Parent company considering declaring Dutch Hudson's Bay shops bankrupt: report

The parent company of the Hudson's Bay stores in the Netherlands, Karstadt in Germany, is considering closing stores this year or having the company declared bankrupt, the German WirtschaftsWoche reported based on internal documents on Friday.

In December, the Telegraaf reported that Hudson's Bay suffered an 80 million euros loss in the Netherlands last year. According to WirtschaftsWoche, the loss suffered by the Dutch stores is expected to rise to a billion euros by 2028. These poor results are affecting the parent company. Karstadt recorded an operational loss of 20 million euros in February, 50 percent more than in the same month last year. The results in March were also disappointing.

The first Hudson's Bay store opened in the Netherlands in 2017. In March of this year Hudson's Bay opened two new department stores in Utrecht and Amstelveen, NU.nl reports. This brings the total number of Hudson's Bay stores in the Netherlands up to 15. Many of the stores have long-term leases.

Early this year, the executives of the Dutch stores were changed and there was talk of a change of strategy in the Netherlands. The "customer base" had to be broadened and the size of the stores adjusted.