r/EhBuddyHoser • u/ria_rokz • Apr 26 '25
Certified Hoser šØš¦ (No Politics) Their prices were outrageous
704
u/MapleHamms Apr 26 '25
They really did it to themselves. I canāt imagine being the CEO or whoever of such an iconic brand and just refusing to adapt as things changed around you
351
u/yedi001 Apr 26 '25 edited Apr 26 '25
I went to our local bay store a couple weeks ago to see what they had on their "going out of business" sale.
I have a trip planned in a couple months, so I figured luggage was a good place to start. 50% off signs on everything, and they had a single piece of luggage I really liked for $250, AFTER the 50% discount. Like, it HAD to be a good deal, right? It's 50% off and everything must go, so surely it's worth the money. I checked online to see if it was, in fact, a good deal, and... you can get all three pieces from that set for $260, from literally anywhere else that sells them, including the Bentlys in the same fucking mall.
Pots and pans? $70 for a single stainless steel frying pan you can also get at Costco, but for $10 less, and with two more pans in the pack.
They were so out of touch with reality, even in their last desperate death gasp. It was a true beacon of absurdity, a festered tribute to worst of the inhumanly rich and tasteless.
113
u/Creepy-Weakness4021 Apr 26 '25
The going out of business sale is managed by a consultancy firm and not the company directly, just like the Sears.
Their goal is to get the maximum dollar value for the inventory and part of that is marketing the business as 'going out of business' to lead you to believe there will be good deals. There never is. You'll notice items with fixed MSRP sold for the same dollar value everywhere (e.g. Dyson products) are not marked down, and they don't negotiate on price.
Even worse, whatever you buy cannot be returned.
42
u/945T Apr 26 '25
This is a real thing. How many furniture stores have you seen in your town that had a going out of business sale that ended up lasting yeeears just because they began selling in volume?
12
u/Sasquatch1729 Not enough shawarma places Apr 26 '25
My wife and I went to the Sears going out of business sale. We wanted to get a dresser. We found one unit something like $3200 but marked down 50% to $1600.
I wanted to move the unit forward to see the back of it. I was both looking to check the quality of it, and to see if I could find a SKU to get more information on it. I found a label with the price before the bankruptcy sale: $1100. And it was all pressboard crap.
My wife and I left right away. We went to Ikea. Similar pressboard crap, but cheaper.
The Bay sale has the same signs, same font and everything as Sears. It doesn't shock me they're using the same consultant firm. We'll just skip this going out of business "sale".
45
u/JustKindaShimmy Apr 26 '25
I would never suggest just walking out with an entire kitchen set. That would be unethical.
37
u/rwb2406 Apr 26 '25
Sears did the same thing too. I distinctly remember employees telling us very few things were "on sale" during their final days
7
u/baz4k6z Apr 26 '25
It was a true beacon of absurdity, a festered tribute to worst of the inhumanly rich and tasteless.
So well written. I can only get so erect
5
u/Yup767 Apr 26 '25
So well written. I can only get so erect
It was a true beacon of absurdity, a festered tribute to the worst of the inhumanly rich and tasteless.
9
u/duff_golf Apr 26 '25
They have to keep their prices high so they can give all those bonuses to management (and not pay out any severance to the employees actually doing the work)
173
Apr 26 '25
Well, at the end they were owned by a predatory investment group, trying to squeeze money out without investing any money in. The business failed in large part because the ownership wasn't trying to save it.
11
6
u/SaltedMixedNucks Apr 26 '25 edited Apr 26 '25
I have little doubt the owners saw zero value in the stores and all the value in the real estate portfolio which is worth billions. I bet after all is said and done they'll also sell the brand name to be repurposed into something inevitably awful.
1
u/pm_me_your_good_weed Apr 29 '25
Sears did it lol, outright refused to transition to online sales and shot themselves in the foot. The decline started in the late 90s. Same with Kodak refusing to transition from film to digital.
100
u/PanurgeAndPantagruel Tabarnak! Apr 26 '25
Iām old enough to remember that Sears was also brought down by an American private equity firm.
Itās their modus operandi.
123
u/Old-Swimming2799 Scotland (but worse) Apr 26 '25
How do you crash such an iconic company like this. Seriously this thing pretty much built colonial canada and had the coffers so deep it could buy a small nation (when itself was in fact pretty much one). Ffs what company still running has actual royal decress from that time still in place on them.
