Deep-discount unit surging at Hudson’s Bay

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 6/27/2008 1:11:00 PM

Toronto – Fields, the “extreme-value” format of Canadian retailer Hudson’s Bay Company, is slated to open 40 new stores this year, for a total of 198 locations.

Seven of the 10 stores set for June and July openings are in Ontario province, signifying the push eastwards by the chain, which has its base in western provinces and only entered Ontario in 2007.

The company said sales have “surpassed all expectations” in the Fields unit and it is doing very well in Ontario, going from zero stores in early 2007 to a planned 38 by the end of 2008.

“We have been operating in Ontario for ten months now, and the early sales trends indicate that this format serves a need in the communities in which they are located,” said Greg Crowder, gm, Fields Stores. “Fields continues to show enormous strength, limited only by the availability of real estate and potential employees in appropriate markets.”

Fields, founded in 1948, is a deep-discount general merchandise format that operates below the range of Zeller’s, the main HBC mass chain.