With the potential closure of the Hudson’s Bay in Saskatoon, shoppers are reflecting on what could be lost. There are mixed emotions about the demise of this Canadian retail giant.
The sentiment was almost unanimous from those who spoke to CTV News in front of the Bay in downtown Saskatoon Tuesday.
“I was really disappointed years ago when it got sold to, I guess, the USA, and this is really a hit,” shopper Susan Sigurdson told CTV News.
“I do think it’s a little sad. Obviously Saskatoon is not the biggest place, and so you don’t have too many things to look forward to. I think the Bay is a nice place to shop,” Crystal Phan said.
Those we spoke to say the higher quality products will be missed.
“There’s a lot of variety and there’s a lot of brands you can’t find,” Phan said.
“We get everything in one place, like, all the brands and everything,” said Ophsora Ali, another shopper.
The Hudson’s Bay Company filed for creditor protection March 7 in an effort to restructure the company, but now it has asked the courts for liquidation approval.
The company is still holding out hope it can stay open.
Sales inside the Saskatoon store are drawing shoppers like Phan who said she’ll “pop in there” to check it out.
“Some of it was 50 per cent off, and my roommate got something 50 per cent. There are sale signs,” Sigurdson confirmed.
It’s not just the cheaper goods that shoppers are looking for. Some want iconic Hudson’s Bay items with the striped logo as a keepsake, like the blankets.
“I couldn’t get the actual wool. They’re gone, but I did get a blanket that’s a mixture of polyester and they’re still beautiful,” Sigurdson said.
The history attached to these items, and the brand itself, is an important factor in the sentimentality, according to Ali. Its legacy is older than Canada.
“It’s actually sad news, to be very honest. It’s a 350-year-old company and it’s a part of the history, so nobody wants it to close.”
Sigurdsson agrees.
“So it’s really sad. You know, everything is just changing so fast. Can we please hang on to some Canadian history?”
Some are taking it all in stride though.
“I guess everything is online now, and it’s very difficult for people to come downtown. Parking is a problem too,” Geoff Topp told CTV News.
The Bay has been in the Midtown building for 25 years, but the department store first set up shop on the corner of 23rd and 2nd Avenue in 1922.
Their original space was later demolished to make way for a newer building — the modernist structure now home to the 2nd Avenue Lofts. That store opened in 1960 and remained in that location until it moved to the Midtown in 2000.
“Generations of Saskatoon people shopped at the Bay in that location and with the mosaic on the exterior, which was designed in Italy. That mosaic made it really a distinctive, a very modern building,” said Jeff O’Brien, City of Saskatoon archivist.
Back inside the Midtown location, shoppers are bracing for what’s to come.
“For the most part, you can see the employees, they’re very sad. It’s just a really grim feeling,” Sigurdson added.
