Categories: All Business

Biz fix: Will NRDC inject the Bay with some style?

In the money:… NRDC Equity Partners, owner of the upscale American Lord & Taylor

by Duncan Hood on Thursday, July 17, 2008 7:06pm - 0 Comments

In the money: NRDC Equity Partners, owner of the upscale American Lord & Taylor department store chain, finally achieved its goal of buying HBC. As a consumer I’m thrilled (in a guilty kind of way), mainly at the prospect of seeing my dowdy local Bay store get a facelift and start offering clothing brands I want to buy. I even like their pick for CEO. Today it was announced that Jeffrey Sherman, former president and COO of the Polo Retail Group, is the Bay’s new top gun. With experience overseeing the Polo stores internationally and looking after Club Monaco for a while, he might be able to inject the Bay with a little style.

Trading down: Yet another automotive plant is laying off workers. This time it’s Sterling Trucks, in St. Thomas, Ont., which just axed 720 people. I have a nasty feeling we’re going to be reading news stories like that for a while…

Number cruncher: Royal LePage Real Estate Services predicts that the price of a Canadian house will “rise only modestly” this year, meaning by 3.5 per cent. Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada is predicting an inflation rate of 4 per cent by year end. That means after inflation, housing prices may actually be going down.

Boom or gloom: The price of oil is tumbling (though still astronomically high). Is that good for Canada or bad?

Ticker tape: A new trade accord will allow doctors, nurses and others to work in any province, no matter where they live (Ontario, kiss your doctors goodbye, they’re heading west)… and CTV has a surprise hit, called Flashpoint

Tags: Flashpoint, HBC, housing, Lord & Taylor, Royal LePage

More by Duncan Hood

Shenping

An inflation rate of 4%? In the last few months, my rent has gone up 10%, my groceries 15-20%, utilities close to 10%. With student loans taking 40% of my take-home, I don’t spend on anything else.

Thank you, Bank of Canada, for making me feel like my recent 4% raise means something.
Duncan Hood

Hi Shenping,

Would you mind sending me a quick email? I’d like to use your comment in a story I’m writing. (Just click on the Email button at the top of this post.)

Thanks!
Duncan
Two Hats

OFF TOPIC: Saw the announcement today that TransAlta is considering a private equity takeover bid. If it goes ahead (with less than unanimous shareholder approval), everyone will be forced to sell their stakes to the buyer. I’m getting increasing upset that my holdings in profitable, reliable, dividend-paying are being expropriated from me by the market.
If the gov’t was taking property in the same manner, there would be no end to the outcry. Why can private business do it without any comment? As a retail investor, it places a burden on me to find another equally worthwhile investment vehicle. And, if I have non-monetary reasons for supporting the business also, the problem is compounded.

Does anyone else see it this way?
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Out West

Really bad timing (July 2008) for an acquisition in the retail sector. The Bay is headed on the way to bancrupcy, likely sooner than later. A bunch of leveraged buyout gurus buying it will not help that situation. Through Zucker and previous management, the Bay has become an embarassing poorly run junk shop when compared to what it once was. They have uninterested, surly staff (if you can even find one) and there stores are decrepid and run down. They are heading the way of Simpsons, Eatons Woodwards and others. I once was a loyal customer and spent a lot of money in the Bay, but could be bothered to even walk through there useless trash depositories any more. They would much more money closing the stores, and selling them off for real estate value. I would give them less than 2 years. Good riddance to these mismanaged eyesores!