[fiendishlibrarian]

Thank you!

If they did decide to continue any product lines, they would probably shift the Point Blanket production to China from England. They have a proud history of using formerly quality brand names-turned off-shore junk like Noma and Woods.

Their old in-house brand Hudson Room used to have some very good, North American and European-made accessories. I still have a number of their Hudson Room ties that were made in Italy, and I'm pretty sure way back when they had cufflinks and tie clips made here. I think they also had sport jackets and suits that were made in Canada, but that may have been before I shifted to corporate 15-odd years ago.

 

[lenaitch]

This is why I fail to understand why they don't just snatch up the rights to the Bay name, keep select stores open and put their own stores in other places, Canadian tire, with a (large) Marks store, Sport check, Party City, and (if doable) their version of a pet store, since they now have a pet section in their Canadian tire stores.
Lots of space to fill, lots of ways to do it, effectively...

Maybe they don't want to run a large area retail operation. Even the largest Mark's or Party City wouldn't come close to a typical HB store. Putting a CTC store in a mall doesn't really fit their business model of repair bays, garden centre, etc with lots of adjacent parking. They do have a store in a mall in Orillia but they bought the single storey mall and revamped the old Zeller's/Target to suit their needs.

 

[Northern Light]

Maybe they don't want to run a large area retail operation.

The new Canadian Tire being built in Kelowa will be ~200,000ft2

That's in line with or even a bit larger than the typical 'Bay' store.

....Putting a CTC store in a mall doesn't really fit their business model of repair bays, garden centre, etc with lots of adjacent parking...

Sears in the U.S. used to have automotive (garages) in many locations, often malls. That said it would be a fairly expensive retrofit.

***

I'm not arguing for 'The Tire' swallowing the Bay or its leases; just putting out there that its not out of the realm of possibility.

 

[nightstreak]

Reading the monitor's site and it's confirmed that Richard Baker has passed on buying back any of The Bay's IP or its leases.A sigh of relief as he's done enough damage already. No insiders are part of the bids.

Hopefully Weihong Liu, the BC mall owner or Canadian Tire have their bids approved by the court and some of Hudson's Bay remains after this process.

 

[bcx]

Whoever ends up with the Hudson's Bay IP should be partnering with Fairmont to sell the blankets and other striped merchandise from their hotel gift shops. Hell, they should be outfitting rooms with striped pillows, blankets, etc.

 

[christiesplits]

Hudson’s Bay to sell name, stripes, brands to Canadian Tire for $30 million​

Hudson’s Bay to sell name, stripes, brands to Canadian Tire for $30 million

Hudson’s Bay is getting a second life with a new owner — Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.

www.ctvnews.ca

The exchange includes houseware brands Gluckstein and Distinctly Home, as well as discount brand Zellers and apparel line Hudson North, said a source familiar with the deal, who is not being named because they were unauthorized to speak about it.

Canadian Tire CEO Greg Hicks said the fall of the Bay is “disheartening to witness” but the deal his company reached is meant to be both “strategic” and “patriotic.”

“Some things are just meant to stay Canadian and we are honoured to welcome many of HBC’s leading brands — including the iconic HBC coat of arms and the Stripes — into our Canadian Tire family,” he said in a press release.

 

[Brian S-W]

Thank goodness! At least at Canadian Tire bilingual means English and French.

 

[Amare]

I'm probably one of a few people who doesn't see Canadian Tire acquiring the Hudson's Bay IP as a good thing at all.

I had the exact same skepticism of them when they went and acquired Helly Hansen. It made absolutely 0 sense, and in the end I was right about that. They bought the brand, completely screwed it up, and ended up selling it because they didnt know what to do with it/how to utilize it.

I see this going the exact same way; where would they sell Hudson's Bay branded merchandise? Most Canadian Tire stores already look like a disheveled mess, add a couple more brands in and i'm oh so sure it's going to get even worse.

Marks? For obvious reasons that wouldnt work.

Sportchek? Wouldnt work for obvious reasons.

PartyCity? Self-explanatory.

Online only? The strategy wouldnt make sense at all.

This make absolutely no sense for Canadian Tire, and I have strong convictions that they will fully screw up the Hudson's Bay brand (a la Research in Motion selling the rights to Blackberry branded phones to TCL). Either let the brand go defunct (unpreferred option), or sell it to a company who knows how to property utilize brands.

