The Bay’s potential demise sparks nostalgia, indifference | Canada Voices

The last time Linda Fernandes shopped at the Bay was three weeks ago. On that visit, the 75-year-old found herself just one of a small handful of customers in an otherwise empty store. And they were out of stock in the clothing items she was looking for.

“The saleswoman told me to come back in a few weeks.”

A lot has changed in those few weeks. Earlier this month, Hudson’s Bay Co. announced that it was filing for protection from its creditors, owing more than $1.1-billion. And in the weeks since, the company has sought court approval to begin the process of liquidating and shutting down its stores.

So, for Ms. Fernandes, a lifelong Bay shopper who returned to the store on Wednesday of this week, her visit came with a fair amount of sadness. She always felt good shopping at the Bay – like she was buying quality and supporting Canadian. And, as with many older Canadians, the Bay (and other department stores like it) has been a fixture throughout her life.

As a young woman, she worked at the Simpsons store in downtown Toronto (which was later converted into a Bay store). As a mother, she brought her young daughter to the Bay to meet with Santa. And over the past few decades, all of her towels, bed sheets and housewares had been selected, by hand, from this location in Scarborough.

“It’s sad to see a store go like this. It’s very sad.”

At first glance on that Wednesday afternoon, everything appeared as usual at the sprawling 250,000-square-foot store. The bright lights were sparkling off of gleaming white floors. The lipsticks were lined up in neat rows of pink, red and plum. The elevators were churning in the background. The only indication that anything was amiss was a black-and-white sign near the entrance, warning customers to use up gift cards by April 6.

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But inside, customers at the counter were asking about the rewards program, which has now been suspended. The salespeople, dressed as always in black, looked especially funereal. And the biggest surprise: The store, which, in recent years has typically been whisper-quiet, was instead bustling. Headlines about the Bay’s uncertain future had drawn an unusual crowd of bargain-hunters (hoping to get a first stab at potential liquidation sales, which haven’t yet begun), looky-loos and loyal customers looking for a last dose of nostalgia.

Deanne Christine, who was standing in the women’s shoe section, was a part of the latter group. “When I heard the news, I was like, ‘No!’”

The 62-year-old doesn’t like shopping at smaller stores – which she finds crowded and disorganized – preferring instead the wide expanses of department stores.

She’d been shopping here for at least three decades, buying most of her clothing and cosmetics from this store – from brands like Estée Lauder, Lancôme and Clinique. “Do they even carry those at Sephora?” she wondered.

Over in the women’s dress section, just a few metres away from the long lineup snaking out of the fitting area, Eric Longbotham eyed the crowd around him warily. He was sitting in a grey leather armchair, bags at his feet, waiting as his 84-year-old mother tried on some blouses. He’d grown up coming to this store with his mom, and said he found the experience on this day a bit unsettling.

“It’s kind of like picking the bones, right?”

The scene that day made clear the generational divide around department stores. Whereas older shoppers feel an emotional attachment to stores like the Bay, the same doesn’t appear to apply to younger groups.

Case in point: Zeke Gancena, 30, and Abigail Gancena, 31, who strolled through the beauty section that afternoon, and were there mostly out of morbid curiosity. Mr. Gancena, who works in tech, said he couldn’t remember the last time he’d set foot in the store.

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“We’re very much online shoppers,” he said. “I just don’t think there’s an appeal to department stores for Canadians.”

Both he and Ms. Gancena called it sad to lose the country’s oldest retailer. But, at a time when Buy Canadian is top-of-mind for many – and as some have expressed concern about losing a storied Canadian institution – Mr. Gancena was skeptical.

“Yeah, it’s a Canadian corporation,” he said. “But I’m looking around here, and there’s Armani, there’s Coach – most of this isn’t Canadian anyways.”

And down on the ground floor, Steph Del Pino, 34, and Jessica Keith, 35, were wandering around a small Zellers section, the discount brand that the Bay attempted to revive in 2023. They were not mourning the news either.

“I’m here to scope it out,” said Ms. Keith. She runs a small business and was eyeing the store’s display products – the racks and mannequins and shelves. If the items are sold as part of the liquidation, she might buy them for her business.

Neither of the women felt an attachment to the brand. “The only memory I have is shopping for a Wonderbra with my mom,” said Ms. Keith. “Other than that, my only association with the Bay is not being able to find someone to help me when I need it.”

Still, for others in the store, everywhere they turned were memories.

Marilyn Torossian, 62, and Robert Weatherill, 65, were on the hunt for one of the Bay’s signature striped wool blankets as a souvenir. As they walked, they pointed at different memories they’d had over the years at the Bay, and reminisced about growing up in the heyday of department store culture.

“Every family either had an Eaton’s card, or a Simpsons card,” said Mr. Weatherill. “And if you wanted something fancy – like if someone was getting married, and you wanted to get them a tea set – you’d go to the Bay,” he said.

Ms. Torossian chimed in. “People would register here,” she said.

She shook her head. “People don’t do that anymore,” she said. “They probably register at Costco.”