Hudson’s Bay on Queen Street in Toronto has now closed its doors for the remainder of the provincially ordered lockdown, that applies to all non-essential businesses in Toronto and Peel Region. Although Toronto has now been under lockdown since Monday, November 23, the Queen Street location decided to stay open.
The shutdown means the closure of non-essential retail stores for at least 28 days in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The Bay cited that the reason for staying open was because this location has a grocery store, Pusateri’s Fine Foods, on its lower floor. Groceries stores, of course, are an essential service. However, there was doubt on social media over the legitimacy of this claim.
HBC spokesperson, Tiffany Bourre, said in a press release, “We reviewed closely to ensure compliance and, as such, closed all our stores in Toronto and Peel but one, which contained a grocery store.”
Allegedly, the grocery store was actually closed on Monday, which then created the confusion and uproar on social media over Hudson’s Bay remaining open.
By the afternoon on Monday, health officials had publicly addressed this situation and agreed that The Bay cannot allow customers inside. Instead, the department store will offer curbside pickup like several other local businesses have been forced to do.
Hudson’s Bay has now made the decision to comply and has closed its door for the rest of the lockdown.
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