 

[Monarch Butterfly]

From https://www.northwest.ca/about-us/history

After the British takeover of New France, the North West Company (NWC) was established in Montreal, largely by newly arrived Highland Scots who formed several partnerships that combined to form the North West Company in 1779-1784. Building on the French fur trade expertise and voyageur labour, the new company quickly moved inland, far beyond the Great Lakes. Use of lightweight canoes allowed us to compete with HBC traders, held back by heavy wooden York boats and their reluctance to venture inland from their posts on the shore of Hudson Bay. Our enterprising spirit led us ever westward by the means of hardy voyageurs - portaging heavy loads, paddling through rough rapids, and persevering through harsh, isolated winters. By the 1790s, Nor/Westers had become leaders of the fur trade and had mapped much of what is now north west Canada.

Although initially, the Hudson's Bay Company had provided little real competition, this began to change as the eighteenth century wore on. Shifting colonial borders, civil war, curtailed trade opportunities, the impact of early waves of immigrant settlers, and duplication between HBC and NWC trading posts, resulted in inevitable change. In 1821, NWC merged resources with longtime competitor HBC. From this point forward, trade across the northern and western frontiers would be carried out under the name of The Hudson's Bay Company. After the merger, The Company controlled 3 million square miles of land (7.77 million km2) and a total of 173 trading posts. This consolidation gave weight to Britain's claims in western Canada and later helped prevent the western provinces from being absorbed into the United States.

By the mid-1980s, the Northern Stores Division represented the heart of The Company - the 178 stores (most of them former trading posts) represented the firm's traditions and values and were where reputation had been built during the fur trade era. In 1987, a group of investors, including 415 employees, purchased HBC's Northern Stores Division and three years later adopted "The North West Company" as the formal name for the new venture, harking back to a long and proud tradition, and an enduring, enterprising spirit. Hudson's Bay House in Winnipeg was renamed "Gibraltar House," after NWC's first Red River fort, and continues to serve as the head office. Today's North West carries forward the rich enterprising legacy as one of the longest continuing retail enterprises in the world. Many of our stores in northern Canada and Alaska have served their local communities for over 300 years.

NWC Acquires North Star Air​

On June 15, 2017, the Company acquired 100% of the outstanding common shares of North Star Air Ltd. (NSA). NSA is a Thunder Bay-based airline, providing cargo and passenger services within northwestern Ontario, Canada through its hubs in Pickle Lake, Red Lake, Sioux Lookout and Moosonee, Ontario and Thompson, Manitoba.
The acquisition was completed to gain efficiencies in our logistics network and enable the Company to provide faster, more consistent delivery of merchandise to our stores in northern Canada that are generally inaccessible by all-weather road. NSA's current fleet comprises 17 aircraft, including five Basler BT-67, eight Pilatus PC-12, three ATR 72 and a Dash 8. These aircraft have been selected for their ability to deliver cargo, fuel and passengers to the Canadian north on a cost-efficient basis.

NWC Expands in The Caribbean​

On February 9, 2017, the Company acquired 76% of the outstanding common shares of Roadtown Wholesale Trading Ltd. (RTW), operating primarily as Riteway Food Markets in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). RTW is the leading retailer in BVI with seven retail outlets, two Cash and Carry stores and a wholesale operation.

 

[just east of the creek]

The new Canadian Tire being built in Kelowa will be ~200,000ft2

That's in line with or even a bit larger than the typical 'Bay' store.



Sears in the U.S. used to have automotive (garages) in many locations, often malls. That said it would be a fairly expensive retrofit.

***

I'm not arguing for 'The Tire' swallowing the Bay or its leases; just putting out there that its not out of the realm of possibility.

CT has done this before. The CT store on Fairview in. Burlington was a ‘mall’ fronting a KMart and a Grocery store. Both closed and CT renovated the entire structure, installing a massive garage bay and opening (at that time) one of the larger CT stores. I am told management/ownership wish the store was another 15% larger to handle inventories stored outdoors in a row of containers. This is probably not possible on the site as we know now more about the property ownership(s) and the impact of the proposed Bay Store and adjacent parking lands.

 

[syn]

I'm probably one of a few people who doesn't see Canadian Tire acquiring the Hudson's Bay IP as a good thing at all.

I had the exact same skepticism of them when they went and acquired Helly Hansen. It made absolutely 0 sense, and in the end I was right about that. They bought the brand, completely screwed it up, and ended up selling it because they didnt know what to do with it/how to utilize it.

I see this going the exact same way; where would they sell Hudson's Bay branded merchandise? Most Canadian Tire stores already look like a disheveled mess, add a couple more brands in and i'm oh so sure it's going to get even worse.

Marks? For obvious reasons that wouldnt work.

Sportchek? Wouldnt work for obvious reasons.

PartyCity? Self-explanatory.

Online only? The strategy wouldnt make sense at all.

This make absolutely no sense for Canadian Tire, and I have strong convictions that they will fully screw up the Hudson's Bay brand (a la Research in Motion selling the rights to Blackberry branded phones to TCL). Either let the brand go defunct (unpreferred option), or sell it to a company who knows how to property utilize brands.

