Montreal shoppers say goodbye to The Bay

Sunday is the last day shoppers can browse through Hudson’s Bay stores before they close their doors for good.

Crowds have been browsing through the remaining racks and shelves of products, though much of the inventory has been picked over, and many sections of the downtown Montreal department store are completely empty.

“Honestly, I’m really sad,” expressed one woman as she flipped through the remaining tops in the women’s fashion department. “I actually, I used to work at The Bay back when I was in university, so I used to always come here for work clothes or just stuff for my kids.”

While other shoppers gathered over the jewelry counters and piles of linens, some came for the old display items that had been brought out of storage, including fake wheels of cheese and Christmas decorations.

“Well, I’m very sad because a lot of big stores are closing and that it was the only place where I could find everything,” lamented another shopper.

None of the Bay employees CTV spoke to were comfortable being interviewed, but all of them said they were sad, and many were perplexed the company couldn’t find a way to save the stores.

One worker told us the last few weeks have been the busiest he’s seen the store in a decade, and while customers say they’re sad, he wishes they’d come to shop when they needed them most.

The employees who are left say they’re getting a small bonus for staying on until the end of the month.

While they won’t get severance pay, the company has said it’s seeking WEPPA, the Wage Earner Protection Program Act, to assist terminated employees.

Earlier this month, Hudson’s Bay announced it is selling the intellectual property for its coloured-stripes motif to Canadian Tire.