Hudson’s Bay receives approval for sale of three leases to B.C. mall owner Ruby Liu

The flagship Hudson's Bay Company store is pictured in Toronto on Jan. 27, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

The B.C. billionaire looking to turn Hudson’s Bay’s old digs into her own retail empire bounded down the steps of a Toronto courthouse Monday and pumped her fist in the air.

Ruby Liu made the gesture after winning a trio of leases, even while she faces opposition from landlords preparing to keep her from getting any more.

“When the right decision comes, they will support it,” she said in Mandarin outside the courthouse. “We believe today is different from tomorrow.”

Ontario Superior Court judge Peter Osborne granted Liu permission to take over leases for three Hudson’s Bay properties in malls she owns. She will pay $6 million for the spaces at Tsawwassen Mills, Mayfair Shopping Centre and Woodgrove Centre in B.C.

Liu wants to use the properties to open a chain of department stores she will name after herself. She has told The Canadian Press they will sell makeup, jewelry and apparel but will also have play spaces for children, dining areas and entertainment space.

Her hope is to have at least 28 locations, but opposition to her plan is mounting.

Landlords representing 23 leases in a group of 25 Liu wants to purchase don’t want her to take over the sites, court documents filed last week said. This group of leases includes stores in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario.

“We actually think it is 25 of 25 that have objected,” David Bish, a lawyer for landlord Cadillac Fairview, told the judge in court on Monday.

He said his client and others have been provided with no copies of Liu’s bid and little information about her plan. Lawyers for Oxford Properties and Primaris echoed his comments.

“The process has been very troubled,” Bish said. ”At some point, we may discuss, if there is a forced assignment, how troubled it has been.”

As Bish spoke, Liu sat in the gallery mostly grinning. She cut a striking figure, clad in a hot pink and lime green floral shirt with a black blazer and paired with dark boots and a white Louis Vuitton purse.

An entourage of staff flanked her during the proceedings and earlier, when she walked around the courthouse posing for photos in front of its crest and telling media she was enjoying her visit to Toronto so much, she plans to move there.

Bish’s remarks didn’t seem to phase her. Later, she told reporters, “a lot of landlords are supporting me.”

“If I get the court’s approval, I will work closely with the landlords in my plans and I am very confident the landlords will welcome me,” she said.

Leases have become the latest flashpoint in Hudson’s Bay’s creditor protection proceedings that started in March, a few months shy of the storied department store’s 355th birthday. The retailer had sought a buyer who could keep some semblance of the retailer alive, but the search was fruitless.

By June 1, all 80 Bays and 16 stores run under the Saks brands closed and their leases were up for grabs. A dozen bidders made offers on a collective 39 properties.

Liu, who made her money in China’s real estate market, wound up winning the leases at three malls she runs because her bid had a superior value and terms, the Bay has said.

“She is contributing millions of dollars of real value to the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act process,” David Ward, a lawyer representing Liu, told a court Monday.

“She is betting on herself.”

Liu told The Canadian Press she expects to spend more than $30 million to revamp the spaces at her malls to accommodate her Ruby Liu stores.

If the Bay eventually asks for court approval to sell her 25 more, she will be facing an even bigger bill.

Anyone who made an offer for leases had to make a deposit of 10 per cent of their estimated purchase price. Court documents show Liu made a deposit of $9.4 million, in addition to $6 million for the three approved leases, which would equate to a purchase price of $100 million for 28 leases.

“That is not really a business plan, that is a full-circle investment,” Liu’s lawyer Ward said in court while referencing her broader bid.

To make that investment a reality, Liu and her staff have been on a charm offensive.

They launched a petition asking the public to support their goal. It had about 330 signatures as of Monday morning.

They also published a public letter from Liu, who said her quest to own the Bay’s leases is about reimagining retail and finding a way to give back to a country that gave her a new life.

Liu admitted her task “won’t be easy.” She said some, including her own family, have questioned her and whether she will spend her whole fortune on the venture.

“To me, this isn’t a gamble. It’s not just about money or profit,” she wrote. “It’s about building something meaningful – a space full of life, where people can reconnect in the real world.”

Liu had bid on owning the Bay’s name and trademarks, but says she backed away after realizing she would have to continue to increase her offer to compete with Canadian Tire, which ultimately won the right to buy the intellectual property for $30 million.

On Friday, Osborne approved a request to remove any references to Hudson’s Bay and HBC from the name of the department store company.

The name change is standard to avoid confusion in cases where someone has bought the rights to a collapsing company’s name.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025