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nightstreak said:
This puts a face to one of the hundreds of small businesses I had talked about some pages back:

Hudson's Bay Company bankruptcy leaves local business with $80K in unpaid invoices

Read the full story and comment on Tbnewswatch.com
www.tbnewswatch.com www.tbnewswatch.com

Hudson's Bay going under is sad from a national identity standpoint (even if they were no longer Canadian), but this is going to be disastrous for the many local mom and pop businesses that supplied The Bay. Honestly, I don't think these people are going to see a dime after the big secured creditors are done stripping the books to pay themselves back.

If the 6 stores find a way to go forward, I think the court will ensure that there'll be a plan to pay off at least some of the unsecured debt.
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Articles sounds like that HBC main supplier cut them off and they went to them recently. It sucks that they took advantage of them but a litle bit of due-dilligence from the office supply company shoudl of raised some red flags.
 
EBT said:
I hope there is some way to save Hudson's Bay's flagship stores in Canada especially Queen Street. I am old enough to remember the first bankruptcy of Eaton's. I remember walking through Eaton's main floor during liquidation and seeing racks of Mink coats "marked down" to $20,000 (about $35,000 in today's dollars). But I also remember when only a few years later Eaton's emerged from the ashes and reopened its Eaton Center store albeit in a diminished incarnation.

Hudson's Bay has a stronger brand value than Eaton's ever had so I hope someone can revive this iconic Canadian company. If I was in charge of reviving this brand, I would focus on a high-end food hall complimented by high end restaurants on the lower levels that that would then funnel well healed customers to high end retail on the higher levels and even more exclusive restaurant venues on the highest level.
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Agree in principle. However, I'd rather see the food hall (or better yet a restaurant "street") on the top floor to draw customers through. Yes, they could still just use the elevators to bypass everything, but I think there'd be a natural inclination for some people to walk down thus providing an opportunity to showcase what's available to purchase.
 
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Smoke2011 said:
Articles sounds like that HBC main supplier cut them off and they went to them recently. It sucks that they took advantage of them but a litle bit of due-dilligence from the office supply company shoudl of raised some red flags.
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Yeah, I noticed the same reading through their outstanding creditors list. There was the main Otis Elevator company who they owe millions to, and then they owe tens to hundreds of thousands to smaller elevator companies. Looks like they got cut off by Otis and then went to smaller independent businesses. It's really immoral given they must've known for some time that they wouldn't be able to repay their contractors. And there are also many wholesalers in there owed a lot of money. They got product shipped to them to fill their stores to sell and then sought court protection from having to pay them or even give the inventory back. Really slimy.

Some Hudson’s Bay vendors are owed thousands — and they’re rushing to reclaim their inventory

Amid liquidation at most of the beleaguered retailer's stores, many suppliers were confused as to the future of their inventory, with some opting to remove it to sell elsewhere.
www.thestar.com
 
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nightstreak said:
... There was the main Otis Elevator company who they owe millions to, and then they owe tens to hundreds of thousands to smaller elevator companies. Looks like they got cut off by Otis and then went to smaller independent businesses. It's really immoral given they must've known for some time that they wouldn't be able to repay their contractors. And there are also many wholesalers in there owed a lot of money. They got product shipped to them to fill their stores to sell and then sought court protection from having to pay them or even give the inventory back. Really slimy.
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Wow. Immoral and slimy are good words to describe that, if they had product shipped to them or hired the elevator companies when they knew they had no honest intention of paying them.
 
PL1 said:
In the future, I now kow that inoperable elevators/escalators means bad financial news
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It was worse than that. I remember walking through The Bay during the holidays and there was no music. Just dead silence. They stopped paying for the royalties to play department store music. It was very obvious they were in real trouble.
 
nightstreak said:
It was worse than that. I remember walking through The Bay during the holidays and there was no music. Just dead silence. They stopped paying for the royalties to play department store music. It was very obvious they were in real trouble.
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Apparently, Hudson’s Bay is too broke to play classical music!

Yes, most classical music is in the public domain, which means that it is free.

Hudson’s Bay is that broke: it can’t afford to play free music.
 
Hudson’s Bay Co. is pitching a restructuring plan to potential buyers or investors that would require an $82-million investment in the first year in order to turn around six department stores left out of liquidation and its e-commerce operations.

Canada’s oldest retailer has been severely affected by falling sales and traffic to both its stores and website, according to a confidential information memorandum prepared by Hudson’s Bay last month, a copy of which was obtained by The Globe and Mail.

Hudson’s Bay pitches plan to save six stores and e-commerce business

Retailer seeking buyer or investors to turn around operations that would require an $82-million investment in first year
www.theglobeandmail.com
 
‘A once-in-300-years opportunity’: Billionaire mall owner Weihong Liu says she plans to bid on Hudson’s Bay

‘A once-in-300-years opportunity’: Billionaire mall owner Weihong Liu says she plans to bid on Hudson’s Bay

Weihong Liu, chairwoman of shopping centre owner/operator Central Walk, expresses her intent to buy Hudson’s Bay in seven social media videos posted over the last two weeks.
www.thestar.com

"The chairwoman of B.C.‘s Central Walk expressed her intent to bid on Hudson’s Bay in seven social media videos posted over the last two weeks."
A British Columbia-based billionaire mall owner is planning to “acquire” beleaguered retailer Hudson’s Bay, according to a series of posts on a Chinese social media platform.
In seven videos posted over the last two weeks on RedNote, a Chinese social networking and e-commerce app, Weihong Liu, chairwoman of shopping centre owner Central Walk, expressed her intent to buy Hudson’s Bay, which filed for creditor protection on March 7.

^ Fingers crossed that his BC Billionaire can come to the rescue of Hudson's Bay.
 
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Smoke2011 said:
Articles sounds like that HBC main supplier cut them off and they went to them recently. It sucks that they took advantage of them but a litle bit of due-dilligence from the office supply company shoudl of raised some red flags.
Click to expand...
Maybe there’s more to it, such as receivables insurance. In a prior life I worked export sales to Europe for a huge Canadian manufacturer, where everyone had to pay up front prior to shipment. Back in 2002, our long term and top 5 customer in Prague asked for credit terms, to which after much debate we accepted, with undisclosed receivables insurance that would pay out 90%, and her price increased to partially cover the spread. She quadrupled her order and immediately upon receipt in Prague said she could not pay as she was running down the business. My one and final reply was that we do not accept this, and you’ll be hearing from our representatives in Eastern Europe. She replies, do your worst and get stuffed. Well, we made the insurance claim, got our 90% wrote off the lost 10% and moved onto other business. Six months later she emailed that she’d like to discuss payment arrangements, to which I said, get stuffed. Turns out our insurance company had sold the claim to a Czech collection agency who was not taking no for an answer. Moral of the story, if your customer is acting out of character and increasing their orders, assume the worst and protect yourself.
 
EBT said:
^ Fingers crossed that his BC Billionaire can come to the rescue of Hudson's Bay.
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Only if she’s going to return HBC to its roots as a reasonably priced department store to attract the middle income demographic including young adults who are looking for quality and value, rather than a larger scale version of Harry Rosen, Chanel, Tiffany & Co, or Holts. Torontonians and Canadians just don’t have the income or inclination to support a seven story palace to pricey glam
 
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