Saks to make Canada debut, in Toronto

Toronto -- Hudson's Bay Company will sell its flagship in downtown Toronto and neighboring office tower for C$650 million ($587.09 million) to an affiliate of commercial real estate developer Cadillac Fairview Corp., and open a full-line, 150,000-sq.-ft. Saks store in the leased-back space.



“This sale-leaseback provides HBC with resources to deleverage and accelerate investment in our growth initiatives,” said Hudson’s Bay CEO Richard Baker the statement. “We continue to explore other options to create additional value through the power and potential of our real estate assets.”



Hudson's Bay, which also owns Lord & Taylor, bought Saks Inc for $2.4 billion last year.



Saks has also agreed to lease space for a full-line store in Toronto's Sherway Gardens mall under the arrangement, Bloomberg reported.



As of August, the company had more than 17 million sq. ft. of owned and ground leased properties from Hudson's Bay, Lord & Taylor and Saks full-line stores, according to its website.



Nordstrom is also getting ready to prepares to open its first store in Canada this year, setting the stage for a battle between two top U.S. luxury chains in the heart of the country's most competitive retail market.