The Sad Goodbye of Hudson's Bay

Need a fancy dress? The Bay has them on sale!

So it has come to this. The Hudson's Bay Company, which was established in May 1670 trading beaver pelts and later became an iconic brand known for being Canada's department store, has declared bankruptcy.

Customers have until April 6 to use up their gift cards and so I ventured downtown to see what was left in the multi-level store on Georgia and Granville streets.

The floors look more empty as stock is snapped up

While a cheery staff member greeted me as I came in, it was definitely noticeable that the place is closing. Shoppers were circling around to see what deals they could get on the ground floor, but there weren't many sharp discounts on items unless they were very old stock. Otherwise most things were 20 per cent off, or still full price. 

I went to the escalator to go up, but it was blocked off. Shut down, presumably to save on electricity. So I made my way to the back of the store where the elevators were (also closed), but that was where the staircase was and made my way up to the second floor.

If you need a floor-length ballgown in size 16 come here and grab one before the store closes. Otherwise there was a lot of clothes that people didn't want, mostly because the design seemed dated, stale, hardly interesting. 

The shoe department was pretty much picked over, and it was surprising to see brands like Ugg and Hunter not completely wiped out. There were tons of kids boots still available too. 

On the third floor were more casual clothes and there were racks and racks of jeans in all kinds of sizes and you had to wade through all of them to find your size. I found two pairs to try on as well as a top and took a while to find a fitting room.

The only way up and down is stairs

The staff manning it were bored, counting down the days until they were let go; they may not be fully compensated for all their hours either, which is terrible.

Magically one pair of jeans fit, and it was 20 percent off $159 before tax. With my two gift cards totalling $39, that made my pair of jeans under $100... was it worth it? Not really, but I figured I will probably wear these jeans for several years to replace ones I've had for over 15 years.

As I made my way down the stairs to the ground floor, others were walking up, looking somewhat optimistic they would find a bargain... hope they weren't too disappointed...