Canada’s department suffers again with the loss of Jerry Zucker, CEO of the Hudson Bay Company.

HBC’s CEO has sadly passed away after suffering from cancer of the brain. Jerry Zucker commanded a hostile takeover of Canada’s second incorporation in 2006 and has steered it in the right direction, closing off The Bay stores that were not performing and restructuring Zellers. The Israeli-born philanthropist and son of Holocaust survivors was the first American citizen to  have the position of CEO of the Hudson Bay Company. Jerry Zucker is in Forbes Billionaire List 2006 and is well known for his considerable contributions to various charities. HBC has lost a great leader and will probably up for grabs soon even though his wife, Anita, has become HBC’s first female governor, and has successfully overseen many of Jerry’s ventures. We will wait and see the effects on Montreal’s fashion market. Since the takeover we’ve seen in Montreal the closing of Place Vertu’s The Bay store. Hopefully another sale will not affect the economic situation for retailers negatively.

~ by montrealfashion on April 14, 2008.