A businesswoman from B.C. is looking to revamp Canadian department stores by opening her own chain stores, after she received court approval on Monday to acquire three of the Hudson’s Bay leases.
Ruby Liu is the founder and chairwoman of Central Walk Canada, a B.C.-based real estate investment company. She spoke exclusively with OMNI News and signaled she’s ready to give Canadian department stores a makeover.
“The Hudson’s Bay is the oldest company in Canada. It has a long history and has a historical meaning to all Canadian people. So, we will keep traditional retail elements,” Linda Qin said, the CEO of Central Walk Canada, who translated for Liu in English.
“We will present to the public a modern, retail department stores. So, we will have the tradition combined with innovation and new ideas.”
The retail mogul said she wants to open her own line of department stores by bringing a new and young generation of shoppers back to local malls.
“We found in the past decade, Canadian retail stores, or Canadian department stores, or even the shopping malls, remain the same… So, we want to create excitement,” Qin said.
“We want to create the meaning to attract younger generations, attract kids, attract families, to come back to shopping malls again.”
As part of her plans, Liu said she plans to attract and rehire former Bay employees by hosting a job fair in July. The job fair is expected in Toronto alongside an investor’s open house, and more information will be announced by Liu.
So far, Liu has taken over three of the Bay’s leases located in B.C., in Mayfair Shopping Centre, Tsawwassen Mills, and the Woodgrove Centre. According to court documents, Liu will pay $6 million for the leases in B.C., and has put down a deposit of $9.4 million for her bids on the other leases.
“We know the Hudson’s Bay leases have great value,” Qin said.
Liu said she still wants to acquire other Bay leases, despite pushback from 23 of the 25 landlords. She said she is confident they will change their minds when they learn about her plans.
The Bay was granted court protection from creditors in March under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. Canada’s oldest department store officially closed its doors in June.
“We think anybody who is interested in the leases should participate in the CCAA law, so, we did,” Qin said.
The Canadian Tire has purchased the Bay’s intellectual property for $30 million, and while Liu previously placed a bid she ultimately backed away, because she said she wanted to avoid “cultural conflicts.”
With files from Grace Lin, OMNI News
