Saks Fifth Avenue to open at Hudson’s Bay Queen Street in Toronto

Saks Fifth Avenue is determined to rock the socks off of Toronto shoppers when it opens its first locations in Canada next year. In December, it was announced that Saks would take over Hudson’s Bay Bloor Street, and now it’s been revealed that it will take on Queen Street. The Globe and Mail is reporting that HBC (Hudson’s Bay Company) has sold Simpsons Tower and its Queen Street flagship to Cadillac Fairview Corp. for $650 million. As owner of the adjacent Eaton Centre, Cadillac Fairview will be the Bay’s new landlord, controlling its lease for the next 25 years, officially making the store part of the mall with an upgraded bridge and guaranteed spiff.

As part of the deal, HBC will now lease its retail spot and open a 150,000 square foot Saks location inside of it in the fall of 2015. Saks will also open at Sherway Gardens, boasting an upscale food hall à la Brit stores like Harrods and Selfridges (hello, pleasantly packaged shortbread!)

There’s something eerily relevant about the names bandied around with each chess play: Eaton’s and Simpsons. Both former titans reduced to relics within a century, they should prove at least a bit of context in the latest age of great Canadian retail upheaval.

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