Image: Sevenoaks Shopping Centre

By Mike Vanden Bosch

The Bay says goodbye in Abbotsford

Longtime department store says goodbye to Abbotsford – after 30+ years

May 30, 2025 | 4:12 PM

ABBOTSFORD — A fixture in Abbotsford for over 30 years is saying goodbye to customers at its South Fraser Way location this weekend.

Hudson’s Bay, Canada’s oldest company whose department store chain roots date back to 1670, will close its doors at Sevenoaks Shopping Centre toward the tail end of this weekend.

Sevenoaks wrote on social media Friday that Hudson’s Bay has been a cornerstone of its shopping centre since the 1990s.

“The end of a historic era. Our Hudson’s Bay has been an anchor at Sevenoaks since 1993 when it took over for Woodwards. This will be your last weekend to shop before their doors officially close on Sunday,” Sevenoaks wrote online. “While we are sad to see this Canadian legacy end we are excited for what is coming next.”

Sevenoaks did not reveal what would take its place.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

B.C. government funds emergency operations across Abby-Mission, Chilliwack areas

12h ago

ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS

Abbotsford Canucks back home for final stretch of Western Conference series

15h ago

SKEETER SEASON

FVRD battles mosquito season with annual control program

16h ago

Hudson’s Bay announced in mid-March that it would begin liquidating its entire business, putting more than 9,000 jobs at risk, because “exhaustive” efforts failed to produce the financing it needs to keep at least some of its empire alive. Just this past week, however, a B.C. billionaire and owner of three shopping malls in British Columbia, Weihong Liu, signed a deal to acquire 28 Hudson’s Bay Company ULC store leases out of creditor protection proceedings at locations in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.

Hudson’s Bay laid bare its financial struggles in a creditor protection application it made with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in March.

In its application, Hudson’s Bay said it was experiencing severe financial struggles because of subdued consumer spending, trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada, and post-pandemic drops in downtown store traffic.

The filings show the company owed more than $950 million to 26 pages’ worth of listed creditors: landlords, suppliers and other partners, including fashion heavyweights Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Columbia Sportswear, Diesel and Estee Lauder.

Hudson’s Bay laid the groundwork for its creditor protection case when it spun its U.S. Saks locations off into a separate entity last year after it purchased luxury department stores Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, essentially saving them from the impending closures now set to engulf HBC in Canada.

The bulk of the company’s stores are in Ontario, where it had 32 locations and more than half of its employees work. B.C. hosts 16, Alberta and Quebec each have 13 and Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan have two per province.

Saks Fifth Avenue’s Canadian sites are split between Ontario and Alberta and Saks Off 5th has stores in Ontario, B.C., Alberta, Quebec and Manitoba.

While the company’s coast-to-coast footprint and its 17th century fur trade origins have made it a quintessential part of the fabric of Canada, it has been led by Americans for several decades now.

American real estate kingpin Richard Baker’s National Realty and Development Corp. Equity Partners bought Hudson’s Bay in 2008 from the widow of late South Carolina businessman Jerry Zucker for $1.1 billion.

Baker took the company public in 2012 and then turned it private again with a takeover bid that had to be boosted twice to earn shareholder approval in the weeks before Canada was hit with COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.