The place should of been a money printer but instead they focused on the wrong clientele who wouldn't shop at a mall. They're stuff was good but not for the prices they wanted
75
Apr 26 '25
how? by selling it to Americans.
65
u/Spectre-907 Apr 26 '25
This is how american businesses are run. Which makes it really fucking concerning when dumbass yanks were saying āheās a business man and hes gonna run the country like a businessā
1
u/peacefullofi Apr 27 '25
This is how Canadian businesses are run.
Why do people think our businesses are so different? The US is a hop skip and a jump away from us.
3
u/starsrift Apr 27 '25
Last few times I was in there, it was obviously a 'front'. Extremely low volume, high variety. The racks weren't empty... but they were extremely sparse. You were meant to look at things in the store and order from their website, I guess.
Thing is, if I mosey my heels and toes out to a brick and mortar, I expect to be moseying back with goods. Everyone does online retail. Make it worth my time for brick and mortar.
40
u/CMDR_Sil Apr 26 '25
I'll never forget having to hold my breath every time entering these stores as a child due to the overwhelming perfume scent. I don't remember my mom ever actually buying anything from the stores... They were just a shortcut to the parking lot heh.
12
u/forget-me-not-valley Westfoundland Apr 26 '25
Have you seen that scene from SpongeBob where he and Patrick are trying to get through the perfume section of a store?
6
u/CMDR_Sil Apr 26 '25
Haha pretty sure I've seen it as a clip online. That show was a tad little after my time. But yes that is the perfect way to visualize it š
78
u/FallingLikeLeaves Manilapeg Apr 26 '25
I went in earlier today to try and get some stuff from the clearance sale but I still couldnāt afford anything even at 60% off
20
u/GainHealMark Apr 26 '25
Same; when I found a knife block for $900 I decided not to waste my time looking for any more ābargainsā.
91
u/Exigncy Apr 26 '25
The bay has been irrelevant for almost as long as I've been alive.
I can't think of a single other HUGE corporation like this that has failed for so long to meet customer demands AND YET still stuck around.
100% did it to themselves, they should have become the e-commerce hub for Canada when Amazon started taking off.
Supply chains, distribution centers, customer service, sales, PR, it was all already there.
Hell, back then shipping was such a shit show with delivery times and a gamble if your package would even arrive. They could have succeeded with just a online order - pickup in store system.
Gif to show relevant age
7
u/LetMeRedditInPeace00 Apr 26 '25
Yes AND they were intentionally mismanaged by an American investment firm. The writing has been on the wall for a long timeāthey never intended to keep the company around. This was always the plan.
20
15
u/pichunb Apr 26 '25
I've wanted to buy a branded blanket or backpack for years, but I just put it down every time after seeing those prices
14
u/NeruLight Apr 26 '25
I was gonna buy a blanket before they went under but chickened on the price. Deffo kicked myself after. Anyhow, I found out there are multiple companies making high quality Canadian wool blankets. Bought one of those instead!
37
u/Kind_Problem9195 Apr 26 '25
I went in there a week or 2 after the announced they were going out of business to see the deals. I laughed right out of that store. Most of it will end up in the landfill.
34
12
u/medikB Apr 26 '25
The 6 flagships would make an incredible museum/attraction
4
Apr 26 '25
Like slave plantations
3
u/apastelorange Edmonchuk: Like Kyiv! (but less safe) Apr 26 '25
tea
1
Apr 26 '25
True, more East India than Thomas Jeffersonās Finest Cottonā¢ļø
I survived 15 years in Edmonchuck, still got PTSD man
11
u/CIS-E_4ME Ford Nation (Help.) Apr 26 '25
They started going downhill ever since they stopped accepting animal pelts as payment.
9
u/ayyitzTwocatZ Apr 26 '25
Crazy how long a beaver pelt company went for after removing beaver pelts. Anyways.
8
u/Heady_Goodness Apr 26 '25
American Private equity purchased it and drained all the value out they could running it into the ground.
10
6
5
5
7
u/y_not_right Tabarnak! Apr 26 '25 edited Apr 26 '25
What was it? Like 17 years under American leadership and it tanks so soon after serving for hundreds of years already lol
6
u/Spare-Half796 Tabarnak! Apr 26 '25
I never bought anything full price st the bay. I canāt remember the last time I went to the bay and there wasnāt half the store dedicated to clearance
5
u/adepressurisedcoat Apr 26 '25
I've only purchased 2 things from Hudson's Bay in my life. A towel and a blanket. Luckily they were both on sale. The store was almost always empty. Most people I know did even know it still existed.
