Now that nostalgia is no longer looked upon as a mental disorder, I am comfortable saying I am seriously nostalgic about the demise of the Hudson Bay Company.
Regardless of the fact that Hudson’s Bay had retailer roots in Canada for more than 350 years, it was initially established in 1670 as a fur trading company under a royal charter and at its height controlled vast parts of what later became Canada. It operated trading posts with First Nations and transitioned into retail in 1881 with its first store in Winnipeg. Over the years it expanded across the country becoming one of Canada’s main brand locations. In 2008 it was sold to a U.S. based equity firm and continued to operate in Canada while ownership was based outside of Canada. In 2020 it became private and ceased trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange which unfortunately ended any ownership as being Canadian regardless of its branding remained focused in Canada.
So what happened to this icon so many of us grew up with? A $1B debt including 2,000 creditors, and numerous mortgages. Declining sales was the biggest culprit, along with post-pandemic retail struggles, high operating costs and online competition.
Attempts to restructure so far have failed and sadly we are losing 88 outlets across the country and over 9,000 employees will lose their jobs. But admittedly, I personally am most nostalgic about the demise of a brand that has been such a big part of my life. Along with many others are those memories of fun times we had in that beautiful building downtown riding up and down the escalators from floor to floor while our mother shopped and spent time trying to find which floor we were on are some of the best! You could buy anything you would ever need at The Bay.
When the news came out, some ‘destroyer person’ suggested the choices for that architectural masterpiece will be to knock it down or to repurpose it into low-cost housing. Enough repurposing and enough tearing down! Beautiful historic buildings have gone down that path from elegance to uninspiring replacements. One is still sitting boarded up more than four years later. The City has talked about making the downtown 8th Avenue mall more appealing for residents and visitors. The Bay could become an icon again with a market, independent fashion shops, dining experiences, an artist corner, cocktail lounges and other unique attractions. There is already a magnificent event floor at the top to be spared, and a great street level restaurant and nightclub.
More people need to return to work in their downtown offices, including city hall, to add life to the downtown streets and support the dying restaurants and retail. The pandemic is over!
To add more disappointment, Sunterra Market is also filing for bankruptcy protection. The Bankers Hall location has been downsizing their offerings for a while, as has the other large location on 17th Avenue, again partially due to empty functioning office towers and people working at home. Ottawa and city hall can pat themselves on the back for this one with their added regulations including carbon taxes all under the guise of ‘an existential climate emergency’ that has no relevance.
It is getting harder each day to read or listen to the news.
