EPISODE · Jul 8, 2025 · 22 MIN
The B.C. billionaire fighting to take over Hudson’s Bay stores
from The Decibel · host The Globe and Mail
On June 1, Hudson’s Bay – the iconic department store brand whose operation predates the founding of Canada – sold its last striped blanket. Struggling under $1.1 billion in debt, the company was granted court protection from its creditors in the spring. Since then, it’s cleared the shelves in liquidation sales, sold its brand identity and laid off more than 8300 people.Now, the courts are selling off what’s left, including the leases to nearly 100 massive store locations left sitting empty. B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu is set on buying 28 of those leases – but nearly every landlord involved is trying to stop her.The Globe’s retailing reporter, Susan Krashinsky Robertson has been reporting on the collapse of Canada’s oldest retailer. She’ll tell us all about who Ruby Liu is, what she plans to do with all of these stores and why she’s facing such dramatic opposition.Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at [email protected] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
What this episode covers
On June 1, Hudson’s Bay – the iconic department store brand whose operation predates the founding of Canada – sold its last striped blanket. Struggling under $1.1 billion in debt, the company was granted court protection from its creditors in the spring. Since then, it’s cleared the shelves in liquidation sales, sold its brand identity and laid off more than 8300 people. Now, the courts are selling off what’s left, including the leases to nearly 100 massive store locations left sitting empty. B.C. billionaire Ruby Liu is set on buying 28 of those leases – but nearly every landlord involved is trying to stop her. The Globe’s retailing reporter, Susan Krashinsky Robertson has been reporting on the collapse of Canada’s oldest retailer. She’ll tell us all about who Ruby Liu is, what she plans to do with all of these stores and why she’s facing such dramatic opposition.
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The B.C. billionaire fighting to take over Hudson’s Bay stores
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