Hudson’s Bay Netherlands approached Gordon Brothers with a mandate to close 17 stores and effectively exit the Netherlands market.

Gordon Brothers was approached by the Dutch business for overstock reduction programmes during the last couple of years. Hudson’s Bay Netherlands had taken over parts of the former iconic department store chain, V&D, after they went bankrupt in late 2015. However, the business had difficulties over the years in getting the Hudson’s Bay concept started in Europe, eventually leading to the decision to retreat from the European market.

Subsequently, all Hudson’s Bay businesses in Europe were taken over by the German/Austrian retail conglomerate SIGMA Retail Holdings in 2019. Hudson’s Bay Netherlands was not part of that M&A transaction which ultimately led to our engagement for the wind-down of the business on a guaranteed basis in a pre-agreed timeframe of three months (between October and December of 2019).

Gordon Brothers was selected because of our extensive knowledge and experience of the Dutch market and our previous relationship with the parent company in the US.

Gordon Brothers provided a team of 25 professionals to sell out over €70m of retail inventory. The sale was supported with additional augment inventory bought by Gordon Brothers to enrich the assortment and the results.

Beginning on 1 October 2019, the project saw the closure of 17 big box department stores and the successful sell-out of a significant amount of inventory, sold on a guaranteed financial basis, and in the agreed timeframe.

Overall, the client was very happy with the financial and operational results.