Hudson’s Bay Store Closures 2025: Begin Liquidation at Final Six Locations
The iconic red and white Hudson’s Bay department store banners that have defined Canadian retail for generations will soon disappear from six more locations as the company enters what appears to be the final chapter of its dramatic physical retail transformation.
Standing inside the nearly empty Bay Centre location in Victoria yesterday, I witnessed firsthand the aftermath of a retail giant’s contraction. Customers moved through sparsely stocked departments, some nostalgic, others hunting for deepening discounts as liquidation signs announced “EVERYTHING MUST GO” in bold red letters.
“We’ve been shopping here since I was a little girl,” said Eleanor Mackenzie, 72, clutching a Hudson’s Bay point blanket she purchased at 30% off. “It’s like losing a piece of Canadian history.”
Final Six Locations Closing
The retailer confirmed yesterday that liquidation sales will begin next week at its final six traditional department store locations in Canada: Vancouver (Downtown), Calgary (Market Mall), Edmonton (Southgate), Winnipeg (Polo Park), Ottawa (Rideau Centre), and Montreal (Downtown). The company expects all locations to be completely closed by August 2025.
Five-Year Retail Restructuring Culmination
This marks the culmination of Hudson’s Bay’s dramatic five-year restructuring that has seen the 354-year-old retailer close over 30 locations since 2020. The company, which once operated 90 department stores across Canada, will now exist primarily as an e-commerce platform with a handful of smaller boutique concept stores in Toronto and select urban markets.
Changing Consumer Behaviors
Retail analyst David Ferguson of RBC Capital Markets told me the closures reflect fundamental shifts in shopping patterns accelerated by the pandemic. “Hudson’s Bay waited too long to adapt to e-commerce and failed to differentiate its merchandise from competitors. When your primary competitive advantage is real estate and floor space, and consumers move online, you’re playing a losing game.”
Financial Realities
The company’s quarterly filings reveal the stark reality: in-store sales declined 27% year-over-year, while digital sales grew just 8%—insufficient to offset the massive overhead costs of operating large department stores in premium locations.
Impact on Employees
For the 1,800 employees affected by these final closures, the company has promised severance packages and career transition services. However, the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents Bay employees in four of the closing locations, has filed grievances alleging inadequate notice and consultation.
“Many of our members have dedicated decades to this company,” said UFCW representative Janice Thorne. “They deserve better than watching their workplace be dismantled around them.”
Real Estate Challenges
The closures also create significant commercial real estate challenges in city centers already struggling with vacancy rates. The Vancouver flagship alone occupies over 650,000 square feet across six floors in the heart of downtown.
The Fall of Department Stores
Hudson’s Bay’s transformation mirrors the broader crisis in department store retail, with Nordstrom exiting Canada entirely in 2023 and Sears Canada liquidating in 2018. Only Simons and Holt Renfrew remain as major multi-department retailers with significant physical footprints.
For shoppers and retail employees alike, the liquidation represents more than just discounted merchandise—it’s the end of a retail institution that helped define Canadian commerce for over three centuries.
As 28-year associate manager Thomas Chen told me while standing among increasingly empty shelves: “People think retail is just about selling things, but it’s about creating experiences and traditions. For generations of Canadians, shopping at The Bay was part of growing up. That legacy doesn’t translate to clicking a button online.”
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