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Are there any North American department stores out there that are doing well?

Some notes:

“While we continue to believe in HBC’s long-term potential, it has become clear that the significant challenges, risks and uncertainties facing HBC in the rapidly evolving retail environment are best addressed in a private market setting,” Mr. Baker said. “Our all-cash proposal would provide HBC’s public shareholders the ability to realize immediate and certain value for their shares at a substantial premium while transferring the risks and uncertainties facing HBC to the majority shareholders.

“We believe that improving HBC’s performance will require significant time and patient long-term capital that is better suited in a private company context without the emphasis on short-term results and returns.”
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The company, which has struggled with weak results, has been divesting underperforming divisions and stores, including about half of its European division, its flagship Lord & Taylor store in New York and its Gilt.com flash-sale fashion site. It is closing some of its U.S. Lord & Taylor and Saks OFF 5th outlets and all 37 of its Home Outfitters stores in Canada. Last month it said it is considering selling its entire U.S. Lord & Taylor chain.
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www.theglobeandmail.com

Hudson’s Bay’s Richard Baker leads $1-billion bid to take retailer private

Richard Baker is leading a group that is making an offer of $9.45 per share for Hudson’s Bay Co.; the company also has a deal to sell about half its remaining European operations to its overseas partner for $1.5-billion
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com
 
Hudson's Bay to close 15 Dutch stores and lay off 1,400 employees: report

Alicja Siekierska
Yahoo Finance Canada September 3, 2019

Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC) will close its 15 department stores located in the Netherlands and lay off around 1,400 employees as it shrinks its European operations, Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad reported last weekend.

According to the report, which cites a confidential letter from HBC, the retailer has decided to shutter its stores in the Netherlands by the end of the year due to what it called a “long-term financially untenable situation.” The newspaper reported that 1,424 employees at 15 stores will be laid off.

CNV Vakmensen, one of the unions representing Hudson’s Bay employees, said in a statement that the decision was “hardly a surprise” but still “a very bitter end.”
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ca.finance.yahoo.com

Hudson's Bay closing 15 stores in the Netherlands

Hudson’s Bay Co. will close its 15 department stores in the Netherlands and lay off around 1,400 employees as it shrinks its European operations, according to a report from Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad.
ca.finance.yahoo.com ca.finance.yahoo.com
 
'Working to fix this business': Hudson's Bay reports loss as namesake struggles

Alicja Siekierska

Yahoo Finance Canada September 12, 2019

Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC) reported a growing net loss on Thursday, as the retailer closes stores, changes its product lineup and grapples with struggling sales at its namesake department store chain.

HBC reported a net loss from continuing operations of $462 million in the 13-week period ending August 3, a sharp increase of 25 per cent when compared to the same time last year.

While operations at Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off Fifth were a bright spot in the second quarter, Hudson’s Bay remained a weak spot, as the retailer was forced to respond to heavy discounting across the market and tweaked its merchandise lineup that has not been resonating with customers. Comparable sales – a key metric in the retail industry – fell 2.4 per cent at Hudson’s Bay, the most among HBC’s three department store chains. Saks Fifth Avenue saw comparable sales increase by 0.6 per cent, while Saks Off Fifth saw a jump of 3.4 per cent.
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ca.finance.yahoo.com

'Working to fix this business': Hudson's Bay reports loss as namesake struggles

Hudson’s Bay Co. reported a growing net loss on Thursday, as the retailer closes stores, changes its product lineup and grapples with struggling sales at its namesake department store chain.
ca.finance.yahoo.com ca.finance.yahoo.com
 
AlbertC said:
'Working to fix this business': Hudson's Bay reports loss as namesake struggles

Alicja Siekierska

Yahoo Finance Canada September 12, 2019

ca.finance.yahoo.com

'Working to fix this business': Hudson's Bay reports loss as namesake struggles

Hudson’s Bay Co. reported a growing net loss on Thursday, as the retailer closes stores, changes its product lineup and grapples with struggling sales at its namesake department store chain.
ca.finance.yahoo.com ca.finance.yahoo.com
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Hudson's Bay may be headed for the retail graveyard. I would find that exceedingly unfortunate.

I think they had and have the potential to be successful as a middle to upper-middle general merchandiser.

But they have made a series of highly questionable decisions.............(they should have kept Bonnie Brooks as CEO)...

Whether it was going on a buying spree of US chains; doing the same in Europe and expanding the Hudson's Bay brand into the Netherlands...........or whether it was hiving off floors of their Queen St. Flagship, 1st for Sak's then for We Work.

They also haven't arrived at a consistent mission. That is to say, part of their flagship stores mostly achieve what they want in appearance and assortment, though they sometime muck up the details and service can be wanting.

But they have rafts of stores across the country that lose money, conflict w/the brand's current positioning, and are not rebranded, cut loose/closed, or renovated/brought up to standard.

Sigh.
 
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The saddest HBC store is probably in Downtown Winnipeg. It was once a huge flagship store befitting a booming city of the time (HBC didn't have stores in the Toronto, Montreal markets until the 1970s when it bought Simpson's and Morgan's). In the last twenty years, the store has slowly declined. Of the seven floors, only three are accessible now, the restaurant is closed, and it is looking really shabby.

