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“I never think that people die. They just go to department stores.”
— Andy Warhol
It looks like it’s the final, final, final closeout for Hudson’s Bay Co., known to generations of Canadians simply as The Bay. It’s a sad day, but is anyone going to miss the department store?
The Macro
There is always something perverse about the closure of a once-relevant department store chain like The Bay.
The retailer is currently organizing the closure of its 96 stores in Canada. News of the impending demise of Hudson’s Bay triggered — wait for it — a rush by consumers.
A Saturday story in the Free Press quoted visitors from Minnesota, who drove seven hours in the hope of snapping up products with the venerable Hudso’s Bay green, red- yellow and indigo stripes. “I’m really grieving right now,” said one Minnesota shopper. “I genuinely feel sad.”
I thought about joining in but couldn’t bring myself to do it.
(Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press files)
I have a prized HBC baking dish featuring the iconic stripes (currently repurposed as a repository for keys, coins and the like) and could certainly find room for a blanket in the same motif. But I just couldn’t bring myself to throw in with consumers who largely ignored the store when it was trying to survive and now swarmed in droves to pick the bones and look for deals.
Such is the reality of today’s retail industry. The department store used to be the focal point for in-person shopping, and a catalyst for downtown development. However, the rapid, massive growth of online shopping, combined with things like the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply-chain problems, have made it very difficult to support bricks-and-mortar retail stores.
I am constantly reminded of this dynamic when I am looking for a very specific retail item such as gadgets, housewares, shoes or clothes. I will try to locate these things in local stores but after an in-person search, it becomes clear even if a store offers the thing I want, it’s more than likely they don’t carry it in stores.
Limited in-person selection is one of the most maddening aspects of the modern retail landscape. I have pretty big feet (size 14) and most sporting goods retailers don’t carry my size. Even at the outlet mall — which features branded stores by Nike, Adidas, Asics and Under Armour — the selection is limited.
But it’s more than just shoes. Stores such as Walmart, Canadian Tire and Best Buy have huge selections of items available on their websites. However, once you filter for those products actually available in physical stores, you find the selection is often reduced to a handful of options. It’s a phenomenon that ends up driving many of us to Amazon. (Although not recently, for purely patriotic reasons.)
It all means that if you want the tactile experience of shopping, then you are going to have to contend with less selection and — in many instances — higher prices. And that’s not to mention having to buy things online without knowing whether it’s the right product for you.
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In this kind of environment, where retailers have conditioned us to do without selection in bricks-and-mortar stores, it’s not hard to see why Hudson’s Bay would fail. The original department store model, established in late 18th-century England, was designed to offer shoppers the widest possible selection of items along with elaborate customer service.
Retail has largely moved away from a focus on enhanced, in-person customer service and huge inventories of on-site products to fill every need. Now, if you want something in a different size or colour, you have to order it online.
All of which is to say, Hudson’s Bay never had a chance.
It should be noted not all department stores are failing. I recently visited the United Kingdom and made my regular stop at Marks and Spencer, the one-stop-shop for everything from sausage rolls to upscale clothing.
In a global retail environment that is dragging down venerable department store chains on what seems like a weekly basis, the 140-year-old M&S has thrived. The recipe for success involves a move to higher-end food markets which draw people in and complement its wide, on-site selection of traditional clothing and housewares.
Could Hudson’s Bay have adopted a similar approach? Possibly, but there are subtle differences in the retail market in the U.K. (denser cities, fewer outlet malls) that make the M&S success story a no-brainer. In Canada, less density and a heavy reliance on big-box retail have made online shopping seem like a better fit.
I will lament the demise of Hudson’s Bay. But I am also cognizant that shoppers have largely spoken, and the multi-floor department store is not how we want to shop.
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