Canada’s oldest company to liquidate all but 6 stores starting Monday WSOC TV [Video]

TORONTO — (AP) — An Ontario court on Friday gave Hudson’s Bay, Canada’s oldest company, permission to start liquidating all but six of its stores on Monday.

The approval from Ontario Superior Court Judge Peter Osborne allows the retailer, which dates back to 1670, to begin selling off inventory at most of its 80 Hudson’s Bay stores, three Saks Fifth Avenue locations and 13 Saks Off 5th shops in Canada.

“This is the art of the possible and we are where we are today. In my view, there is no other alternative,” Judge Osborne said.

The Canadian retail icon retailer was founded as a trading firm for furs and other goods. The company became part of Canada’s social fabric, and was famous for its trademark product: a thick, wool blanket that has warded off frigid Canadian winters for hundreds of years.

It is part of the national lore of rugged “voyageurs” exploring the vast landscape while fighting and trading …