Hudson's Bay Company

[gabe]

I prefer the Chicago and Montreal way where all is in the same area. One destination to find it all, where everybody wants to be.

Yes and the stores feed off one another too. Saks at Bloor would have done wonders for the Bloor-Yorkville neighborhood

 

[ksun]

I don't like the fact that we're having shopping neighborhoods scattered around town. I prefer the Chicago and Montreal way where all is in the same area. One destination to find it all, where everybody wants to be.

Well, we are sort of like that, aren't we? Except for a handful of luxury brands, Eaton Centre/Queen West pretty much has everything.
Yorkville at its own location is fine. It is not like someone who regularly shops at Chanel often need to frequent Eaton Centre and check out Topshop and Banana Republic.

 

[khris]

Why is it ridiculous? It is a business decision plain and simple....sounds like HBC got quite a lot in this deal....they get a whack of cash.....they get a long term lease....they get some renos done to incorporate their other brand.....they get a better connection to the Eaton Centre and they become part of the Eaton Centre (this is very crucial, all of those tourists that go to the Eaton centre now and read the maps to see what is in the mall get told it ends at the Macdonalds at Queen Street....now the Bay/Sacks will be included as part of the signage and marketing of the Eaton Centre).

There hasn't been a McDonald's at the Queen St. entrance for quite a while now.

 

[devjohnson]

Nordstram's deal will be for America....HBC's is for Canada....the stores we are talking about are in Canada....so....

Don't be smart.

 

[TOareaFan]

Don't be smart.

Wasn't trying to be...just pointing out that in the matter of rights/contracts borders matter. It explains a lot of things (like the difference between Netflix here and in America). The question was asked how Nordstram's deal with TopShop would impact the HBC deal with TopShop and the longer version of my answer is...."until the HBC agreement for Canada expires it will be Nordstram's stores in Canada that will be impacted"

 

[TOareaFan]

There hasn't been a McDonald's at the Queen St. entrance for quite a while now.

Thanks and Yeah...others pointed that out to me....I would go back and change it to Harry Rosen but it would make their posts look bad and that seems like a cheap thing to do...doesn't change the idea I was trying to convey.

 

[ILuvTO]

The eyesore on Bloor (aka The Bay)

After the announcement that Saks would no longer be taking over The Bay on Bloor, I personally think there is a huge opportunity for someone else to move in and take that location off of Richard Bakers hands. There is great potential for something amazing to go there. With One Bloor going up right across the street, and the possible retail space that is supposed to be going into it, there is a real chance to extend luxury on Bloor east of Yonge.

With that said, I was dreaming up some scenarios just for fun.

1 - Oxford ups the ante and buys the building the Bay on Bloor is situated in, then buys out the Bay's lease. They then market that space, along with Sears at Yorkdale, to a foreign retailer like Federated or Neiman Marcus. Both the Bay on Bloor, and Sears Yorkdale are two of the best locations in the city for high end retail. If a foreign dept store wants to come to Toronto, this would be a great opportunity for them.

2 - Selfridges group, owned by the Weston Family (also owners of Holts) decide they want to increase their presence by bringing Selfridges to Canada. As per above, they would target The Bay on Bloor, and Sears Yorkdale as the two GTA locations.

3 - The Bay scales down the proposed Saks on Queen and makes it more of a store within a store concept and still goes ahead with plans for the Bloor store.

I think Richard Baker will regret not putting Saks on Bloor and in Yorkdale. Short term, he got a sweetheart deal with Cadillac Fairview, but long term, and purely from a retail perspective, he is going to lose. Yorkdale and Bloor are the places he really should have been targeting. I can only imagine how disappointed Bonnie Brooks must be. One article I read said she was really pushing to put Saks on Bloor.

 

[LNahid2000]

From what I've read, Hudson's Bay does not own the property on Bloor. It is owned by Brookfield Properties and Hudson's Bay leases it out.

 

[ILuvTO]

From what I've read, Hudson's Bay does not own the property on Bloor. It is owned by Brookfield Properties and Hudson's Bay leases it out.

I did hear that too. It would be cool if Oxford bought the property from Brookfield and did something magnificent with it. Bloor and that location specifically could use it.

 

[pw20]

Brookfield does indeed own the property.

The Bay hasn't had any office space in the tower for years.

I don't know why the Weston's would bring Selfridges to Canada (which essentially is Holt Renfrew) to compete with Holt Renfrew 50 feet away.

 

[ShonTron]

Brookfield does indeed own the property.

The Bay hasn't had any office space in the tower for years.

I don't know why the Weston's would bring Selfridges to Canada (which essentially is Holt Renfrew) to compete with Holt Renfrew 50 feet away.

True, but it isn't the strangest thing to happen. Marshall's is the same thing as Winners; Best Buy is essentially the same thing as Future Shop. Some malls, like Woodbine, were anchored by both Simpson's and the Bay in the 1980s.

 

[pw20]

True, but it isn't the strangest thing to happen. Marshall's is the same thing as Winners; Best Buy is essentially the same thing as Future Shop. Some malls, like Woodbine, were anchored by both Simpson's and the Bay in the 1980s.

Future Shop and Best Buy targeted quite different demographics; similarly Simpsons was viewed as somewhat more upscale than the Bay (I don't think they had a lot of brand cross over). With Selfridges and Holt Renfrew - they're basically the exact same store and carry VERY (if not the same brands). Weston Group seems to be interested in consolidating their positions - in Montreal - Holts and Ogilvy are combining.

 

[Skeezix]

I have to agree that Selfridges is extremely unlikely given Holt Renfrew. It doesn't make any sense. Selfridges itself only has 4 stores in the U.K., and I can't imagine that even if they had international expansion of that banner in mind they would choose a location literally metres away from one of their other, similar banners. In fact, the strategy of the Selfridges group seems to be to acquire and nurture similar chains in different countries, not to pit them against one another.

If we are going to pine after U.K. department store chains, there are others that are more likely than Selfridges. Heck, my favourite department store in the world, Liberty, is more likely to move to Bloor than Selfridges, although the chance of Liberty opening a store in Toronto is itself infinitesimal.

To be fair to ILuvTO, his suggestion of Selfridges was in the context of "dreaming up some scenarios just for fun". If we are having fun, I'd rather have Liberty than Selfridges in the Bloor Street Hudson's Bay store, but expand Holt Renfrew so that it has the product depth of Selfridges. And convert Cumberland to Jermyn Street.

 

[ILuvTO]

To be fair to ILuvTO, his suggestion of Selfridges was in the context of "dreaming up some scenarios just for fun". If we are having fun, I'd rather have Liberty than Selfridges in the Bloor Street Hudson's Bay store, but expand Holt Renfrew so that it has the product depth of Selfridges. And convert Cumberland to Jermyn Street.

Thanks, I am actually quite hesitant to post anything on this forum for fear of having folks jump down my throat. This has to be one of the most unfriendly and uptight forms on the internet (and I frequent many -from cars to electronics, etc, etc). Glad someone read the words "dream scenario".

 

[JasonParis]

And convert Cumberland to Jermyn Street.

Now that's quite the dream Mr!