In a move equal parts patriotic and poetic — some might say copacetic — BC-based billionaire Weihong Liu has declared her intentions to rescue Canada’s most storied department store from the brink of oblivion.
Her rallying cry? “Make the Bay Great Again.”
Really.
Liu, the owner of Lower Mainland shopping meccas like Tsawwassen Mills, Mayfair Centre and Woodgrove Mall in Nanaimo, has taken to Chinese social media platform RedNote to express her deep concern for the fate of the Hudson’s Bay Company, a retail relic older than Canada itself and one of the longest-standing commercial enterprises in the world.
And in Liu’s eyes, the collapse of the Bay isn’t just bad business — it’s borderline apocalyptic.
“If the Bay closes, we’ll be like Detroit. Just ruins,” she warned dramatically, pointing to a whiteboard filled with strategy plans in one of her now-viral videos.
Founded in 1670 — back when muskets were still high tech — Hudson’s Bay has survived fur trade feuds, frontier wars, and French-English tensions. But now? It’s struggling against an even mightier foe: online shopping and Gen Z’s preference for brands they can click, scroll and ghost.
Think Amazon on steroids.
With 74 Bay stores (plus two Saks Fifth Avenues and 13 Saks Off Fifths) set to shutter, Liu sees a rare moment in time: a “once-every-300-years opportunity” to snatch up a legacy brand at rock-bottom prices.
In true retail mogul fashion, she wants to pick up “dozens” of locations — conveniently, many inside her own malls — and drag the department store model kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
Her plan? Revamp the Bay’s outdated retail philosophy by ditching sprawling floor plans and adopting sleek, boutique-style offerings. Think less “Queen’s corset counter,” and more “Canada Goose meets Apple Store.”
Analysts say pulling the Bay out of its nosedive will be no small feat, with creditors seeking $1.1 billion in outstanding debt obligations.
Still, Liu isn’t exactly lacking in confidence. “We’re going to revitalize retail, solve employment, and create miracles,” she proclaimed, calling for a national retail renaissance. Somewhere, John A. Macdonald is raising a fur hat in approval.
Of course, there’s more than national pride at play. Liu’s malls house some of the very Hudson’s Bay stores currently swirling down the retail drain. A successful rescue mission could be a win-win: preserving thousands of jobs while protecting her own real estate empire.
While Liu remains media-shy in Canada (refusing interviews, but posting prolifically online), her video proclamations strike a tone somewhere between business plan and motivational speech — part corporate pitch, part TED Talk, part nationalistic fever dream.
And let’s not forget, she’s got skin in the game: her company is reportedly owed nearly $900,000 by HBC.
With the April 30 bid deadline looming and just six company-owned stores left standing, the window to make the Bay “great again” is closing fast. But if Liu can pull it off, she won’t just be a mall mogul, she’ll be the woman who put 350 years of history on layaway — and made the final payment.
So, is it retail revival or real estate chess? Either way, the Bay’s last stand might just come with subtitles. And a bold new slogan.