May 26, 2025 "Big-name department and drug stores circling Hudson’s Bay employees, soon to be without": Today I found this article by Tara Deschamps on BNN Bloomberg:
TORONTO — Big-name department and drug stores are circling the more than 9,300 Hudson’s Bay and Saks Fifth Avenue Canada workers who will soon be out of a job.
Luxury retailer Holt Renfrew told The Canadian Press it’s added dozens of former Bay and Saks staff to its store teams, “with more still to come.”
“While our turnover rate is amongst the lowest it’s been, we’ve been committed to helping our HBC and Saks colleagues with any opportunities we can provide,” spokesperson Adam Grachnik said in an email.
Meanwhile, talent acquisition staff at Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexall appear to be working social media channels, hoping to lure in Bay and Saks employees.
Canada’s oldest company filed for creditor protection in March, and the company has been winding down. Following months of liquidation sales, all 96 of the Bay and its sister Saks stores will shutter at the end of May.
While some workers will presumably retire or abandon the retail world altogether, experts say others are likely to be scooped up by just about any retailer you can think of.
“Any of the great brands out there that are looking for good people are reaching out to them,” said Lanita Layton, a luxury and retail consultant who was once a vice-president at Holt Renfrew.
She imagines Bay and Saks workers would be a great get for La Maison Simons, which is due to hire hundreds of staff members when it opens two Toronto department stores later this year,
but also thinks they could slide right in at home goods shops like Crate and Barrel or Williams Sonoma.
The workers are a fit for so many places because
many have worked on commission, so they know how to sell,
and they also have a deep knowledge of the Canadian marketplace
and the products
and customers that fill it.
Some may even have a “hidden gem” — contact info for regular shoppers they would have served at the Bay’s upscale Room business or the designer Saks department.
“Every retailer is looking to
maintain
and grow their customer base,
so if they’ve got somebody they could potentially hire that has that already, that is really, really important,” Layton said.
Bringing experienced staff onto a new team is also a savings,
said Lauren Burrows, a senior manager of retail strategy at Accenture, who imagines luxury businesses, small boutiques and grocers will vie for Bay workers.
She estimates it costs on average between $3,000 to $4,000 to
recruit,
interview
and hire an employee,
train them
and then cope with their initial, lower productivity while they adjust to the quirks and cadences of the job.
Once they’re in the job, retention becomes a key issue because retail roles are known for having higher than usual turnover, she said.
But Layton points out many Bay employees spent decades at the department store
and worked in difficult-to-fill roles like
visual merchandisers
— highlighting trends,
customer demographics
and brand partnerships at the store.
Another treasure the Bay and Saks had were their beauty departments, which Holt Renfrew admitted it’s already poached from.
Layton figured Sephora would do the same because it’s been expanding and it’s easy to transition workers from one beauty brand to another.
“If they’re makeup artists in one, they could be a makeup artist in another without blinking,” Layton said.
“If they’re switching from a Tom Ford counter to Lancôme or vice versa, it’s just learning the nature of that brand, but that doesn’t take anybody long when they’re professionals in that area already.”
The leap may also be easy for some staff headed to Canadian Tire. The retailer is on track to purchase the Bay name, its stripes motif, its coat of arms and its brands for $30 million.
While the company did not comment on whether it was seeking Bay hires, Layton figures they’d be logical additions because they know the intricacies of the intellectual property Canadian Tire wants to acquire.
Bay staff would also be experts in
product development,
logistics,
data analysis
and inventory management,
making them useful throughout the industry.
Because the retail world can be so “complex” and Bay employees have run a company even in the face of upheaval,
Burrows said any business undergoing transformation would want them.
“Having folks who have been through that
and can really start day one,
hit the ground running
and add value right away...
is amazing,” she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:CTC.A)
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
My opinion: That's good to hear that these Hudson's Bay employees can get jobs at other companies.
