Hudson’s Bay to close its stores in Netherlands

Canadian retail business group Hudson’s Bay (HBC) announced that HBC Netherlands BV will close its 15 Hudson’s Bay stores, e-commerce site and headquarters in the Netherlands on or before December 31, 2019.

Hudson’s Bay Netherlands is owned by a retail joint venture of SIGNA Retail Holdings and HBC, comprising German, Belgium and Netherlands operations.

In June HBC has entered into definitive agreements to sell stake in German real estate and divest its related retail joint venture to its partner, SIGNA for $1.5billion.

The closure of the Netherlands stores is not expected to have any impact on the day-to-day operations of the Hudson’s Bay business in Canada,” said company in a press release.

As part of HBC’s agreement with SIGNA to divest its interest in the European retail joint venture, Hudson’s Bay Netherlands is expected to transfer wholly to HBC, upon the transaction’s closing, which is anticipated to occur during the fall of 2019.

The Hudson’s Bay Netherlands management team worked intensively on a social plan, and have come to an agreement with local unions to offer solutions for employees impacted by the closure.

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