Hudson’s Bay is in a financial crisis and has been granted court protection from its creditors, as it seeks to restructure the business. Now, Canadians holding gift cards and loyalty points from Canada’s oldest retailer may be wondering if those items have lost their value.
And there are a lot of Canadians in this position: As of Feb. 1, customers held gift cards with a total value of roughly $24.3-million, according to documents the company filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Friday.
The good news is that, at least for now, those cards remain active, and customers can shop with them. Hudson’s Bay will also continue selling gift cards, even as it works on a plan for the future of the business that will include liquidating some of its stores.
“In the view of Hudson’s Bay, honouring outstanding gift cards in its continuing locations will promote goodwill among customers during the proceedings and will assist in maintaining value for stakeholders as a whole by, among other factors, attracting customers to the Canadian retail stores and online,” Hudson’s Bay Co. ULC chief financial officer Jennifer Bewley stated in an affidavit filed in court.
Hudson’s Bay anticipates closing about half its 80 stores in restructuring plan
The story is a bit different for members of the Hudson’s Bay Rewards loyalty program, who earn points they can redeem for purchases in Bay stores. Those points were worth a total of roughly $58.6-million, as of Feb. 1.
For the more than 8.2 million Canadians who do have outstanding points, their value is on hold for now. The loyalty program will be paused during the creditor-protection process “until further notice,” according to the affidavit.
Not everyone who has earned points in the past will be part of that pool, however. Even before the current restructuring, the program was already structured so that points may expire if there was no activity on a loyalty account – in other words, if a customer had not earned or redeemed any points – for two years.
So if it’s been quite a while since a shopper been in a Hudson’s Bay store, their loyalty card may have already lost any value it was carrying.