When you walk into a La Maison Simons store, the space feels airy and inviting. Depending on which of the retailer’s branches you enter, you might notice a giant bow-tie sculpture by Douglas Coupland (Squamish nation territory in British Columbia), a three-storey mural by Maya Gohill that stretches from the top to the bottom of your escalator ride (Calgary), or a green roof complete with beehives (Mississauga, Old Quebec, and Laval).
These curated shopping spaces are a far cry from what some consumers might associate with department stores: dim lights, overcrowded clothing rails, and sales associates that are nowhere to be found. For many Canadians, the first department store that jumps to mind is Hudson’s Bay. The once-massive empire is now a shell of its former self, with the company shutting down four of its stores in the past two years, including locations in Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Dorval, Quebec. Other large stores in Canada, like Sears and Eaton’s, have succumbed to what writers and analysts have called the “death of the department store.” Meanwhile, across the border, Lord & Taylor and Neiman Marcus have reshaped the way they operate following bankruptcy filings. It’s not hard to see why: the brick-and-mortar landscape was struggling even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and Amazon and other online sellers have only made buying online more appealing in the past few years.
