Hudson’s Bay will liquidate last 6 remaining stores, court filing says

If a bid for the remaining stores is received that keeps them alive, Hudson's Bay retains the right to remove them from the liquidation process.

A new court filing says Hudson’s Bay will start selling off all merchandise on Friday at the six stores previously spared from liquidation.

Adam Zalev, managing director of Hudson’s Bay’s financial adviser Reflect Advisors, says in an affidavit that Canada’s oldest company is making the move because there is a “low probability” that it will find a buyer for the six remaining locations.

If a bid for the stores is received that keeps them alive, Zalev says Hudson’s Bay retains the right to remove them from the liquidation process.

The move effectively scuttles Hudson’s Bay’s department store empire and comes after it received court permission last month to liquidate 90 of its 96 Bay, Saks and Saks Off Fifth stores by mid-June, while it hunts for investors or buyers that could restructure or maintain the business.

The six stores now joining the liquidation include the flagship on Yonge Street in Toronto, as well as a location in the city’s Yorkdale mall and another farther north in Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill, Ont.

The remaining three span downtown Montreal, the Carrefour Laval mall and Pointe-Claire, Que.