‘I can feel their enthusiasm': Billionaire Ruby Liu holds job fair to bolster bid to take over HBC leases

Yahoo

4 days ago

Vancouver-based billionaire Ruby Liu was welcomed by dozens of former Hudson's Bay employees at a job fair in Toronto on Saturday, as her organization staged a recruitment event for new stores she plans to open up after taking over the Bay's leases.
Liu has not received court approval to take over 25 of the Bay's leases as per a deal inked in May, and has yet to satisfy the demands of some of the landlords who have raised concerns about her takeover and want her to submit a proper business plan. One of Hudson's Bay senior lenders filed a motion this month to terminate the deal with Liu, arguing that the delay is costing the company money.
But none of these factors seemed to discourage Liu on Saturday, who danced with applicants, walked around with a selfie stick to take photos and promote the event on social media and even briefly paused her recruiting to sing the national anthem.
'I am confident that we are going to get the stores, so we are preparing for that,' Liu, whose statement was translated, told reporters at the event. 'We have received almost a thousand resumés online. I wanted to meet these candidates in person. I can feel their enthusiasm.'
Liu agreed to take over the leases for 28 of 96 Hudson's Bay stores, all of which were shut down last month as Canada's oldest retailer, which filed for bankruptcy protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in March, looks to pay back millions of dollars to its creditors. Aside from monetizing its leases, the Bay also fired all its employees, sold intellectual property rights to Canadian Tire and is looking to auction its valuable artifacts.
Each of those steps, including Liu's deal, needs to be approved by an Ontario court.
Last week, an Ontario court was supposed to make a decision on whether or not HBC should cancel Liu's agreement, but that hearing had to be postponed, mostly because Liu arrived at court without a lawyer.
Liu said that her previous legal counsel had quit on Sunday afternoon, ahead of the hearing, which took place on Tuesday.
'Our previous legal counsel didn't help us submit the business plan to the landlords and some materials we hoped to submit,' she said. 'We are very disappointed.'
But things have changed since then, said Liu, who hired a new lawyer and hopes to go to court in mid-August. 'We want to meet with the landlords more and more,' she said. 'It was not arranged in the past as we wished and we hope that will be happening.'
Liu said that she is willing to 'share the profits' with landlords from her flagship stores, which are going to be 'fun and exciting,' she said during a speech at the event.
The stores will dedicate about 30,000 square feet for a kids' play area, Liu said, and 'flagship' stores are also likely to have Asian supermarkets and an Asian fusion dining area.
She also plans to have seven to eight 'platinum stores' that will focus on an 'immersive shopping experience' to attract younger shoppers.
Liu said that she took out '$300 million from her own pocket' to build the stores and aims to spend $10 million in marketing every year.
Liu attributed the Bay's demise at least in part to a lack of marketing and an inability to attract younger customers.
'In two or three years, you will see new Ruby Liu stores in Canada,' she said. 'If we are successful, in five years we are going to go to other countries in North America and the rest of the world. We are planning to build 30 stores worldwide if we are successful.'
About 200 people attended Saturday's event and Liu said she planned to submit documents collected from potential vendors and applicants when she returns to court in August, as evidence of the viability of her plans.
While the event was open to the public, the majority of the applicants were former HBC employees. Liu said she would give preference to them.
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