Canadian Retail Thread

[whatnext]

As always, the Globe & Mail has a great in-depth piece. Bottom line, don't sell a retail company to an American without any retail experience.

The fall of Hudson’s Bay: How Richard Baker presided over the failure of a retail icon
Susan Krashinsky Robertson Retailing reporter
Published 1 hour ago
Updated 48 minutes ago
For Subscribers

....All the while, Mr. Baker has insisted questions about the company’s financial precarity were “illogical,” partly because it owned a trove of valuable real estate.

And over the years, the company executed a series of real estate deals that generated significant cash – by selling off all or part of its buildings in Canada, and by using special rights on its department store leases to extract payments from landlords who wanted to redevelop their malls.

But at the same time, it spent heavily. The parent company took on debt to acquire Saks Fifth Avenue, and further expanded with other acquisitions that former insiders say drew focus and investment away from Hudson’s Bay....

....“There was more than enough capital generated through monetizing assets in the Canadian business to make the Bay as a department store very successful,” said Mark Foote, a veteran retail executive who spent four years with the Bay as president of Zellers before the discount stores were sold to Target Canada. “They monetized a lot of things in that company, and the money didn’t go back into the business. It went into acquiring a whole bunch of other retail banners,” he said.

Under Mr. Baker’s ownership, the Canadian stores looked increasingly shabby; reports emerged of broken escalators and ventilation systems. As HBC bled cash, fewer and fewer parties were willing to lend money to the company....


https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...e-of/#comments

[J.OT13]

And how many millions were those executives getting paid to burn Hudson's Bay to the ground?

[whatnext]

Interesting to see where this leads:

Canadian Tire bidding on Hudson’s Bay assets, sources say
By The Canadian Press
Updated: May 01, 2025 at 10:18AM EDT
Published: May 01, 2025 at 10:12AM EDT

Beleaguered retailer Hudson’s Bay has attracted a bid from Canadian Tire, two sources familiar with the sales process say.

The sources, who are not being named because they were not authorized to speak about the matter, say the household goods chain has made a bid for some of the faltering department store’s intellectual property…

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business...s-sources-say/

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Interesting to see where this leads:

Canadian Tire bidding on Hudson’s Bay assets, sources say
By The Canadian Press
Updated: May 01, 2025 at 10:18AM EDT
Published: May 01, 2025 at 10:12AM EDT

Beleaguered retailer Hudson’s Bay has attracted a bid from Canadian Tire, two sources familiar with the sales process say.

The sources, who are not being named because they were not authorized to speak about the matter, say the household goods chain has made a bid for some of the faltering department store’s intellectual property…

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business...s-sources-say/

If history is any indication, CT would destroy what's left of HBC. CT acquired Paderno; a cookware manufacturer based in PEI. Prior to its acquisition by CT, products were produced in PEI and the quality was stellar. The product had a high price point which reflected the high quality. Now, the majority of Paderno is cheap Chinese made low quality cookware sold in CT stores. Plus, CT shut Paderno's own retail network of stores; plus its online store.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

If history is any indication, CT would destroy what's left of HBC. CT acquired Paderno; a cookware manufacturer based in PEI. Prior to its acquisition by CT, products were produced in PEI and the quality was stellar. The product had a high price point which reflected the high quality. Now, the majority of Paderno is cheap Chinese made low quality cookware sold in CT stores. Plus, CT shut Paderno's own retail network of stores; plus its online store.

Paderno used to have a factory kitchenware store in Moncton. It was my go to store for anything kitchen related. It was terrific. I still miss it.

[WhipperSnapper]

Who cares as the old Paderno plant is still making quality Canadian pots and pans.

Someone buying the HBC stripes to keep it going is a good thing.

[theman23]

I recently learned that Helly Hansen was owned by Canadian Tire (although they're selling it now). They also own Piloti shoes, a relatively niche shoe maker that gets shilled by Youtube auto personalities on a frequent basis (they've also apparently shut down their Canadian operations despite being owned by CT).

[Taeolas]

Yeah, unlike the Paderno situation (where a good product was run to the ground), the HBC brand has effectively been run into the ground already, and it's only real value is its historical legacy and its nostalgia branding.

Canadian Tire could work with both and combine them with its own legacy for extra nostalgia power. It certainly couldn't really run it any further into the ground.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

Yeah, unlike the Paderno situation (where a good product was run to the ground), the HBC brand has effectively been run into the ground already, and it's only real value is its historical legacy and its nostalgia branding.

Canadian Tire could work with both and combine them with its own legacy for extra nostalgia power. It certainly couldn't really run it any further into the ground.

They could switch production of the Hudson's Bay blankets from the heritage wool weaving mill in England to one in Asia. That's about all they have with any heritage quality.

[whatnext]

An investment fund is also bidding for HBC's intellectual property:

Urbana Bids to Buy Hudson’s Bay Brand and Royal Charter
By Craig Patterson
Date: April 29, 2025

As the dismantling of the Hudson’s Bay Company accelerates under court supervision, a Toronto-based investment firm has stepped forward with a bid that blends patriotism with strategic asset play.

