Redesigning the Bay’s old retail spaces will come with challenges and opportunities [Video]

When Hudson’s Bay began liquidating all of its stores and hunting for a potential new owner, Weihong (Ruby) Liu was determined not to let Canada’s oldest company disappear. 

The B.C. mall owner made an offer to buy the company in hopes of restoring it to its former glory, but when Canadian Tire was chosen (court approval pending) to buy its name and trademark stripes, Liu’s plan was foiled.

Yet she didn’t give up. Instead, she brokered a deal to take over up to 28 of the leases held by Hudson’s Bay and its sister Saks businesses in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario and transform them into “a new modern department store.”

But making the jump from vision to reality won’t be easy, even with her persistence and the billions of dollars reportedly at her fingertips.

WATCH | Liu set to buy Hudson’s Bay leases: Hudson’s Bay plans to sell up to 28 of its store leases to Ruby Liu, a B.C. mall owner and billionaire, …