Hudson’s Bay Co. will live on in some fashion, and what form it takes will be solely up to Canadian Tire.
On Tuesday, the beleaguered department store got court approval to sell its intellectual property, including its iconic multicoloured stripes motif, to Canadian Tire for $30 million.
Bankrupt Hudson’s Bay Co. will use the cash to pay some of its debts before the 355-year-old retailer disappears entirely. On Sunday, the company wrapped up liquidation sales and closed its remaining 96 Bay and Saks-branded stores to the public.
During liquidation sales, many Canadians rushed to buy items like blankets and bathrobes adorned with the classic stripes. Retail strategist David Ian Gray says Canadian Tire may invest in a line of goods bearing the stripes, but warns that if the investment is overdone, the motif might lose its lustre.
“That surge on the blankets that we saw, I think in large part that was because there was sudden scarcity,” said Gray who is based in Vancouver.
If the new owners “cheapen it too much, it’s not going to cause a resurgence in that brand.”
As part of the deal, Canadian Tire will also take ownership of Hudson’s Bay’s company names and other trademarks, such as its historic coat of arms.
The big box retailer will also get domain names for its websites, and all of the Bay’s customer data, including personal information, court documents say.
Gray says Canadian Tire might consider that customer data as the golden prize in the deal. Hudson’s Bay first launched its loyalty rewards program in 2001, so it tracked customer shopping habits for more than two decades.
“That’s going be an enormous transactional database,” he said. “There’s lots you can do with that data to monetize it.“
The Canadian Tire deal excludes the storied company’s art, artifacts and archives, as well as any of its more than 9,000 employees, most of whom have already been laid off.
Hudson’s Bay employees get ready for last day on the job
In March, the Bay was granted creditor protection by Ontario Superior Court, putting its assets up for sale. Seventeen parties submitted bids for its intellectual property.
“The Canadian Tire transaction, among other things, provides for the highest purchase price of any bid received … and therefore provides the greatest value,” stated a court document filed on May 29.
Canadian Tire, which has more than 1,700 retail locations across the country, says it has also submitted a bid for “a handful” of Hudson’s Bay’s lease locations. According to court records, HBC has received 12 bids for 39 of its leases.
Last month, the Bay announced it reached a deal to sell 28 lease locations in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia to Ruby Liu Commercial Investment Corp. The company is indirectly controlled by B.C. mall owner Ruby Liu.
Liu plans to launch “a new modern department store concept in Canada,” Hudson’s Bay said in a statement.
The retailer added that the deal still needs approval from both the court and the landlords controlling the 28 leases. “There can be no assurances that the conditions to closing will be satisfied,” stated HBC.
Gray says he applauds Liu for her desire to invest in Canadian retail and create jobs. But he cautions that if the deal goes through, she faces many challenges building a successful large-scale brick-and-mortar retail chain.
Eaton’s, another long-standing Canadian retail chain, shut down in 1999 due to sagging sales. Sears met a similar fate in 2017, and U.S.-based Nordstrom closed its doors in Canada in 2023.
“It is going to be very daunting, and especially to try to activate 28 stores,” said Gray. He added that he needs “more answers about what she’s doing in order to get really excited about it right now.“