Jun. 3, 2025 "Court approves sale of Hudson’s Bay trademarks to Canadian Tire": Today I found this article on BNN Bloomberg:
Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.’s historic purchase of Hudson’s Bay trademarks will go ahead after an Ontario judge granted permission for the deal.
Judge Peter Osborne says the $30-million deal was the best possible outcome given the circumstances facing the Bay.
The deal will give Canadian Tire rights to the Bay name, its coat of arms and its iconic stripes.
Court documents have also shown the deal includes
the Bay’s Distinctly Home brand,
its Hudson North apparel line,
trademarks like “Bay Days”
and the Zellers catchphrase “lowest price is the law”
as well as a contract with Pendleton Woolen Mills, an Oregon-based blanket and clothing maker.
The sale to Canadian Tire was the buzziest matter Osborne presided over Tuesday. At the same court hearing,
he also approved a receivership application for a joint real estate venture Hudson’s Bay was part of
and made a declaration helping employees receive funding to recover from the collapse of their employer.
The approvals came months after Canada’s oldest company filed for creditor protection and days after it closed all 96 of the stores it ran under its Bay and Saks banners on Sunday.
Osborne called the weekend closures “a milestone, albeit an unhappy one” that amounts to “the end of an era.”
Hudson’s Bay has said the sale and closures were necessary because the 355-year-old company was not able to attract an investor to keep some semblance of the current business alive.
Canadian Tire, which also owns
SportChek,
Party City,
Mark’s
and Pro Hockey Life,
wound up being the winner of the Bay’s trademarks after the ailing company and its advisers invited 407 people and firms to bid on the intellectual property and other assets.
Ashley Taylor, a lawyer for Hudson’s Bay, told Osborne that 17 bids were received. Thirteen were for intellectual property but Canadian Tire’s was superior, he said.
“The Canadian Tire transaction represents the highest and best process offer resulting from a competitive process,” Taylor said.
What precisely gave Canadian Tire the edge is contained in a document Taylor has asked the court to seal because it contains commercially sensitive information, including the amounts offered by the next highest bidders.
Osborne granted the request.
The Canadian Tire deal is the first of several Taylor is expected to ask a court to approve.
He said Hudson’s Bay will eventually return to court to get approval for B.C. mall owner Ruby Liu to take over up to 28 Bay leases to develop a new department store. That deal needs the support of landlords.
He also teased that two other deals concerning some of the other properties the Bay used will be announced soon.
The Canadian Tire deal was being discussed at a hearing that spanned several issues, including a joint real estate venture the Bay has with RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust.
The venture has leases for 12 properties the department store used, but RioCan wanted to put the partnership into receivership to protect its stakeholders and maximize the value it can recover.
Receivership is a process allowing a third-party to
take control of a company’s assets,
oversee their liquidation
and repay creditors.
Joseph Pasquariello, a lawyer for RioCan, wanted FTI Consulting Canada appointed as the receiver because his client’s “dollars are on the line” and it wants timely solutions.
Osborne approved Pasquariello’s request, saying it was “just and convenient.”
Osborne also recognized Hudson’s Bay as the former employer of all the department store’s workers who have been terminated.
The declaration allows Bay’s 9,364 staff, including more than 8,300 who have already lost their jobs,
to recoup money they may be owed from the retailer under the Wage Earner Protection Program Act.
People who qualify under the federal program can earn up to $8,844.22 this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2025.
My opinion: This is good that Hudson's Bay is being transferred to another Canadian company. Hudson's Bay will live on in Canadian Tire.
The other 2 blog posts of the week:
"From niche grocer to supermarket giant: How T&T plans to repeat success in the U.S."/ "Canadian Tire to restructure company for growth, will close some Atmosphere stores"
https://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/07/from-niche-grocer-to-supermarket-giant.html
"Forever 21 files for bankruptcy in U.S. for 2nd time"/ "Reitmans shareholder group calls on others to join fight to boost retailer’s value"
https://badcb.blogspot.com/2025/07/forever-21-files-for-bankruptcy-in-us.html
Mon. Jul. 14, 2025:
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