The Bay, the oldest retailer in Canada, operates under the HBC name these days, but the Hudson’s Bay Company is deeply ingrained in Canada’s history. It began with the fur trade with Europe in the 17th century and evolved with the growth of North America.
Now it’s returning to Europe, and for the first time, the company is expanding its retail empire with plans to open 20 stores in the Netherlands over the next two years.
This follows the chain’s acquiring Galeria Kaufhof in Germany last year. which provides a base in Europe. from which to expand.
“We are very pleased to introduce our Canadian Hudson’s Bay banner, one of the world’s most exciting department stores, to the Netherlands,” HBC chair Richard Baker said. “Our acquisition of Galeria in 2015 established our European headquarters in Cologne and a platform for future organic growth. Expansion into the Netherlands is a natural extension of our existing presence in Belgium as well as our planned entry into Luxembourg and will complete our presence in all of the Benelux countries.”
Olivier Van den Bossche is the head of HBC’s European department store business. He says the expansion will create more than 2,500 store jobs, 2,500 construction jobs and 300 million Euros in capital investments, the majority of which will be funded through landlord incentives.
HBC plans to spend nearly $1.5 billion on its European properties in the coming years, including renovations to its Galeria Kaufhof department stores in Germany and Belgium, which it bought for $3.9-billion last year.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.