[Jonny5]

It would raise a few eyebrows, given HBC’s American ownership in the last two decades, and that nothing happened for Eaton’s, which had a more pronounced impact on Canadian retail, even if it didn’t have the longer colonial history. Eaton’s had the famous catalogue of lore, even in Quebec. HBC didn’t even have any department stores west of Winnipeg until 1960.

We're saying "American Ownership" here in a loosey-goosey way. Yes, the fund's investment manager is domiciled in the USA, and who knows where the hell the actual ownership vehicle was legally domiciled (probably Cayman Islands), but it is an investment fund structured as to let any financial entity from anywhere in the world buy into it.

I would be shocked if there were not a few big Canadian institutional investors in on this, mostly indirectly. Canadian pension plans own many billions of dollars of these funds, often through a non-transparent "fund-of-funds" structure where they simply get shares of two dozen private equity partnerships in one go and never really know what the hell they actually own at the ground level.

But beyond that, there's huge international investors who go in too, and they often have sway over making decisions about these businesses with the investment manager who wants to keep them happy so they keep recycling their investment income back into their new fund series launched every year. They are the ones really pulling the strings at the top level.

 

[Admiral Beez]

HBC is more than just any business with regard to Canadian history, as it has direct historical connections to the establishment of our country from coast to coast to coast.

And yet, none of us shopped there.

 

[Richard White]

And yet, none of us shopped there.

I may buy an HBC Canoe.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

And yet, none of us shopped there.

Haha speak for yourself. My family has always frequently visited The Bay. It was even something of a bi-weekly weekend tradition for much of my childhood.

HBC's downfall is not on me.

 

[Bayer]

I used to buy a lot of men's clothes at the Queen St. store, but after they renovated the 2nd floor, I thought the concept of separating everything by brand was incredibly inconvenient. Not sure there are a lot of men who are willing to waste half the day browsing from brand to brand looking for a pair of pants.

 

[Richard White]

I used to buy a lot of men's clothes at the Queen St. store, but after they renovated the 2nd floor, I thought the concept of separating everything by brand was incredibly inconvenient. Not sure there are a lot of men who are willing to waste half the day browsing from brand to brand looking for a pair of pants.

That's why I stopped going there for clothes.

I couldn't be bothered to try out a dozen different kiosks before finding the shirt or pants I wanted.

I need pants.. I don't care if they are Gucci, Hugo Boss, Levis or a barrel with suspenders. If the price is right and my bits aren't exposed that's all that matters.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I used to buy a lot of men's clothes at the Queen St. store, but after they renovated the 2nd floor, I thought the concept of separating everything by brand was incredibly inconvenient. Not sure there are a lot of men who are willing to waste half the day browsing from brand to brand looking for a pair of pants.

I used to buy all my Rockport and Clark shoes from the Queen St. store, and several coats, pants, etc. But after the reno I couldn't find anything, nor any staff, and that ground floor with the cropdusters of scents.... no thank you. I am a mission shopper, in and out is what I want. If the wife sends me to the store for milk, she's getting milk.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I may buy an HBC Canoe.

Not for $8 grand.

HBC Canoe

langfordcanoe.com

 

[Richard White]

Not for $8 grand.

HBC Canoe

langfordcanoe.com

It's just money.

 

[matrix]

I may buy an HBC Canoe.

Oakville Place has one of those in front of the second floor's interior entrance to The Bay. I've never seen one in any other context nor location, but I've seen a lot of kids try to climb in.

Liquidations include fixtures... I wonder if that would be up for grabs. But you may be out-bid by a wealthy elder around here.

 

[gabe]

I used to buy a lot of men's clothes at the Queen St. store, but after they renovated the 2nd floor, I thought the concept of separating everything by brand was incredibly inconvenient. Not sure there are a lot of men who are willing to waste half the day browsing from brand to brand looking for a pair of pants.

I was talking about The Bay with my mom recently. She said something similar, she didn't like what they did to the Queen St store, bringing in all these high-end fashion brands to the women's department, Making it difficult to browse. Go to Saks or Holts if you want expensive clothing! She shopped there for well over 30 years. But quit shopping there and just went to her local suburban Hudson Bay at Fairview mall. It was a lot cheaper than the Queen St store.

 

[GatorEG]

Oakville Place has one of those in front of the second floor's interior entrance to The Bay. I've never seen one in any other context nor location, but I've seen a lot of kids try to climb in.

Liquidations include fixtures... I wonder if that would be up for grabs. But you may be out-bid by a wealthy elder around here.

There's two at Queen St, or at least there were when I stopped by on Saturday.

The unpained one in the basement had a price tag ($8000) instead of one of the green inentory tags so it should be available for sale. I'm assuming the painted one a couple floors up did too but didnt stop to look.

Good luck to whoever grabs it, especially on the portage up the esclator

 

[Northern Light]

I was talking about The Bay with my mom recently. She said something similar, she didn't like what they did to the Queen St store, bringing in all these high-end fashion brands to the women's department, Making it difficult to browse. Go to Saks or Holts if you want expensive clothing! She shopped there for well over 30 years. But quit shopping there and just went to her local suburban Hudson Bay at Fairview mall. It was a lot cheaper than the Queen St store.

Queen St. made more not just in absolute dollars but more per ft2 (pre-Covid) than Fairview..........and it wasn't close.

The upscaling worked overall; there were some hits and misses.......but the key is that it was only ever meant to be in a handful of flagship locations.........and there was always a question mark on the rest.

Any insider would have told you HBC had to trim some low peforming locations...

The question was ' is some 15, 30 or 50'?

The would have left maybe 7-10 'flagship' stores, and another 20-40 second tier locations.....that maybe should have been under 'The Bay' banner and a lower price point.

In the case of Queen.........I think @Bayer was on point in that ......typical male buyers are different from typical female buyers.

I think some measure of brand separation in the suit department works..........given that an entry level product might be 1K.....while custom Armani can get well above 5k....you want people going to the rack that works for them.

But it doesn't make much sense in casual/every day. Put the Jeans together, put the business casual together........the Tee's etc.

 

[T.E.C.II]

I was talking about The Bay with my mom recently. She said something similar, she didn't like what they did to the Queen St store, bringing in all these high-end fashion brands to the women's department, Making it difficult to browse. Go to Saks or Holts if you want expensive clothing! She shopped there for well over 30 years. But quit shopping there and just went to her local suburban Hudson Bay at Fairview mall. It was a lot cheaper than the Queen St store.

And yet, any time I walked through the Fairview location, especially in the last five years, the women's section looked deserted. The men's section was slightly better, but it became a really shoddy department store.

 

[T.E.C.II]

But it doesn't make much sense in casual/every day. Put the Jeans together, put the business casual together........the Tee's etc.

I suppose that's true if you're someone who doesn't care about clothing beyond the basic need for it. But I found it convenient to have it separated by brand, since it let you go straight to the brands you knew.