Hudson’s Bay is dead. They had watched their competitors Eaton’s and Sears die off in the decades prior (Sears died out in Canada in 2018, Eaton’s much earlier) and failed to learn from their mistakes. Literal decades to get their business in order and transition to a more modern business model, but hey, you gotta keep the shareholders pockets lined I guess.
I regularly visited the local store at St. Laurent Centre in Ottawa over the last few years I’ve lived in this city. I’ve always had a soft spot for the old retail experience. Bringing back the Zellers sub-brand in the last 2 years was encouraging, though they borked that up royally with the Ikea-esque knockoff brand they primarily sold and the lack of any mainstream brands like the OG Zellers used to sell (another missed opportunity).
I visited the store twice more yesterday, and again this morning, the last day of operations for the company. The place is gutted, only a handful of clothing items left on racks and some jewellery and watches left in the display cases. Yesterday they had blocked access to the 2nd floor and move everything to the main level. The racks and mannequins that were for sale outnumbered the actual inventory, though most of those were listed as being sold off already. Curiously, there was a massive amount of identical paperback-style books containing barbecue recipes from 1995 that bore “The Bay” branding. All yellowed around the edges with age. Likely they didn’t sell well back in the day and had been squirreled away in a back storage area for decades. I regret not getting a picture of these.
The end of an era for sure, but they did it to themselves.
maltosekincaid.com 