Hudson's Bay liquidation sales end soon then stores in Canada close forever

After 355 years, beginning as a fur trading company incorporated by King Charles II, the end of Canada's oldest retailer is fast approaching.

Hudson's Bay Company is expected to shutter all of its department store locations by June 2025, marking the final phase of a nationwide liquidation process that began in late March.

In late April, the company confirmed it would close the last six stores that had initially been exempt from the first round of closures, including the heritage flagship stores in downtown Toronto and downtown Montreal, as well as Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill, CF Carrefour Laval mall, and CF Fairview Pointe-Claire mall.

According to a new court filing on Friday by the court-appointed monitor Alvarez & Marsal, liquidation sales at all 74 Hudson's Bay department stores and three Saks Fifth Avenue locations are currently expected to continue until no later than Sunday, June 1, 2025.

As of last week, approximately 90 per cent of the merchandise inventory from Hudson's Bay's four Canadian distribution centres — one in Metro Vancouver and three in the Greater Toronto Area — had been transferred to stores for liquidation. The remaining inventory is anticipated to arrive by May 16.

In addition, nine Saks OFF 5TH locations were closed by late April, with the remaining four stores of the discount chain set to close by June 1.

Last week, we observed steep discounts of between 40 per cent and 70 per cent for the remaining merchandise at the flagship stores in downtown Vancouver and downtown Toronto.

Following June 1, a decommissioning period for the removal of furniture, fixtures and equipment is expected to take place over the course of one to two weeks.

Under the court-approved guidelines, Hudson's Bay is required to vacate every store location by no later than June 30, 2025.

As of May 2, 2025, following weeks of liquidation sales, Hudson's Bay experienced a positive net cash flow of about $70.4 million than what was previously expected, with an actual cash balance of about $194 million compared to the previously projected balance of $123.7 million.

This will enable the retailer to make some outstanding payments to its creditors.

Although liquidation sales and store closures will occur by early June 2025, the retailer is seeking court approval to extend the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act's (CCAA) offered creditor protections from late June to July 31, 2025.

This extension will provide the retailer and the monitor to carefully process, review and consider the bids for the company's leases, properties and assets, including its collection of arts and historical artifacts and intellectual properties. The company has received 17 bids for dozens of leases.

It remains to be seen how long millions sq. ft. of retail space — including prominent locations in city centres and shopping malls — will remain vacant until they find a new tenant and/or are redeveloped for new uses.

Many locations will require significant reinvestment, such as major repairs and renovations, following Hudson's Bay's extensive deferred maintenance practices, with some locations having non-working escalators and elevators.

All of the escalators at the downtown Vancouver store are not only out of service but also deemed unsafe for use as makeshift stairs, forcing all customers to access the seven retail levels via a single emergency stairwell, as the elevators are also closed.