Everything must go at Hudson’s Bay stores. The Canadian retail icon is winding down operations, with retail stores across the country set to close this weekend. At Hudson’s Bay, White Oaks Mall, London, the doors opened for business at 11:00 Tuesday morning for one of the very last times. A small crowd hurried in. Moments later a group of ladies emerged with some ‘new friends’ in tow. “They’re mannequins, we just think they’re fun,” explained one of the women. Hudson’s Bay is selling off its furniture, fixtures and equipment. But in the midst of its liquidation, Canada’s oldest company has filed a court motion stating it’s terminating more than 8,000 employees by this coming Sunday, spelling the end to a storied Canadian institution- one that failed to keep pace with changing consumer trends, explained Jamie Hyodo, Assistant Professor at Western University’s Department of Management and Organizational Studies. “Whether that’s in terms of e-commerce. Whether that’s in terms of having an offering that’s at an advantage to their competitors. And whether that’s in terms of having a specific clientele that is loyal to the organization. The Bay lost all of those,” he said. CTV News spoke with a 25-year employee at the Hudson’s Bay White Oaks location, who was too distraught to appear on camera. She said the staff at her store are like family, and that the Hudson’s Bay company has been a “loyal” employer. But not everyone feels that way. Unionized Hudson’s Bay workers held rallies in Windsor and Scarborough Tuesday to demand the company honour severance operations. “These members, because of this situation of being unsecured creditors in the captive liquidation process, they are at the back of the line to get their severance which they should be entitled to,” said Dwayne Gunness, the President of Unifor Local 40, which represents Hudson’s Bay workers. “And also, the third component is the enhancement that we require to wages and a protection program run through service Canada and the government needs to be enhanced with workers like this and other workers across the country,” Guiness explained. Hudson’s Bay has also ended several employee benefits since liquidation began.
