Big-name department and drug stores circling Hudson’s Bay employees, soon to be without work

Shoppers enter the Hudson's Bay store in downtown Calgary, Alta., Thursday, March 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

TORONTO — Big-name department and drug stores are circling the more than 9,300 Hudson’s Bay and Saks Fifth Avenue Canada workers who will soon be out of a job.

Luxury retailer Holt Renfrew told The Canadian Press it’s added dozens of former Bay and Saks staff to its store teams, “with more still to come.”

“While our turnover rate is amongst the lowest it’s been, we’ve been committed to helping our HBC and Saks colleagues with any opportunities we can provide,” spokesperson Adam Grachnik said in an email.

Meanwhile, talent acquisition staff at Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexall appear to be working social media channels, hoping to lure in Bay and Saks employees.

Canada’s oldest company filed for creditor protection in March, and the company has been winding down. Following months of liquidation sales, all 96 of the Bay and its sister Saks stores will shutter at the end of May.

While some workers will presumably retire or abandon the retail world altogether, experts say others are likely to be scooped up by just about any retailer you can think of.

“Any of the great brands out there that are looking for good people are reaching out to them,” said Lanita Layton, a luxury and retail consultant who was once a vice-president at Holt Renfrew.

She imagines Bay and Saks workers would be a great get for La Maison Simons, which is due to hire hundreds of staff members when it opens two Toronto department stores later this year, but also thinks they could slide right in at home goods shops like Crate and Barrel or Williams Sonoma.

The workers are a fit for so many places because many have worked on commission, so they know how to sell, and they also have a deep knowledge of the Canadian marketplace and the products and customers that fill it.

Some may even have a “hidden gem” — contact info for regular shoppers they would have served at the Bay’s upscale Room business or the designer Saks department.

“Every retailer is looking to maintain and grow their customer base, so if they’ve got somebody they could potentially hire that has that already, that is really, really important,” Layton said.

Bringing experienced staff onto a new team is also a savings, said Lauren Burrows, a senior manager of retail strategy at Accenture, who imagines luxury businesses, small boutiques and grocers will vie for Bay workers.

She estimates it costs on average between $3,000 to $4,000 to recruit, interview and hire an employee, train them and then cope with their initial, lower productivity while they adjust to the quirks and cadences of the job.

Once they’re in the job, retention becomes a key issue because retail roles are known for having higher than usual turnover, she said.

But Layton points out many Bay employees spent decades at the department store and worked in difficult-to-fill roles like visual merchandisers — highlighting trends, customer demographics and brand partnerships at the store.

Another treasure the Bay and Saks had were their beauty departments, which Holt Renfrew admitted it’s already poached from.

Layton figured Sephora would do the same because it’s been expanding and it’s easy to transition workers from one beauty brand to another.

“If they’re makeup artists in one, they could be a makeup artist in another without blinking,” Layton said.

“If they’re switching from a Tom Ford counter to Lancôme or vice versa, it’s just learning the nature of that brand, but that doesn’t take anybody long when they’re professionals in that area already.”

The leap may also be easy for some staff headed to Canadian Tire. The retailer is on track to purchase the Bay name, its stripes motif, its coat of arms and its brands for $30 million.

While the company did not comment on whether it was seeking Bay hires, Layton figures they’d be logical additions because they know the intricacies of the intellectual property Canadian Tire wants to acquire.

Bay staff would also be experts in product development, logistics, data analysis and inventory management, making them useful throughout the industry.

Because the retail world can be so “complex” and Bay employees have run a company even in the face of upheaval, Burrows said any business undergoing transformation would want them.

“Having folks who have been through that and can really start day one, hit the ground running and add value right away... is amazing,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025.

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Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press