If you stepped into Hudson Bay's flagship store in downtown Vancouver this week, you would have found all elevators and escalators completely out of service.

Even the stationary escalators were off-limits, with barriers in place to prevent them from being used as makeshift staircases.

Signs and planters were strategically positioned to block access to both the elevators and escalators.

Staff at the front entrance informed shoppers that the only way to reach floors above or below ground level was via the emergency staircase located next to the bank of elevators.

Moreover, an inventory count of the store's merchandise on display now appears to be well underway.

The vertical circulation challenges at this store location have only worsened with each passing year since the pandemic. Until recently, at least one of the four elevators would still be in operation.

And on some floors, there are large areas without any merchandise — a highly unusual sight.

Similar signs of extremely deferred maintenance can be observed at other Hudson's Bay locations, though the downtown Vancouver and Guildford Town Centre stores appear to exhibit the most pronounced issues among the six remaining Metro Vancouver locations. This pattern is also evident across the country.

Kenneth Chan

This situation underscores the broader struggles of Hudson's Bay, a brand that has been fighting to stay relevant amid shifting consumer habits and economic pressures.

This was made particularly clear on Friday when Hudson's Bay filed for creditor protection under the federal Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), which was granted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on the same day.

"Put simply, Hudson's Bay is out of money and cannot meet its financial obligations as they come due. It is hard not to have a sense of melancholy when considering the application before me," reads the judge's written decision on Friday, supporting the company's restructuring efforts.

Founded in 1670, Hudson's Bay, the oldest company in North America and a Canadian retail institution, now finds itself in a fight for survival nearly 355 years later.

CCAA provides Hudson's Bay with temporary court protection against its creditors from seizing the company's assets and properties for an initial period of 10 days, at which point the company can seek the court's permission for further extensions. This also includes the suspension of rent payments owed for the store locations that are leased and ensuring the company continues to have uninterrupted access to its bank accounts.

According to the judge's decision, as of Jan. 1, 2025, Hudson's Bay had only about $3 million cash on hand. The company has about $1.294 billion in secured debt obligations, including $315 million in trade payables (such as merchandise brands), $422 million in pre-filing secured debt, and $724.4 million in mortgage obligations.

Over the past few years, numerous brands have vanished from Hudson's Bay locations.

"Hudson's Bay today is facing an imminent liquidity crisis. It has not paid rent at several of its leased stores and a number of its trade creditors have not been paid. The failure to pay rent will imminently trigger an escalating chain of events leading to defaults under other leases, where Hudson's Bay has failed to pay rent and cross defaults on its secured obligations," reads the judge's decision.

"As reflected in the Cash Flow Forecast prepared by Hudson's Bay and reviewed by the Proposed Monitor, the companies have a critical need for immediate financing to continue operating in the ordinary course."

Hudson's Bay's decision to seek the CCAA process follows its unsuccessful attempts earlier in 2025 to have potential lenders refinance some or all of its debt and improve its liquidity position.

The company blamed the economic headwinds of inflation, reduced consumer spending, and the Canada-U.S. trade war for its inability to secure help from lenders.

"While very difficult, this is a necessary step to strengthen our foundation and ensure that we remain a significant part of Canada's retail landscape, despite the sector-wide challenges that have forced other retailers to exit the market. Now more than ever, it is critical that Canadian businesses are protected and positioned to succeed," said Liz Rodbell, president and CEO of Hudson's Bay, in a statement.

Moreover, the judge agreed with Hudson's Bay's claim that its flagship stores in major downtown locations across Canada have been "disproportionately impacted," as these large city centre store locations typically relied on office workers and commuters for a large proportion of their revenue. The continued practice of semi-remote office work has lowered this revenue segment for such downtown stores, which have some of the chain's highest operational costs.

Amid changing consumer habits, Hudson's Bay asserts it made significant investments in its online retail strategy to offset the impact of the decline in foot traffic to its brick-and-mortar locations while also performing cost-cutting.

"Hudson's Bay remains deeply connected to Canada and is focused on the future. Our goal is to re-establish our foothold and ensure the company's long-term place in the evolving Canadian retail market. As we go through this process, we will continue to show up for our customers and communities, as we always have," continued Rodbell.

In 2024, Hudson's Bay separated its Saks Fifth Avenue division into a separate business, which was later combined with its new acquisition of Niemen Marcus. This also follows the March 2020 decision to take Hudson's Bay private.

Currently, within Canada, Hudson's Bay operates 88 full-line stores, as well as three Saks Fifth Avenue stores and 13 Saks OFF Fifth stores operating under license agreements. It also leases four distribution centres, including one in British Columbia and three in Ontario.

Hudson's Bay employs about 9,400 people, including 647 of whom are unionized.

Some media reports have suggested that Hudson's Bay plans to close about half of its 88 locations as a part of its restructuring process, but this has not been confirmed by the company at this time.

But if realized, this would further exacerbate major commercial retail vacancies in both downtown and shopping mall locations — adding to the lingering voids left by the departures of Nordstrom Canada, Sears Canada, and Target Canada over the past decade.

Within Metro Vancouver, Hudson's Bay closed its longtime store at the City of Lougheed mall (Lougheed Town Centre) in Burnaby in 2023 to make way for a redevelopment and announced its decision not to return to the new Oakridge Park mall in Vancouver, which will reach completion and open later in 2025.

The company has plans to redevelop its downtown Vancouver store into a major mixed-use development that incorporates a downsized department store.