I'm cautiously optimistic. Agree it's not an obvious fit (them being a Canadian company seems to be the main draw here).

I guess this ends the possibility of a new owner (like Weihong Liu) operating even some of the existing locations as Hudson's Bay stores?

Will definitely miss Hudson's Bay, especially the Queen Street store.

 

[torontowest91]

I wish Canadian tire would eliminate 50% of their items that are not selling. It just feels crowded and overwhelming aka junky.

Now they want to add hbc items???

 

[nightstreak]

.I guess this ends the possibility of a new owner (like Weihong Liu) operating even some of the existing locations as Hudson's Bay stores?

Yes, she needed the IP to run the 25 stores she wanted to operate. I’m surprised Canadian Tire is announcing this before the court approves it.

The court will have been looking for the best deal to preserve jobs and make creditors whole. $30M is a drop in the bucket of the $1B they’re in debt for and effectively ends the chances of any of the 9,500 jobs being preserved.

I’d think Liu’s bid would’ve been more in line with what the court was asking for. 25 stores are thousands of jobs and would have come tied to the acquisition of 25 leases, all of which would have earned more than $30M.

While it’s good to see Hudson’s Bay return to Canadian ownership, this story only has a good ending if Canadian Tire wins bids for leases like Queen Street and Yorkdale and reopens those stores as Hudson’s Bay which it didn’t sound like they wanted to do. My guess is that the “handful of leases” they’re pursuing are for downtowns where Canadian Tire couldn’t otherwise get into but will be able to with The Bay’s very generous grandfathered lease terms.

Will be interesting to watch this develop over the coming year. I’m cautiously optimistic that Canadian Tire will make use of Hudson’s Bay brands beyond selling striped blankets next to automotive parts.

Frankly, Canadian Tire as it has evolved into — selling housewares and appliances — is more suited to The Bay’s brand. Perhaps a long term realignment of their properties could occur with Canadian Tire returning to more of a hardware and automotive focus while Hudson’s Bay sells housewares, appliances and clothing in an adjacent or nearby location.

 

[Amare]

Yes, she needed the IP to run the 25 stores she wanted to operate. I’m surprised Canadian Tire is announcing this before the court approves it.

The court will have been looking for the best deal to preserve jobs and make creditors whole. $30M is a drop in the bucket of the $1B they’re in debt for and effectively ends the chances of any of the 9,500 jobs being preserved.

I’d think Liu’s bid would’ve been more in line with what the court was asking for. 25 stores are thousands of jobs and would have come tied to the acquisition of 25 leases, all of which would have earned more than $30M.

While it’s good to see Hudson’s Bay return to Canadian ownership, this story only has a good ending if Canadian Tire wins bids for leases like Queen Street and Yorkdale and reopens those stores as Hudson’s Bay which it didn’t sound like they wanted to do. My guess is that the “handful of leases” they’re pursuing are for downtowns where Canadian Tire couldn’t otherwise get into but will be able to with The Bay’s very generous grandfathered lease terms.

Will be interesting to watch this develop over the coming year. I’m cautiously optimistic that Canadian Tire will make use of Hudson’s Bay brands beyond selling striped blankets next to automotive parts.

Frankly, Canadian Tire as it has evolved into — selling housewares and appliances — is more suited to The Bay’s brand. Perhaps a long term realignment of their properties could occur with Canadian Tire returning to more of a hardware and automotive focus while Hudson’s Bay sells housewares, appliances and clothing in an adjacent or nearby location.

Canadian Tire has no intention of reopening stores as Hudson's Bay. The sole purpose of them seeking leases would be to open up stores from the brands currently under it's control, and frankly that would do nothing for all of the jobs lost by the closure of Hudson's Bay.

The only way this has a remote chance of success is if they opened up "a store within a store model" and with the way Canadian Tire does things, that's not likely to happen.

This is a marriage that makes absolutely no sense, and I firmly believe this wont end well. I give it 5-8 years before they pawn off the brand or shut it down since they wont know how to integrate it properly.

 

[lenaitch]

I think Canadian Tire (store brand) moved away from an auto/hardware store that happened to sell other stuff years ago. They're similar to Walmart and (formerly) Sears except the balance of the size of the various departments is different, and CT Corp moved a lot of it's clothing and sporting goods off to other store brands they own.

My big problem with their corporate plan is they foist more and more products into the same footprint - particularly CT - making them cluttered and difficult to navigate. I spoke to a franchisee one time who said they have virtually no control over this and have to shoe-horn things as best as they can.

I actually see items like striped blankets fitting in okay with Mark's. They will probably switch production from England to China.