B.C. billionaire wanting Hudson's Bay leases says landlord concerns are ‘misguided'

CTV News

5 days ago

Billionaire Ruby Liu, centre, poses with her staff while holding a set of keys to a former Hudson's Bay-owned Saks Off 5th department store during a "handover ceremony" at Tsawwassen Mills shopping mall that she owns, in Tsawwassen, B.C., on Thursday, June 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
TORONTO — A B.C. billionaire who wants to buy some Hudson's Bay leases is pushing back on landlord claims that she won't be able to run a successful business in their spaces.
In new court documents, Ruby Liu says the concerns are misguided and she's so confident in her plan that she will personally guarantee the first year of rent she'll have to pay to them.
Liu wants to buy 25 former Bay leases to turn them and three others she bought at malls she owns into a new department store with entertainment, dining and recreation spaces.
Landlords say their leases don't allow for such uses and even if they did, Liu's timelines and budgets are too unrealistic given the amount of work and repairs their properties need.
Liu says she doesn't think the spaces need all of the repairs landlords are demanding because the Bay was operating in the spaces without the renovations. If they are necessary, she says her company will do them, even if they exceed her current budget.
To counter landlord assertions that she doesn't have suppliers willing to commit merchandise to her stores, she provided the court with letters from brands like Conair and Northern Reflections that say they are willing to work with her.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2025.
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press