etc

Corporate raiders are such scum.

[Wpgdude]

Originally Posted by FactaNV

Corporate raiders are such scum.

Putman is far from a corporate raider, the companies he buys stay in existence and people remain employed. And we are not even at this stage yet. This is the part of the creditor protection process which is to see if the company can survive thru a methodical manner protecting assets and creditors.

[trebor204]

In Addition to Hudson's Bay, Saks Off 5th (which has a store at the Outlet Mall, is owned by Hudson's) could be closing as well.

[CoryB]

Originally Posted by Wpgdude

This is the part of the creditor protection process which is to see if the company can survive thru a methodical manner protecting assets and creditors.

In order to try and save itself a company normally needs to secure operating funds as it goes through restructuring. Hudsons Bay has publicly said it has exhausted all possibilities for funding needed to avoid complete bankruptcy of the organization as it is today.

This means the only way the The Bay et all survive is through a sale of assets such as the brand name, etc to a new entity. It is similar to how "old GM" stopped existing in 2008 and what we have today is "new GM" except they did a weird self restructure which The Bay will not be able to pull off without outside help from someone like Putman.

What Putman has somewhat successfully done is taken profitable models that had too much debt and allowed to the debt to remain and die, similar to the GM model. I have no doubt they will be kicking the tires on Hudsons Bay if not the sucessful purchaser.

[cheswick]

Joe Fresh outlet opened in the old giant tiger on Logan and mcphillips.

[wani]

unique bunny is opening a new location at polo park next month https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHcNveRJN7D

[Biff]

Apparently our Bay stores did not make the cut to be potentially saved. Liquidation to begin Monday.




"Hudson’s Bay to liquidate all but these 6 stores starting Monday

By The Canadian Press

Updated: March 21, 2025 at 1:39PM EDT - Published: March 21, 2025 at 6:34AM EDT

The Hudson’s Bay has been granted permission by an Ontario court to liquidate all but six of its stores.

TORONTO — An Ontario court has given Canada’s oldest company permission to liquidate all but six of its stores starting on Monday.

The approval from Ontario Superior Court judge Peter Osborne allows Hudson’s Bay to begin selling off inventory at the bulk of its 80 stores. The retailer also owns three Saks Fifth Avenue stores and 13 Saks Off 5th locations in Canada through a licensing agreement.

The six stores being saved from the liquidation sale include the flagship location on Yonge Street in Toronto, as well as a store in the city’s Yorkdale mall and another at Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill, Ont. The remaining three span Montreal, the Carrefour Laval mall and Pointe-Claire, Que.

Hudson’s Bay lawyer Ashley Taylor says the company was able to save the stores because recent sales have exceeded the company’s expectations, allowing the retailer to keep operating six of the stores and pay back interim financing it received from a lender.

The company’s financial troubles have led to a flurry of sales from customers looking to snap up its famed stripes products, for fear the retailer would close up shop for good.

The order gives the company the ability to pull additional stores out of the liquidation should the company find a way forward for even more locations, but also gives room to add the six to the sale, if a restructuring solution is not found very quickly.

Hudson’s Bay lawyers say the liquidation sales will wrap by June 15, though it didn’t outline how deep the discounts may be. It will vacate the liquidated properties by June 30.

Osborne said he had no choice but to approve the liquidation plan.

“This is the art of the possible and we are where we are today. In my view, there is no other alternative.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2025.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press"

[FactaNV]

End of an era with the Bay going under. What do we think could occupy their large retail spaces?

[Biff]

Originally Posted by FactaNV

What do we think could occupy their large retail spaces?

Nothing...they will most certainly be carved up into smaller units or torn down for more purpose built commercial or residential development space.

[Wpgstvsouth94]

Originally Posted by Biff

Nothing...they will most certainly be carved up into smaller units or torn down for more purpose built commercial or residential development space.

What about Simon’s? I was on a website and a sponsored ad for them randomly showed up.

[WPG84]

I believe Polo will be able carve out. There were rumbling in the past about Simons and Decatahlon coming to Winnipeg market. Also Uniqlo has been expanding its store fronts in Canada. So I dont foresee Polo having issues. But St Vital may have to rethink what to do. Likely sit empty for a while. Saks at the outlet will likely sit empty for a bit. I think Colombia outerwear or North Face can possibly fill some of that space

[Biff]

Simons is the only possibility for "saving" the Polo Park Bay building. But even at that, I don't believe they would take all of the Bay's space.

I could see Simons taking space from the mall corridor (or about 60% of the Bay) to the St James side, both storeys. I would then think that the mall would carve up the back half of The Bay (parkade side) into smaller spaces over 2 levels, creating a new mall entrance on the northern edge.

Just my two cents though.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by Biff

Simons is the only possibility for "saving" the Polo Park Bay building. But even at that, I don't believe they would take all of the Bay's space.

I could see Simons taking space from the mall corridor (or about 60% of the Bay) to the St James side, both storeys. I would then think that the mall would carve up the back half of The Bay (parkade side) into smaller spaces over 2 levels, creating a new mall entrance on the northern edge.

Just my two cents though.

I wonder how many "stand alone" Bay stores still existed in other cities before this happened? I assume it's probably easier (though not "easy") to repurpose mall space than a single building. In this respect Winnipeg certainly lucked out. Our Bay building is already being re-purposed, while others are just beginning that journey. It'll be interested to see what other cities come up with.

[EndIt]

Originally Posted by Wpgstvsouth94

What about Simon’s? I was on a website and a sponsored ad for them randomly showed up.

I've heard Simon's mostly self-funds their expansions, and is therefore extremely cautious. I'm sure they'll make a move or two to feast on HBCs carcass, but they don't even have a downtown Toronto location yet. I don't think WPG is high on their priority list :/

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by pspeid

I wonder how many "stand alone" Bay stores still existed in other cities before this happened? I assume it's probably easier (though not "easy") to repurpose mall space than a single building. In this respect Winnipeg certainly lucked out. Our Bay building is already being re-purposed, while others are just beginning that journey. It'll be interested to see what other cities come up with.

An article about the standalone Bay stores.
https://storeys.com/hudson-bay-build...ectural-icons/

Victoria has already repurposed its Bay store into The Hudson; a building of luxury condos and lofts with ground level retail.

[wani]

Originally Posted by WPG84

Also Uniqlo has been expanding its store fronts in Canada.

my kingdom for H&M to move into a larger space courtesy of the bay's corpse, expand to include their home goods, and for uniqlo to take H&M's current spot in polo.