Urbana Corp., led by CEO Thomas Caldwell, has confirmed its intent to acquire the Hudson’s Bay Company brand name and historic Royal Charter. If successful, Caldwell said the firm would donate the 1670 Charter to a museum in Canada.

“The Charter should be back in Canada. There are no ifs and buts,” Caldwell told the Financial Post. “It’s not like our constitution, but it’s not far off. It is the genesis of enterprise and trading and growth in Canada.”

Founded in 1670, the Hudson’s Bay Company is North America’s oldest commercial corporation. But after filing for creditor protection last month owing more than $1 billion, HBC is being forced to liquidate its assets, including store leases, fixtures, intellectual property, and a vast archive of more than 4,400 historic items, many tied to Canada’s colonial and commercial development....

....Retail expert Carl Boutet said the move was “unexpected,” describing Urbana as “out on left field” in a process otherwise dominated by retail entities and business operators.

“They’re not a retail operator. They’re more of an equity firm,” Boutet said in an interview. “But there’s a growing sense of cultural urgency around the Charter in particular. This is good PR for Urbana, no doubt — but also a smart asset play if they can license the brand or partner with someone else who wants to retail it.”..

https://retail-insider.com/retail-in...royal-charter/

[SpongeG]

The one Bay store here I went to last week had a bunch of brand new stuff and it was all brands they never used to carry before, like they had hundreds of new shoes all of a sudden, the stores around here are all starting to feel emptied out with many sections blocked off now, but still not the best deals with only 40% off most stuff.

[Harrison]

Big news for the HBC brand, Gluckstein and Distinctly Home:

Hudson’s Bay to sell name, stripes, brands to Canadian Tire for $30 million


Glad to see a Canadian company acquiring those to continue to allow Canadians to purchase those items.

[The Jabroni]

I'm glad the brand itself, and its IP are now in full Canadian hands with Canadian Tire.

$30 million does seem like a steal, but since its assets are being liquidated, I guess this would be a big reset for the brand itself.

As for the company and its ownership, they need to go pound sand forever.

I know it's still too early what will happen next, but given that Canadian Tire has a wide range of their portfolio (Mark's, Atmosphere, Canadian Tire stores themselves), I'm curious where they're going to go from here. Probably start off with some "core" items like blankets, comfort wear like sweaters, hats, outdoor wear, shoes...

Yeah. Still early to tell.

[Nouvellecosse]

Hopefully they start a line of mini Bays, perhaps with some being embedded in CT stores like some Mark's locations. Something of that size that's just sort of the Bay "highlights" might be cool.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Hopefully they start a line of mini Bays, perhaps with some being embedded in CT stores like some Mark's locations. Something of that size that's just sort of the Bay "highlights" might be cool.

I believe the package also includes the other IP that HBC owned such as Zellers, Woodwards, housewares brand Gluckstein, apparel line Hudson North and Distinctly Home bed and bath products.

We will see which ones they bring back.

[jonny24]

I could see them moving Marks back towards the "Work Wearhouse" that it used to be, and moving more of the casual clothing that's currently in Marks to a smaller from HBC.

[casper]

One more Canadian retailer returns to Canadian hands.

Canadian investor group buys retailer Mountain Equipment Co. from U.S. firm

A group of Canadian investors led by textile executive Tim Gu is acquiring Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co. (MEC).

MEC CEO Peter Hlynsky and chief merchandising officer Chris Speyer are part of the investor group, a company statement said. MEC has 24 standalone retail stores across Canada. One of them is in downtown Victoria.

Gu is chairman at Unisync Corp., a Canadian uniform-clothing company, and an investor in venerable Canadian brands such as Tilley and Roots.

The new ownership group said it aims to increase domestic manufacturing of the goods it sells. Much MEC design work has historically been done in Vancouver, although retail analyst and DIG360 principal David Ian Gray told Business in Vancouver that most of its manufacturing has taken place offshore.

Source:https://www.timescolonist.com/busine...-firm-10678387

[trueviking]

I will be disappointed if the HBC purchase ends up being the striped blanked being sold in Canadian tire stores in the aisle beside the fishing rods. I was really hoping someone would try to reimagine the store itself.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I will be disappointed if the HBC purchase ends up being the striped blanked being sold in Canadian tire stores in the aisle beside the fishing rods. I was really hoping someone would try to reimagine the store itself.

Sadly, I guess that what you fear is the likely outcome.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by trueviking

I will be disappointed if the HBC purchase ends up being the striped blanked being sold in Canadian tire stores in the aisle beside the fishing rods. I was really hoping someone would try to reimagine the store itself.

I agree, this is exactly what will happen. Where you see a Party City section in a Canadian Tire now, you might see a shelf of HBC stock, or some of the bigger or newer stores might have that Club Z section that some Bay stores were getting (or a smaller version of that).