Beaver pelt sales still in terminal decline
▲ Hudson’s Bay Company
Now that’s Saks appeal
Canada’s oldest store has spruced itself up for the digital age—and it’s paying off. Hudson’s Bay announced this week that they saw $176 million in profit in the first few months of this year, driven in part by strong online sales. This is after posting a net loss of $82 million in same quarter a year earlier. Also helping matters—their purchase of chic American retailer Saks last November. So the company that started out buying beaver pelts in the Canadian wild is now selling handbags to New York’s socialite set. Sadly, Canadians will have to wait for 2016 for their own Saks locations. When you’re a 300 year-old business, you can afford to be patient.
▼ GM
The “switch from hell” is an understatement
General Motors fired 15 people this week for “acting inappropriately,” the latest fallout from its ongoing recall scandal. The company failed to alert the public to a faulty ignition switch that can shut down the engine and cause drivers to lose control. Given it took more than a decade for the problem to surface and it resulted in 13 deaths, saying that employees acted inappropriately seems like an understatement. The company has already paid a $35 million fine and is now promising to compensate victims and their families. So there’s apparently more than one way to make a major corporation say it’s sorry.
Blogs & Comment
Winners & Losers: The Bay has Saks appeal while GM stalls out
Beaver pelt sales still in terminal decline
By James Cowan
▲ Hudson’s Bay Company
Now that’s Saks appeal
Canada’s oldest store has spruced itself up for the digital age—and it’s paying off. Hudson’s Bay announced this week that they saw $176 million in profit in the first few months of this year, driven in part by strong online sales. This is after posting a net loss of $82 million in same quarter a year earlier. Also helping matters—their purchase of chic American retailer Saks last November. So the company that started out buying beaver pelts in the Canadian wild is now selling handbags to New York’s socialite set. Sadly, Canadians will have to wait for 2016 for their own Saks locations. When you’re a 300 year-old business, you can afford to be patient.
▼ GM
The “switch from hell” is an understatement
General Motors fired 15 people this week for “acting inappropriately,” the latest fallout from its ongoing recall scandal. The company failed to alert the public to a faulty ignition switch that can shut down the engine and cause drivers to lose control. Given it took more than a decade for the problem to surface and it resulted in 13 deaths, saying that employees acted inappropriately seems like an understatement. The company has already paid a $35 million fine and is now promising to compensate victims and their families. So there’s apparently more than one way to make a major corporation say it’s sorry.