I still like the Queen Street store, but the reorganizations to accommodate Saks and now WeWork have been annoying and reduces the appeal of the store. The suburban stores don't seem to have a purpose.
 
ShonTron said:
The saddest HBC store is probably in Downtown Winnipeg. It was once a huge flagship store befitting a booming city of the time (HBC didn't have stores in the Toronto, Montreal markets until the 1970s when it bought Simpson's and Morgan's). In the last twenty years, the store has slowly declined. Of the seven floors, only three are accessible now, the restaurant is closed, and it is looking really shabby.

I still like the Queen Street store, but the reorganizations to accommodate Saks and now WeWork have been annoying and reduces the appeal of the store. The suburban stores don't seem to have a purpose.
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Agreed on all counts pretty much.

I think the suburban store at Yorkdale works and they've thrown money at Sherway, Square One and STC to make them passable from their brand perspective.

In the GTA, Woodbine and Eglinton Square, and Pickering are all dumpster fires with Fairview not much better.

I haven't been to these, but I can't imagine Centerpoint being worth keeping Erin Mills and the lesser store in Burlington don't make much sense either.

Bloor Street is just an embarrassment; that's where Sak's should have gone (after a gut job and new facade).
 
HBC knows they screwed up (to put it politely) with the Saks store on Queen. They've sunk so much money into that store, so there's no going back on it and they'll live with that mistake for the next 20+ years minimum.

There's nothing that can save the Bloor St HBC location. The amount of money they would have to sink into it to make it a viable competitor to any other retailer in the downtown core would be pretty shocking to them.

If they own that location, they're better off selling if off to allow a true player to do something special with that space. If they're leasing, they should just let the lease expire outright.
 
Northern Light said:
Hudson's Bay may be headed for the retail graveyard. I would find that exceedingly unfortunate.

I think they had and have the potential to be successful as a middle to upper-middle general merchandiser.

But they have made a series of highly questionable decisions.............(they should have kept Bonnie Brooks as CEO)...

Whether it was going on a buying spree of US chains; doing the same in Europe and expanding the Hudson's Bay brand into the Netherlands...........or whether it was hiving off floors of their Queen St. Flagship, 1st for Sak's then for We Work.

They also haven't arrived at a consistent mission. That is to say, part of their flagship stores mostly achieve what they want in appearance and assortment, though they sometime muck up the details and service can be wanting.

But they have rafts of stores across the country that lose money, conflict w/the brand's current positioning, and are not rebranded, cut loose/closed, or renovated/brought up to standard.

Sigh.
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That was probably one of their biggest loses in the past few years.

They should've kept ownership of their Queen Street store sunk all that other expansion money into expanding their online sales and distribution network instead of opening new stores.

Hopefully they can figure it out - I still enjoy Hudson's Bay.
 
John Allan's (membership based haircuts+ for men) is closing their only Canadian location (on the 5th floor of HBC Queen St) later this week.

Hudson's Bay | John Allan's

The John Allan's Club at Hudson's Bay, Toronto is our first location in Canada. We are proud to bring the John Allan Company to our neighbors in the north.
johnallans.com johnallans.com
It will reopen in a few weeks as the second location of King's Crown (haircuts/shave+ for men, currently in Bayview Village).
www.kingscrown1774.com

Unforgettable Grooming Experiences For Men. Only.

From historical beginnings to the present day we've stood with men. Today, we cater to the Modern Man who believes in the timeless ideal of authenticity.
www.kingscrown1774.com www.kingscrown1774.com
 
Five burning questions as Zellers' final two stores set to close

By Paige Ellis
Oct 4, 2019

Eight years after Hudson’s Bay Co. announced plans to sell the bulk of its Zellers leases to Target Corp., the retailer is finally preparing to shutter its last two locations. HBC confirmed a Zellers store in Etobicoke, Ont. and another in Ottawa will close in early 2020.

www.bnnbloomberg.ca

BNN Bloomberg – Canada Business News, TSX Today and Interest Rates

Get the latest Canadian business news, TSX updates, interest rates and Bank of Canada coverage. Explore stock market investing and get expert financial insights on investment portfolio strategies.
www.bnnbloomberg.ca www.bnnbloomberg.ca
 
business.financialpost.com

Barneys nears bankruptcy deal that could see Hudson’s Bay Company taking on its brand with shops in Saks, sources say

Without a deal, Barneys faces winding down its business entirely
business.financialpost.com business.financialpost.com

A very weird looking deal that makes no sense to me from HBC's perspective.

I'm afraid those have been all too common in recent years.

Barney's is a storied retailer, albeit, a failing one.

I'm dubious on acquiring another retail nameplate that's struggling, overall this has not been a successful strategy for HBC.

I think the partnership/joint deal w/Authentic brands makes an already dubious deal worse.

To me, if there's anything Barneys has going for it, it's the the flagship store which has an ambiance, a history a certain appeal.

As a web brand, or a store-in-store brand it has a mediocre track record or none at all.

Sigh, maybe it'll work for them.....
 
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