It used to be the Hudson’s Bay store at Conestoga Mall in Waterloo, and it could be a retail store again thanks to a British Columbia billionaire.
A statement to 570 NewsRadio from the owner of the mall confirmed the former Bay is one of a couple dozen HBC locations that could be taken over by Ruby Liu.
Alex Avery, Chief Executive Officer for Primaris REIT, said “our Conestoga Mall Bay store is one Ruby Liu has submitted a bid for under the HBC CCAA process.”
The statement goes on to say, “It’s not surprising that Ms. Liu would want to be a tenant at the mall, as it is one of the most productive malls in the country.”
But Avery said Primaris has not agreed to Liu taking over the lease, because there are several outstanding questions, and “many retailers looking to open stores at the mall, and many existing tenants that want to expand their existing locations.”
He said their management team evaluates the suitability of the proposed retailer concept for each location.
That includes “the potential overlap with other existing retailers; the retailer’s track record and experience; the success of that retailer concept at other locations; the financial strength of the prospective tenant; and the detailed business plan provided through the leasing process.”
Liu has already made some headway in her plans for new life at old Bay stores.
She plans to turn the former Saks OFF 5th store in the Tsawwassen Mills mall in Delta, B.C., into a cultural, tourist and retail destination.
It’s the smallest of three Bay leases she’s been allowed to take over by an Ontario court overseeing creditor protection proceedings because she owns the B.C. malls where they are located in Delta, Victoria and Nanaimo.
Liu wants another 25 Hudson’s Bay leases across the country, but the court heard that landlords are wary because they don’t know what she plans for the stores.
570 NewsRadio has also reached out the owners of Fairview Park in Kitchener, and Cambridge Centre, to see if Liu is interested in those former Bay sites.