Hudson’s Bay Netherlands: problem child for German parent

Internal documents have revealed that German company Karstadt, the parent of Hudson’s Bay Netherlands, is considering closing the Dutch outlets or filing for bankruptcy.

Bad figures

According to a German source, Karstadt is making considerable losses. The department store chain is said to have recorded an operational loss of almost twenty million euros in February, about fifty percent more than in the same month last year. March also saw a negative operational result.

The activities of Hudson’s Bay in the Netherlands are at least partly to blame for these disappointing results, since it is a subsidiary of Karstadt. If the current trend continues, the total loss of the Dutch stores might reach 1 billion euros by 2028. Last year, De Telegraaf already wrote that Hudson’s Bay made a loss of 80 million euros in the Netherlands.

Internal documents

Internal documents from the German department store chain now state that “a closure or bankruptcy of Hudson’s Bay Netherlands later this year would be the most reasonable solution economically”. For now, none of the involved companies have commented on this coverage.

Despite the bad results, Hudson’s Bay still opened two new outlets in Utrecht and Amstelveen recently. The chain now has fifteen stores in the Netherlands.