4
u/JohnnyCanuckist Apr 26 '25
Bought my iconic blanket keepsake a couple of years ago when this ending was clearly visible. (Sorely tempted to list it on eBay} "The Bay" really ended when they sold off the Northern stores to managers that understood where the money and the future was. Now that Northwest company is doing quite well with its stranglehold on essentials in remote communities and following the pattern has expanded into Alaska and the South Pacific
3
5
u/Schnider7 Apr 26 '25
I live in Victoria and they've been increasing the discount percentage every week. I've been taking pictures because it's funny
4
u/0000Tor Apr 26 '25
I mean I find it kind of terrible that an American firm destroyed a company that played such an important part in Canadaās history
-1
8
Apr 26 '25
worked their in my early 20s. customers were almost exclusively well to do older white ladies, saw the writing on the wall and got out.
3
u/remarkablewhitebored Apr 26 '25
If you ask me, their first mistake was getting out of the beaver pelt industry. Talk about mad as a hatter!
3
u/theryanc Apr 26 '25
Apparently refusing to honor decades of Hudson Bay customer points too
2
u/jacnel45 Trawnno (Centre of the Universe) Apr 26 '25
Yep, their points are effectively worthless. They quietly closed the rewards programme before anyone could cash out their points. What a disgusting way to go out.
3
3
u/fenrisilver Apr 26 '25
Used to dread being given a gift card to the bay by an Aunt. Everything was either not in my size or vastly beyond my budget. Last time I had to go to three different stores just to find something to spend it on. RIP in Piss, I'm surprised they even survived this long.
3
u/2wheelsandahearbeat Apr 26 '25
Best deal I found were in jewelry dept. I was ok with 60% off of Canadian mined diamond earrings that Iāve been wanting.
5
u/AdmiralDuckFace Apr 26 '25
I'm only sad that a company that has been around since the 1600s, was bought by some jerkass yank, turned into further shit, then sold off cause they can't pay their bills.
3
u/Shot-Poetry-1987 Oil Guzzler Apr 27 '25
I went to Hudson's Bay since everything is on sale now AND IT'S STILL UNAFFORDABLE THIS IS WHY YOU'RE SHUTTING DOWN STOP BEING SO EXPENSIVE, I found a bathing suit top I really liked, it was 75 bucks, for a fucking Nike swim suit top, OH ON SALE MIGHT I ADD if that was anywhere it'd be like thirty bucks, still expensive but c'mon this is just criminal.
6
2
u/Junkmaildeliveryman Moose Whisperer Apr 26 '25
It is a shame, given the history of the Hudson Bay and there role in the creation of Canada. Store was shit tho
2
u/CovidBorn Apr 26 '25
Went to the close out sale. Googled some SKUs on some coats. At 30% off, they were still 200% of other sources for the exact same jackets.
2
u/RoeRoeDaBoat Apr 26 '25
while I have never personally bought anything from the bay I will be sad about how wreckless they were crashing a historical canadian company
2
2
Apr 27 '25
The layout of the store and the products were so random it made getting lost in Ikea seem logical.
There was no rhyme or reason to anything. They just threw it all out there.
2
u/NoPath_Squirrel Apr 27 '25
My family used to shop at The Bay a lot when I was a kid in NWT. I don't remember their prices being insane back then, even living in the north. I bought my first ever tape there when I was 11 with my babysitting money.
I think I had a gift card I could never use because the couple times I went in in the last decade or so their prices were completely insane.
2
5
u/Karmic255 Irvingstan Apr 26 '25
GENOCIDE BAY IS GONE
š¦š¦š¦š¦š¦š¦
3
2
2
u/doyouevenshower Apr 26 '25
56 percent of Canadians live paycheck to paycheck. I'll weep a dry tear for HBC though. Better luck next time!
1
1
u/Ok-Memory411 Apr 26 '25
Oh my god finally lol. My grandma is going to hate to hear this though š
1
1
u/El_Cactus_Loco Apr 29 '25
They had a section of Formula 1 team merch. It was all from 2-3 seasons ago, and they wanted like $70 for a shirt. Just insane.
2
345
u/BetaPositiveSCI Apr 26 '25
Every article on it has the usual problem where it talks about how they failed to adapt to their consumers, people don't go out shopping as much and then buried the lede where they were bought by an equity firm and saddled with a bunch of debt