The liquidation sales at Nordstrom stores across Canada will begin Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the department store chain confirmed the impending sales period Monday in an email to The Canadian Press, just after the Ontario Superior Court of Justice gave the U.S. retailerB次元官网网址檚 Canadian branch permission to start selling off its merchandise.
At a hearing at Osgoode Hall in Toronto, lawyer Jeremy Dacks, who represented Nordstrom, said the company has B次元官网网址渨orked hard to achieve a consensual path forwardB次元官网网址� with landlords, suppliers and a court-appointed monitor to find an orderly way to wind down the business.
The monitor, Alvarez & Marsal Canada, suggested five potential third-party liquidators and Nordstrom was approached by another five. The company decided to go with a joint venture comprised of Hilco Merchant Retail Solutions ULC and Gordon Brothers Canada, which were involved in the liquidation of Target, Sears and Forever 21 in Canada, Dacks said.
They will oversee the sale of merchandise, furniture, fixtures and equipment, but not goods from third parties, which removed products this past weekend, Dacks said. He added that all sales will be final and no returns will be allowed.
Lawyers for Nordstrom landlords Cadillac Fairview, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Oxford Properties Ltd. and First Capital Realty testified Monday that they were pleased with how B次元官网网址渟moothlyB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渙rganizedB次元官网网址� the process has gone so far.
In approving DacksB次元官网网址� liquidation request, Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz agreed, saying Nordstrom is facing a B次元官网网址渄ifficult time, but this process is unfolding in a very cooperative manner.B次元官网网址�
Nordstrom required court approval to begin the liquidation because it is winding down its Canadian operations under the CompaniesB次元官网网址� Creditors Arrangement Act, which helps insolvent businesses restructure or end operations in an orderly fashion.
Nordstrom will close its six Canadian department store locations and seven Nordstrom Rack shops, which sell designer goods at discount prices.
When Nordstrom announced the move in early March, it said it expected the Canadian stores to close by late June and 2,500 workers to lose their jobs.
The company initiated the exit from the market because chief executive Erik Nordstrom said, B次元官网网址渄espite our best efforts, we do not see a realistic path to profitability for the Canadian business.B次元官网网址�
Nordstrom, an upscale department store chain that primarily sells designer apparel, shoes and accessories, first set its sights on Canada in 2012, opening its first store in Calgary at CF Chinook Centre in September 2014.
Its Canadian presence grew in the years since with massive stores that took up hundreds of thousands of square feet at CF Rideau Centre in Ottawa, CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver, Yorkdale Shopping Centre and CF Sherway Gardens in Toronto.
Then came Nordstrom Rack, which made its Canadian debut in 2018 at Vaughan Mills, a mall north of Toronto. At the time, Nordstrom said as many as 15 more Rack locations could follow.
Nordstrom promised each Rack would deliver savings of up to 70 per cent on apparel, accessories, home, beauty and travel items from 38 of the top 50 brands sold in its Canadian department stores.
Nordstrom had trouble with profitability because of its selection of products and the COVID-19 pandemic, said Tamara Szames, executive director and industry adviser of Canadian retail at the NPD Group research firm, a day after Nordstrom announced its exit.
B次元官网网址淵ou would hear a lot of Canadian saying that the assortment wasnB次元官网网址檛 the same in Canada that it was in the U.S.,B次元官网网址� she said.
She noticed Nordstrom started to shift its product mix away from some luxury brands around 2018 and saw it as a sign that the retailer was struggling to maintain its original vision and integrity.
The pandemic made matters worse because many stores were forced to temporarily close their doors to quell the virus and shoppers were less likely to need some of the items Nordstrom sells like dressy apparel because events had been cancelled.
Despite stores reopening and many sectors rebounding, Szames said the apparel business is the only industry NPD Group tracks that has yet to recover from the health crisis.
B次元官网网址淭he consumer has really been holding back in terms of spendB次元官网网址ithin that industry.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擳ara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
