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Photo: Diane Strandberg / Tri-City News
The Hudson’s Bay store in Coquitlam Center has been closed.
A hallmark of the Canadian retail world has had his lease terminated at Coquitlam’s largest mall after he failed to pay his rent, days after Penticton mall filed a lawsuit against the great retailer.
The Hudson’s Bay Company headquarters at Coquitlam Center closed on Saturday, November 21, even as the mall filled with weekend shoppers. Inside, the lights had gone out, except for the strange Christmas tree lit for the upcoming shopping season.
“Black Friday warming up,” reads a sign awaiting next week’s main shopping party.
No staff were in sight. A notice posted at the entrance to the store by the owner and owner of the Morguard Investments Limited shopping mall, stated that the company was in default on rent payments.
“The premises were re-entered and the lease was terminated by the owner for default in payment of the rent,” began the notice of 21 November.
The letter notes that the department store has 30 days to contest the existence of the default. Tri-City News reached out to Morguard and Hudson’s Bay Co. but neither were immediately available for comment.
The closure comes just days after Penticton’s Cherry Lane Mall filed a lawsuit against the Penticton Bay store for failing to pay the rent, while the store filed a lawsuit against the mall.
The iconic retailer just celebrated its 350th anniversary, but despite its resilience, the pandemic has put a strain on the company’s profitability.
This isn’t the first time Hudson’s Bay Co. has struggled to pay the rent.
According to a Toronto Star report released Saturday, court documents show the company has leases worth $ 20 million per month and has not paid any rent to eight owners in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Florida.
It is not yet clear how the termination of the lease in Coquitlam will take place; however, a recent court case suggests it could be a torturous path.
Last week, an Ontario judge ordered the company to pay half the rent – $ 659,395 – owed to the owner of a Toronto-area shopping center, while blocking his eviction.
Hudson’s Bay Co. hadn’t paid the rent for seven months.
“HBC’s overall indebtedness to Oxford shopping center owners … is extremely large and growing at an alarming rate,” Oxford Properties said in court proceedings prior to the decision.
A spokesman for the Toronto area owner said the order was an interim ruling and they were confident it “will prevail.”
In a statement by Ian Putnam, president and chief executive officer of HBC Properties and Investment, he said the company is grateful that the court “recognized the extraordinary challenges of the global pandemic and how the burden can be shared fairly and legally. especially with regards to non-essential resellers. “
The legal controversy highlights the challenges facing both business owners and retailers as foot traffic in brick-and-mortar stores continues to slow after widespread closures last spring.
As the second wave of the pandemic intensifies, more controversy may emerge in the coming months as shoppers turn to e-commerce rather than local malls ahead of the busiest shopping season of the year.
– with files from The Canadian Press
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