The head of the union representing workers at the Hudson's Bay location in Windsor calls a decision to liquidate the business 'very sad.'
President of Unifor Local 240, Jodi Nesbitt, says it's something they were somewhat prepared for, but it's still hard.
"Even though they've seen the store deteriorating, the lack of investment. The writing, I guess, has been on the wall for them. The reality of it is much harder for them to kind of swallow; it's very sad," she says.
On Friday, an Ontario court gave Canada's oldest company permission to liquidate all but six of its stores starting on Monday.
The approval from Ontario Superior Court judge Peter Osborne allows Hudson's Bay to begin selling off inventory at the bulk of its 80 stores.
The retailer also owns three Saks Fifth Avenue stores and 13 Saks Off 5th locations in Canada through a licensing agreement.
The move comes after Canada's oldest company, which was created in 1670, filed for creditor protection on March 7 to avoid bankruptcy.
Unifor Local 240 represents 9 full-time and 49 part-time employees at the Devonshire Mall location in Windsor.
Nesbitt, says her members will still be reporting to work.
"The judge did make the ruling that employees need to be paid, and that gave us some level of comfort that they'll be getting paid. As they liquidate, I'm sure they will begin layoffs at some point." she says.
Nesbitt says it's really going to be a day-by-day situation.
"It's very hard to predict what's going to happen and how fast it's going to happen. We're just here for our members and making sure, from our union and national union, making sure we're getting information on the pension plan," she says.
The union will be holding a meeting with the membership this weekend to provide the latest information to the workers on the situation.
Hudson's Bay lawyers say the liquidation sales will wrap by June 15, though it didn't outline how deep the discounts may be.
It will vacate the liquidated properties by June 30.
Whether Canadians shop in person or online, they will find Hudson's Bay has paused its loyalty program, which has 8.2 million Canadian members with about $58.5 million in unused points.
It will stop accepting the $24.2 million outstanding gift cards consumers have after April 6-a decision Osborne has urged the company to widely publicize so shoppers aren't caught off guard.
With files from the Canadian Press