HBC Mulls Fate Of Discount Brand Saks Off 5th
HBC, whose retail brands include Saks Fifth Avenue, Hudson's Bay and Lord & Taylor, says it is conducting a review of Saks Off 5th, its off-price brand, to decide whether to close more of its 130 stores. The company has already said that it will close at least 20 of the brand's U.S. locations.
"Further streamlining our retail portfolio enables even greater focus on our businesses with the strongest growth opportunities," HBC CEO Helena Foulkes said in a statement.
The move isn't the first round of streamlining for HBC. The company recently sold its Lord & Taylor flagship on Fifth Avenue to WeWork, and last summer announced plans to close 10 of its Lord & Taylor stores.
The Canadian department company sold a majority interest in its European retail operations in 2018 to Signa Holdings, owner of the German department store chain Karstadt.
The company also said it is shutting down its 37 Home Outfitters stores in Canada. HBC established the chain about 20 years ago.
"Home Outfitters was likely a big moneymaker for HBC in the first few years of its existence. But in the last decade or so, things changed as its core customer went elsewhere," Retail Advisors Network partner Bruce Winder told the CBC.
HBC, which has its roots in the 17th-century traders and explorers of Hudson's Bay Co., operates about 350 stores in North American and Europe.
The company also participates in various joint ventures, partnering with Simon Property Group in its HBS Global Properties Joint Venture, which owns properties in the United States. In Canada, HBC has partnered with RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust in the RioCan-HBC Joint Venture.
