The Metro Vancouver Retail Thread

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Vin

I am saying that they used to rival the biggest companies in the world. If HBC still exists, it should continue to be great like it used to. What if I just say: They used to rival the biggest companies like CP and CN? With that kind of wealth, they should have become an even better company. And if they chose to become a major retail company, they should be the best out there, and not languish and eventually die out like so many other Canadian establishments.

No one really cares about what happened to BEI or DEI Company, but thanks for the lesson.

You're right, the reference to the East India companies was irrelevant (and wrong). Similarly, HBC isn't even in the ballpark as CN or CP. They're more than 50 times bigger (in terms of capitalization) and are very profitable .

HBC hasn't made any money from its retail operations for years. It's only surviving at all by selling off property, and it seems likely to end up disappearing completely one day. If you want to compare them, the obvious businesses would be Sears, or in the past Eaton's, or Woodward's.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by Vin

No one really cares about what happened to BEI or DEI Company, but thanks for the lesson.

Weren't you the one who brought them up??

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by theKB

Walking through the bay yesterday - "the room" is effectively a clearance zone now, they have gotten rid of most of the individual brand areas, the shoe wall is just again a clearance set up.

Emporio Armani has removed their logos from their area on the womans floor. It seems like the only areas that are well stocked are the commissaries that have chosen to maintain their presence. They also seem to be closing down the floors and consolodating.

My sensation is that the bay is being their own liquidator to maximize their returns before they throw in the towel and file for bankruptcy. It's not sustainable to keep liquidating real estate assets to pay bills at this point.

The Guildford Store is always moving what they have around to make it look fuller. Some walls that previously housed clothing have now been replaced with decorative art to fill the void and some floor areas have had furniture added since they don't have anything to fill the racks I guess.

[GenWhy?]

Aside from the Main floor and having to use the stairs, I have not really noticed a change in the store since 2017. The basement floors are much better tho. A bit labyrinthian.

To be fair The Bay has always looked "cheap" to me since forever (1995). The goods are better than Sears but the interior design was always more or less the same. Then again my only experience is their mall locations in Alberta.

[PeterAKer]

Hudson's Bay has 3 options:
1. Renew/Restore/Renovate and Reimagine its current stores.
2. Remove and Reduce all the under performing items and stock.
3. Sell all the properties, downsize to a smaller store concept and focus on its HBC Stripes and Signature Brands.

HBC Stripes (the blankets and accessories) is the most valuable asset.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by PeterAKer

Hudson's Bay has 3 options:
1. Renew/Restore/Renovate and Reimagine its current stores.
2. Remove and Reduce all the under performing items and stock.
3. Sell all the properties, downsize to a smaller store concept and focus on its HBC Stripes and Signature Brands.

HBC Stripes (the blankets and accessories) is the most valuable asset.

Their most valuable asset is their properties and possibly some grandfathered leases. They already tried the whole lets split up our retail and ecommerce. Played around with other brands. In every market that is worth being in there is probably someone doing it better than HBC.

Converting every location to an Ikea seems more promising at this point.

[urbanight93]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Their most valuable asset is their properties and possibly some grandfathered leases. They already tried the whole lets split up our retail and ecommerce. Played around with other brands. In every market that is worth being in there is probably someone doing it better than HBC.

Converting every location to an Ikea seems more promising at this point.

HBC should consolidate their product offerings, focusing on the HBC Stripes brand on the ground floor and lease out the rest of the building to Ikea for a profit.

Being a landlord is all the rage now. I'm wondering if they may have clauses that prevent them from subleasing (unless they own the building, not sure).

[officedweller]

In addition to the Vans, the Eyestar optical store on Robson also closed in the Best Buy/Winners Building .

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by officedweller

In addition to the Vans, the Eyestar optical store on Robson also closed in the Best Buy/Winners Building .

