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Except that the Hudson Bay in general - nor this particular store - is Les Galleries Lafayette or Harrods.

No real question; though, in product category depth and range, as its peak, this store actually would have been close; but the service, appearance and value-added experiences have always come up short.

It's not that much of a draw on its' own - and I am not convinced that the company will want to put in the cash to make it so;

Neither Am I

The only people in Canada with deep enough pockets who might think about it would be the Westons; the Thomsons used to control HBC but never really spent the $$$ on it.

or that Canadian consumers is keen to support a department store of this calibre.

AoD

I don't know, Holt's turns in some great coin, and so does Eataly at the more grocery/experience end of things.

I think there are two distinct things here:

1) You need a retailer to put in the money and effort to create that marketplace

2) It can't be too finely divied up. {ie. the Canadian Luxury market does not support Nordstrom, Saks and Holts, particularly the number of locations in the GTA)
 
The Bay store at STC – one of the better suburban stores – locks up at 7 pm on weekdays now.

IMG_4307.jpeg
 
The Queen Street store is also currently on "special winter hours", where the majority of the store closes at 7pm (from the ground floor and up). The only exception is the basement level that has the housewares and the Zellers' Pop-Up, which is open until 9pm. Pusateri's also closes early. The opening hours are supposed to change back to regular once we get further into Spring.
 
In previous years the store hours lengthen around the President's Discount Letter Event which starts on Thursday, March 14th.
 
The Queen Street store is also currently on "special winter hours", where the majority of the store closes at 7pm (from the ground floor and up). The only exception is the basement level that has the housewares and the Zellers' Pop-Up, which is open until 9pm. Pusateri's also closes early. The opening hours are supposed to change back to regular once we get further into Spring.
Oh that explains why the Skybridge was closed last time I was in the Eaton Centre (at about 7:15pm).

Also, kind of a shame HBC closing early shuts the entire skybridge over Queen since its a really nice view, especially as the days get longer. (And also for us transit nerds, it has the best view of OL construction anywhere in the city). Would be nice if it closed at the HBC end instead.
 
The Bay store at STC – one of the better suburban stores – locks up at 7 pm on weekdays now.

This is chain-wide. HBC Yorkdale was a very high performing store pre-pandemic. It closes at 7pm too.

I think its ridiculous to do that w/your best performing stores, they're only eroding their own sales and at least in some small measure, those of the malls of which they are a part.
 
This is chain-wide. HBC Yorkdale was a very high performing store pre-pandemic. It closes at 7pm too.

I think its ridiculous to do that w/your best performing stores, they're only eroding their own sales and at least in some small measure, those of the malls of which they are a part.

NL maybe you can clarify.

Is there not something in the leases which state they have to keep mall hours while operating as a functional business in the mall?
 
NL maybe you can clarify.

Is there not something in the leases which state they have to keep mall hours while operating as a functional business in the mall?

I haven't read the lease agreements; but yes that is standard language in retail leasing contracts in malls.

There are always retailers who get exceptions (Cineplex typically opens at noon and stays open well past mall hours; while banks historically didn't open Sundays and closed early on weekdays.)
 
I'm going to add a personal story here to add to my frustration with this store.

I had been looking for a small dining room set, and found one I liked which had boxing day sale for about $3600. To my surprise, it was on sale in February for less than $2000.

I had it arranged for delivery on a Friday afternoon, put it together over the weekend, and found some damage. I reported on Monday and HBC came back and said I didn't report the damage within 24hrs so theres nothing that can be done.

Admittedly, I haven't bought furniture in a very long time, and maybe this is just me not understanding how the industry is today, but it does not reflect anything but negatively on HBC. I guess I have to pull out my x-ray vision next time or put it all together asap.
 
I'm going to add a personal story here to add to my frustration with this store.

I had been looking for a small dining room set, and found one I liked which had boxing day sale for about $3600. To my surprise, it was on sale in February for less than $2000.

I had it arranged for delivery on a Friday afternoon, put it together over the weekend, and found some damage. I reported on Monday and HBC came back and said I didn't report the damage within 24hrs so theres nothing that can be done.

Admittedly, I haven't bought furniture in a very long time, and maybe this is just me not understanding how the industry is today, but it does not reflect anything but negatively on HBC. I guess I have to pull out my x-ray vision next time or put it all together asap.

That's not ok; sorry to hear about your experience.

****

If you know who the underlying manufacturer is, it might be worth talking to them, they might choose to help anyway.

If not, there are folks who specialize in small repairs to wooden furniture filling in a scratch, or chip and matching the stain of the set; you shouldn't have to do that out of pocket, but might be worth it to you just the same. Costs vary based on problem and the provider, but probably anywhere from $100-$500, assuming you don't need everything sanded down in a shop.
 
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