Canadian department store owner Hudson’s Bay Company is looking to expand further into Europe by moving into between 40 to 60 retail sites currently leased to bankrupt department store chain V&D in the Netherlands.
Canadian department store owner Hudson’s Bay Company is looking to expand further into Europe by moving into between 40 to 60 retail sites currently leased to bankrupt department store chain V&D in the Netherlands.
V&D sold off its real estate years ago, and has a mixture of landlords, ranging from some of the largest property investors active in the Dutch market to small private owners.
HBC is understood to have ruled itself out of the running to buy out the bankrupt Dutch chain V&D, but is in talks with V&D's landlords to replace V&D as tenant.
Executive chairman Richard Baker told Het Financieele Dagblad that HBC ‘can’t wait to get started in the Netherlands’. HBC entered the European market last year with the purchase of Germany’s Galeria Kaufhof chain, which has 137 department stores, and Belgian luxury retailer Galeria Inno, with 16 stores.
‘As part of our plans for growth we are examining the opportunities to go in to particular European countries where we can acquire strong brands or introduce our own brand,’ Baker said.
HBC is considering whether to extend Galeria Inno from Belgium or introduce its own Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th brand. The latter is an offshoot of the Saks Fifth Avenue chain, allowing HBC to bring luxury US fashion labels over to Europe.
HBC owns a total of 450 retail assets, mainly in Canada and the US, with a total turnover of around €10 bn.
