Cape Breton’s largest mall copes with the loss of Hudson’s Bay

A mall in Cape Breton is now struggling to maintain customers after the closure of anchor stores like "The Bay."

There was a steady stream of shoppers in and out of the Hudsons Bay location at the Mayflower Mall on Tuesday, the first day of liquidation sales.

“I think it’s sad, and it’s the end of an era,” said one shopper.

“Because it’s been a staple here for a long time, it was a great store to go to,” added another.

The Bay has been an anchor tenant since the Mayflower Mall first opened its doors back in 1980.

To lose the department store after nearly 45 years might mean a major pivot for the medium-sized mall.

“If it does mean a store closure for this location, then we’ll be ready to look at opportunities for the shopping center,” said William Correia, east director of operations for McCor Management, which owns the Sydney-based mall.

Correia said while they don’t yet have confirmation that the Bay location at the Mayflower will be closing permanently, if it does, the space likely wouldn’t be filled by another department store.

“I don’t think we’ll see one single tenant taking over the entire space,” Correia said. “I think you will see multiple retailers added there after a redevelopment is done.”

The Mayflower Mall lost another store with the closure of Bootlegger earlier this year, though in recent years they have added others including Sephora, Torrid and Pretzelmaker.

Retail analyst Bruce Winder said to fill a void the size of Hudsons Bay, a mall like the Cape Breton shopping center might look at attracting retailers from Asia, Europe or the United States who want to expand in Canada.

They also might have to think outside the box.

“They may also look at other things like car dealerships,” Winder said. “They may also look at pickleball courts. Or services - optometrists, doctors, dentists, things of that nature, fitness locations.”

In the meantime, there could be some good news at the Mayflower Mall.

Mall general manager Greg Morrison said they expect to make an announcement in the not-too-distant future about the space recently left empty by Bootlegger.

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