wrecking ball coming for former hudson's bay store at windsor's devonshire mall
2 minute read
the former hudson's bay store at the devonshire mall is shown on thursday, july 2, 2026.
dan janisse
the new owner of windsor’s old hudson’s bay store plans to tear down the vacant retail space and replace it with a redesigned entrance to devonshire mall.
the fate of the mall’s former anchor outlet is far different from many other vacant hudson’s bay company (hbc) stores across canada, which are undergoing redesigns and redevelopment.
primaris real estate investment trust (reit), which owns the rest of devonshire mall, announced this week it bought the vacant hbc site. the company holdings now include 10 former hbc properties across canada.
“we have made substantial progress advancing our leasing and redevelopment initiatives across the portfolio, including the former hbc spaces, where a significant majority of space is now leased or in advanced negotiations,” primaris coo patrick sullivan said in a media release.
“the substantial leasing completed to date will deliver very attractive returns with strong rental rate growth, while enhancing traffic and tenant mix across our shopping centres.”
primaris announced to investors this week it bought the windsor hbc property for $4.5 million in a deal that closed on june 5.
the company said it owns 10 former hbc properties with a total of more than 1.2 million square feet. the priority for most of those properties is to execute long-term leases with single-tenant and multi-tenant configurations when possible.
the second strategy would be to subdivide the spaces to accommodate multiple large format tenants or other “high-value” commercial retail units.
but in windsor, it’s the wrecking ball.
the former hudson’s bay store at the devonshire mall is shown on thursday, july 2, 2026.
dan janisse
“primaris plans to demolish this space and redesign a new mall entrance,” the company stated in its update to investors.
the company has not revealed an intended timeline for demolition of the former windsor hbc store.
property manager aaron edwards said thursday he can’t comment. primaris ceo alex avery did not respond to a request for comment.
advertisement
hbc, founded in 1670, was the oldest corporation in north america. the iconic canadian brand was also much older than the country itself, which celebrated its 159th birthday on wednesday.
but it became a casualty in the long decline of the traditional anchor department store amid the proliferation of online shopping.
the failing company began liquidating its stores in march 2025. the devonshire mall location shut down in june 2025.
the local hbc closure followed the demise of the sears store, at the opposite end of devonshire mall, in january 2018. the empty sears store was demolished in the summer of 2024. sportchek and mark’s work warehouse now stand in the redeveloped space.
apart from stating it will design a new mall entrance, the company has given no details on what shoppers can expect to see in its place.
various fates are in store for former hbc stores across canada.
in banff, the former two-level department store space was redeveloped and is now split between premium brands lululemon and arc’teryx.
another developer known for converting offices into residential space has entered into a purchase agreement for the former hbc site in calgary.
in toronto, there is a proposal to convert most of the former bay location at younge and bloor streets into a self-storage facility.
share story
