Tausi Insider

Hudson's Bay Co. says the head of The Bay, its online marketplace division, is retiring this month. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press Hudson’s Bay Co. says the head of The Bay, its online marketplace division, is retiring this month and that the current president of Hudson’s Bay, which oversees Canadian retail stores, will take on the additional role. The retailer says Sophia Hwang-Judiesch, who came on as president of Hudson’s Bay last September, will lead efforts to transform and improve both the digital and in-store performance of the retailer after Iain Nairn retires. HBC separated its 86 stores into a separate division from its website in 2021. Nairn, who is stepping down as president and CEO of The Bay, was appointed president of Hudson Bay’s before the split, in January, 2020. Richard Baker, executive chairman of HBC, thanked Nairn in a statement and said he was confident Hwang-Judiesch could help improve the retailer’s performance. HBC did not give a specific reason for N...

A pedestrian walks past a Hudson's Bay store window in Toronto on Jan. 13. Ahead of this year's Lunar New Year on Jan. 22, retail stores such as Hudson's Bay are setting up special window displays and curating products in stores for the holiday. David Pike/The Canadian Press When Madelyn Chung was growing up, just a handful of stores had Lunar New Year displays. It felt like a special homage to her Chinese culture. Now she looks at the proliferation of Lunar New Year retail sales and marketing campaigns across Canada with a more critical eye. “I equate it to rainbow washing or green washing,” she said, referring to businesses that use pride colours to appeal to LBGTQ shoppers or ecological claims to appear environmentally friendly without taking meaningful action. “Some stores just want to capitalize on the Lunar New Year celebrations because they know there are a lot of Chinese people who have money to spend on luxury items,” she said in an interview from Toronto. The Lu...

A Zellers pop-up store inside a Hudson’s Bay location at the Burlington Centre, in Burlington, Ont. in July, 2021. HO/The Canadian Press Hudson’s Bay Company has unveiled a list of the first 25 Zellers locations to open inside select Hudson’s Bay department stores across Canada. This past August, HBC announced that it was reviving the Zellers banner, a decade after the discount chain closed most of its stores in Canada. The company said these new Zellers locations will offer home decor items, toys, baby gear, clothes and pet accessories. Five of the locations will be in Quebec: at Galeries d’Anjou, in east Montreal; Place Rosemere, on the north shore of Montreal; Galeries de la Capitale in Quebec City; Promenades Gatineau in the Outaouais region; and Carrefour de l’Estrie in Sherbrooke. Among the nine sites allotted to Ontario, two will be in Ottawa: at the Rideau Centre downtown, and at the St. Laurent Shopping Centre. Other Ontario locations include Erin Mills in Mississauga, Scarb...

Hudson’s Bay is laying off two per cent of its total workforce, estimated to be about 250 employees, largely within Canada. The layoffs will impact corporate roles at The Bay and Hudson’s Bay, the retailer’s online and brick-and-mortar operations, respectively, the company said Tuesday. Retail workers in stores are not affected by the job losses. Spokeswoman Tiffany Bourre said the changes come as the retail sector navigates “significant external pressures.” The company is “realigning its strategic priorities and increasing efficiencies within its operations,” she said in a statement. The decision was not easy and the company is committed to treating everyone with fairness and respect, Bourre said. Hudson’s Bay permanently laid off about 600 workers in Canada two years ago amid extended COVID-19 lockdowns affecting non-essential retail. Last June, more than 330 Hudson’s Bay warehouse workers went on strike after talks with the company broke down. https://www.tausiinsider.com/hud...