The Bay's days in downtown Vancouver are numbered.
That number is about 10.
The Hudson's Bay Company has been at the corner of Granville and West Georgia for a century, but that'll end June 1, 2025, as the store closes to the public (the company plans to vacate locations by the end of June).
The huge department store is still spread out over all seven floors at 674 Granville St., with many of the departments still, essentially, located in the same spaces they have been for years. Luckily, the escalators have been fixed (mostly).
What's left for sale inside Vancouver's Bay store
Visiting the store can be a chaotic experience, with some areas blocked off by yellow tape, other areas relatively empty, and some areas stuffed full of merchandise. The men's department on floor six still has a robust selection of items, and there are still plenty of shoes for sale on another floor.
Housewares appear a little more picked over, but there are still mattresses, sets of plates, and quilts.
Jewellery appears to be popular, as lineups were seen on May 22. Elsewhere on the first floor, the perfume counters have all closed up.
Downstairs, it appears the end has come for Zellers again; signs are up, but much of the revived brand's area is empty (though there are still "Zeddy" sweatshirts).
Pretty much everything is for sale
At the same time, virtually everything the store has collected over the years is for sale.
That includes $5,000 life-sized elk (completely white), garbage cans, hangers, staff lockers (with photos and stickers still affixed in some cases), and mannequins.
So many mannequins.
It could be the largest collection of mannequins in Canada, though other Bay stores may be in a similar situation.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of full-body, busts, or partial mannequins are on sale. Some have faces. Some have movable fingers. In one aisle, there's a large pile of legs. Some are golden and others are chrome, but most are white.
Plastic people aside, there is a display still set up downstairs, offering what the plan was for the site. Notably, the display suggests construction could begin in 2024. Part of the display includes a land acknowledgement noting the Hudson's Bay Company store is on the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh.
