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Hudson's Bay Company

"[...] Hudson's Bay doesn't report separate financial results for each of its chains, so it's hard to be exactly sure how they're doing. However, we do know that the Saks chain posted a comp sales increase last quarter and that the namesake Hudson's Bay chain in Canada has been posting steady growth recently. Furthermore, the company's European operations have been performing decently, and trends are improving for Hudson's Bay's off-price business.

"The Lord & Taylor chain seems to be the weak link. Lord & Taylor competes against Nordstrom in the more affordable part of the U.S. luxury retail market. However, its store footprint is heavily concentrated in the Northeast.

"Based on management's commentary, it's clear that Lord & Taylor has been producing the worst comp sales results among Hudson's Bay's major chains over the past year. [...]"​

Full story here (Motley Fool - "Hudson's Bay Releases Another Ugly Earnings Report")
 
More tumult- the Hudson Bay needs to evolve, but is this an attempt by predatory stockholders to strip the company of its value?

HBC under fire after CEO quits
Activist investor Land & Buildings is calling for the removal of the HBC board of directors following the departure of the company’s CEO.

https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/10/23/hbc-under-fire-after-ceo-quits.html

The other departures at HBC include chief financial officer Paul Beesley, who left in May and was succeeded in August by Edward Record; president of HBC real estate Brian Pall left in June, and Don Watros, president of international operations, left in September.

Litt, who called for a special meeting of HBC’s shareholders following the news about Storch, has been putting pressure on Canada’s oldest retailer since June to pursue options for its real estate such as redeveloping it or selling it off. He has also encouraged a management-led buyout of the business.

HBC’s executive Chairman Richard Baker, who reportedly has been in talks with private equity firms in a bid to take the company private, will assume the role of interim CEO when Storch leaves on Nov. 1 to return to his own consulting firm, Storch Advisors.
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http://business.financialpost.com/n...ors-nervous-about-future-of-department-stores
 
It sounds like it. I'd hate to see HBC go down the same path as Sears Canada - I really enjoy shopping at the Queen Street store and am usually impressed by the service there. (Though the Queen Street store was already sold to CadFair.)
 
Some shareholders are just greedy pigs and just want to milk company's for handsome dividend payouts without caring about the business operations, and I think this might just be another example of that. It might be best for HBC to go private.
 
Yeah, it sounds like as part of the deal that the purchaser wanted some space in some of HBC's other high profile, flagship locations - it includes Frankfurt apparently, as well as Queen Street and downtown Vancouver.

It has long been expected that HBC would sell some of its NYC real estate, although who knows if this particular deal makes sense or was simply forced on HBC by circumstances. The sublet arrangement for the other stores does seem like something forced on it.
 
I think subletting on some of the properties is a good idea, considering that the stores don't occupy the entire building (and from what we've learnt, some of the buildings are underutilized anyways).
 
Subletting yes, but there are subtenants who would presumably drive more traffic to the rest of the store than WeWork. This does not seem like a well thought out, long-term strategy, but rather something done in haste to seal a deal on the Fifth Avenue store. I can't say for sure, of course.
 
It's been fun going through the rumours and speculation from eight-nine years ago. Like this:

MetroMan said:
So here's the scoop from insiders:

The Bay on Bloor
- The Bay on Bloor is going to be converted into a Lord & Taylor

The Bay on Queen
- The Bay on Queen Street is going to be redesigned as The Bay's flagship and feature store with an emphasis on heritage.
- The Bay Queen will be just two floors of retail. Entire departments will be killed off (i.e. bye bye furniture)
- The first floor will focus on Cosmetics, Fragrances, Jewelry, Men's Clothing and accessories and some minor departments that are already on the main floor.
- The second floor will be dedicated to Women's fashion
- Everything above that (3rd floor to 8th) will be converted into a hotel. It's not clear if this involves the HBC tower on Bay/Queen or a new one.
- The lower level is to be converted into a Zellar's with a focus on home accessories. There'll be an expanded food market and pharmacy.

These are the most recent plans. Most of it will reach implementation which will phase in after the Christmas season is over.

I think that HBC's new owners have the right approach. They're focusing on their winning departments (fragrances, cosmetics and fashion) and killing off the rest. Lord & Taylor is more upscale so it'll be a good fit for Yorkville.
Click to expand...
 
Skeezix said:
Yeah, it sounds like as part of the deal that the purchaser wanted some space in some of HBC's other high profile, flagship locations - it includes Frankfurt apparently, as well as Queen Street and downtown Vancouver.

It has long been expected that HBC would sell some of its NYC real estate, although who knows if this particular deal makes sense or was simply forced on HBC by circumstances. The sublet arrangement for the other stores does seem like something forced on it.
Click to expand...

This WeWork takeover of the 6th and 7th floors of the Queen St. flagship seems rather unexpected. They just renovated those floors to accommodate the Kleinfeld Bridal Boutique, along with the new home goods departments, which they moved from the basement. Where are they going to move them to now?
 
HBC reminds me of Bombardier, in that they have very good products (in this case their brands) but just manage them poorly. There is no reason for Saks to be performing so poorly in Canada and they have no one to blame but themselves on it.

Similarly i've heard Lord & Taylor may be looking into closing some stores in the U.S due to poor performance.
 
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