MONTREAL, Canada, Apr. 10, 2025 — The heavy brass doors of the Montreal Hudson’s Bay location will keep ushering in customers following the Ontario Superior Court’s decision to save six of the 80 Hudson’s Bay stores.
Photo credit: Emilie Matthews
Canada’s oldest department store company filed for creditor protection on March 7. On Friday, March 21, Judge Peter Osborne ruled that the company would liquidate all but six of its 80 Hudson’s Bay stores, three Saks Fifth Avenue stores and 13 Saks Off 5th locations. Liquidation sales will run until June 15, and all stores except the three in Quebec and three in Ontario will be emptied by June 30, allowing 9,364 people to stay employed. The customer loyalty program has been canceled, and gift cards can no longer be redeemed since April 6.
The company has cited the U.S.-Canada tariff war and a post-pandemic decrease in foot traffic in prominent city locations as causes for their decline. An affidavit filed in court by Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Bewley revealed the company had missed payments to landlords and vendors. Founded 200 years before Canada became a country, the Hudson’s Bay Company is
deeply woven into the nation’s heritage.
deeply woven into the nation’s heritage.
In 1670, fur traders Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers were granted exclusive trading rights by King Charles II to the Hudson Bay territory, discovered by English explorer Henry Hudson in 1610. This region represented around 40% of Canada as we know it today. The company established a fur trade network with Indigenous people along the bay, shipping the goods back to England. Until 1870, the Hudson’s Bay Company controlled the heart of the Canadian fur trade.
That year, the government of the newly founded Dominion of Canada purchased the territory for CAD $1.5 million, substantially transforming the country’s size. However, there is also a dark side to the Hudson’s Bay Company’s history.
The sale of the territory to the British Crown caused the loss of land rights for the Indigenous peoples who lived there. Even before the sale, as the company expanded its network of trading posts, many Indigenous communities were forced off their land and suffered from exposure to European diseases brought by colonizers. Following Canada’s rapid urbanization, Hudson’s Bay shifted toward a department store business model, guided by a director from Harrods, the iconic British retailer. Since then, it has become a staple in many Canadian cities.
The company also established a strong brand identity, symbolized by green, red, yellow, and indigo stripes, famously featured on the Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket. After the company announced the liquidation of most of its stores, these blankets began selling for thousands of dollars on eBay.
“The fact that most of the [company’s] stores are closing is a serious sign of economic uncertainty,” says local shopper Amanda.
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