How the end of Hudson’s Bay could reshape local shopping malls

As most Hudson’s Bay locations prepare to close, CTV’s Hannah Schmidt talks to shoppers looking for last-minute deals.

There are lingering questions about a seismic shift in Canada’s retail landscape.

The Hudson’s Bay liquidation will soon leave a lot of large vacant spaces in shopping malls across the nation, including three major malls in Waterloo Region.

Established in 1670, Hudson’s Bay has long been a cornerstone of Canadian retail.

“It’s a very sad day,” said a shopper at Conestoga Mall in Waterloo. “It has been around for an extremely long time. It has always adapted well over the years and now we’re not adapting.”

“There’s so much middle management and there are so many investors, and everybody wants their money and it just seems like corporate greed everywhere,” said Shawn Masterman, a shopper at Cambridge Centre.

Some residents of Waterloo Region are sad to see the stores close and hope to take advantage of liquidation sales.

“We came to have a look today, but the liquidation doesn’t start till tomorrow and quite honestly, there’s really nothing; it’s been picked over pretty well,” said shopper, Rob Ford.

Many others agree - Monday didn’t bring any great deals, but they say they’ll be back.

“It’s got to be a really, really good deal - 75, 80, 90 per cent off,” said Masterman. “Then it’s worthwhile. I don’t know if things are going to change tomorrow and they’re really going to put on discounted prices, but today it was a wasted trip.”

The company is hoping to wrap up its liquidation sales by June 15 and vacate the closing locations by June 30.

With three locations in Cambridge, Waterloo and Kitchener, the Bay’s absence will leave a lot of unoccupied space at local malls. It’s space that shoppers believe should be utilized wisely.

“Seeing as there’s nothing going in, the space should be used for something completely different like housing,” said shopper, Mike Woolley. “Take it down to build condos.”

“You know, it would be nice to see something good come of it, but that’s the way the world is going,” said Brenda Ford, another shopper.

Retail Analyst Bruce Winder said the loss of such a key tenant requires strategic planning to mitigate potential declines in foot traffic and revenue.

“There isn’t one giant retailer who’s going to swoop in and take the whole thing,” he told CTV News in an interview on Monday. “I would say there’s going to be some difficulty. If you’re a marquee mall, then you’re going to do really well. If you’re a mall that doesn’t have a lot of traffic, it’s going to be a lot harder.”

That’s why it won’t surprise him if many of these spaces end up looking very different in the future.

“Others have decided to divide the space. What some malls have done is actually turn the building, demolish it and build condominiums or townhomes that are attached to the mall.”

CTV News reached out to all three malls in Waterloo Region with Bay stores for comment.

As for the coming weeks, some signs are already up in Bay locations warning shoppers outstanding gift cards will only be accepted until April 6.