Hudson’s Bay liquidation sales begin at all B.C. stores

Canada’s oldest company will begin liquidating most of its stores this morning.

Hudson’s Bay says all but six of its locations will be selling off their inventory.

The company is aiming to wrap up the liquidation by June 15. Gift cards will be accepted until April 6, but loyalty points cannot be used.

Hudson’s Bay says all sales will be final at the liquidating stores.

The six stores omitted from the liquidation sales include the flagship on Yonge Street in Toronto, as well as a location in the city’s Yorkdale Mall and another farther north in Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill, Ont.

The remaining three span downtown Montreal, the Carrefour Laval Mall, and Point-Claire, Que.

The liquidation comes after the company filed for creditor protection earlier this month, saying it was facing financial difficulties stemming from lower consumer spending, reduced downtown traffic, and trade tensions between Canada and the U.S.

While Canada’s oldest company has found a way to keep the six stores open, none of them are in British Columbia.

Lindsay Meredith, professor emeritus in marketing at Simon Fraser University, says the value of a lot of Hudson Bay locations is tied up in prime real estate.

“They have had it for a long time and a city like Vancouver, that one was just too rich not to cash in on. There is a ton of money that is going to come in on that one,” said Meredith.

Meredith notes that historically, the head office for Hudson’s Bay was always in Ontario and Quebec, not out in the west. B.C.’s sixteen current stores will all shutter, including the flagship on Granville Street.

“Believe me, the receiver would be under immense pressure if he was going to try and keep that store open, creditors would be squeezing him pretty darn hard,” said Meredith.

When it comes to deals, Meredith suggests you won’t see huge discounts on the first day.

“Once you have the word ‘discounting’ attached to it or ‘liquidation’ attached to those high-end names, that will bring a lot of consumers out of the woodwork, they will be looking for deals,” he explained.

“But again we underline it won’t be a free-for-all, if you think they are going to cut everything to 50 per cent day one, you are out of your mind,” said Meredith.

Meredith is urging eager shoppers to expect a line around the block and even possible shouting matches as people flock to buy up the iconic Hudson’s Bay branded items.

Earlier this week, the Toronto flagship location on Queen Street West was close to selling out of items bearing the brand’s iconic green, red, yellow, and indigo stripes. Sales were so strong between March 8 and 14 that the company made $21 million, beating its own estimates by about $7.4 million, court documents show.

The cash from the sales will allow the company to pay up to $7 million monthly in rent it pays a joint venture with RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust, with which it owns some real estate. It can now also pay back $16 million in financing it received from Restore Capital earlier in the month to keep it afloat.

With files from John Ackerman and Raynaldo Suarez.