The Crepe place is up for lease as well. I think Bonnis owns or owned it. $26K a month.

https://www.spacelist.ca/listings/88...anville_street

[jollyburger]

They started advertising that Royal Centre atrium space. I guess no Kings Tap.

Q4 2025 completion

https://www.spacelist.ca/listings/88...georgia_street

[jollyburger]

I guess TD got tired of the locals smashing in their windows. TD Gastown is available for lease Sept 1, 2024. I wonder how London Drugs sticks it out there.

https://www.spacelist.ca/listings/79...8_w_cordova_st

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

The Crepe place is up for lease as well. I think Bonnis owns or owned it. $26K a month.

https://www.spacelist.ca/listings/88...anville_street

Maybe they'll get rid of that annoying patio there.
It creates a major pinch point near the corner.

[theKB]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

They started advertising that Royal Centre atrium space. I guess no Kings Tap.

Q4 2025 completion

https://www.spacelist.ca/listings/88...georgia_street

surprising given it would be a similar location structure to the one in toronto. They are opening a king taps where red robin used to be at willowbrook in Langley.

[Changing City]

An 'operational issue' has caused London Drugs to close all 80 stores in western Canada.

[jollyburger]

Their website is still up so might not be a ransomware attack? They were working on massive backend systems upgrades around 2022 not sure when they rolled them out.

Mahlman said London Drugs has been investing in the largest capital initiatives in the company’s history starting two years ago for several multi-million dollar, multi-year projects. The Galileo project is replacing most of the company’s major systems from finance through to stores to the distribution centre and customer engagement. Ultimately it’s to enable more automation, artificial intelligence, all with an eye to better customer experience. The Da Vinci initiative is about defining what will the customer expect from a store in 2035 and allow them to live their very best lives. The company has done a ton of research in the market about what that means, speaking with customers about what they will need in the future from a physical location.

According to the company, the Galileo Initiative is much more than IT system upgrades and replacement of old processes. It’s reformatting how it will interact with its customer in the future in all aspects. This initiative will focus the company on the customer more intensely than ever in its 75-year history, making them the centre of all that the retailer thinks of, focuses on, and builds processes around.

https://retail-insider.com/retail-in...man-interview/

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Their website is still up so might not be a ransomware attack? They were working on massive backend systems upgrades around 2022 not sure when they rolled them out.

They updated information to say the company was the "victim of a cybersecurity incident". Apparently it started in Kamloops, and they closed down all their systems. Stores are still closed until further notice, and they've brought in outside security experts 'to help contain, fix and forensically investigate the incident'.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Changing City

An 'operational issue' has caused London Drugs to close all 80 stores in western Canada.

Wow, that’s got to be costing them some serious money.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Weren't you the one who brought them up??

Yes, but with the focus on the Hudson Bay company, with DEI and BEI for context and comparison, and not specifically on them. There's a difference.

Nice try though.

[LeftCoaster]

So your brought them up for "comparison and context" but don't care what happened to them?

Isn't that... you know....context?

[SpongeG]

video news report at the source

Downtown Vancouver Hudson’s Bay faces ongoing challenges

By Alissa Thibault Global News
Posted April 28, 2024

Downtown Vancouver has taken a few hits in recent years including the closure of Nordstrom last June and the flagship Hudson’s Bay store is showing its age.


Despite redevelopment promises, the iconic retailer at Georgia and Granville is a shadow of its former self.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, the largest department store in downtown Vancouver should be full of people, but the top floor is virtually empty. Getting up to the top floor is a challenge as only a small number of escalators work and only one elevator is in use in the six-storey store.

Even the service elevator is out of service.

“(The shopping experience is) not good. Six storeys up, six storeys down,” shopper Andrew Chance said. “It is a pain in the ass.”

Shoppers are directed to a large staircase by stickers on the floor.

One shopper said some people got stuck in the only working elevator for about 45 minutes on Saturday.

...

https://globalnews.ca/news/10455939/...ay-challenges/