Home Outfitters Celebrates 50th Store Opening in Burnaby, British Columbia

BURNABY, B.C. — September 10, 2005 — Hudson's Bay Company (Hbc) today announced the grand opening of its 50th Home Outfitters store, located in Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby, British Columbia.

“The opening of our 50th Home Outfitters location in Burnaby marks the strength of this franchise for Hbc, and its growing position in the Canadian specialty retail sector,” said Thomas Haig, President, Hbc Stores and Specialty Division. “Our focus is now on developing as many as 80 locations across Canada, and increasing our profile with consumers as the home décor destination.”

Located primarily in power centre shopping destinations, Home Outfitters has provided Hbc with a strong home décor specialty franchise offering kitchen, bed, bath and décor. Since opening its first location in Ontario in 1997, Hbc has invested in growing Home Outfitters’ position across the country operating stores in seven provinces. Hbc plans to build another six locations in the remainder of 2005 in Thunder Bay, St. Catherine’s, Nanaimo, Royal Oak, Kingston and Boucherville.

Number of stores across Canada since 2002:

“With our broad assortment of fresh, exclusive merchandise for home, Home Outfitters has been a real success, particularly in Western Canada where we have experienced strong comparable store sales growth,” said Nick Padovano, VP and GM, Home Outfitters. “We are pleased to be part of the Burnaby community and look forward to providing customers with an unbeatable selection of brand-name kitchen, bed and bath products, offered at the lowest price everyday. The opening of this location brings the total number of stores in B.C. to eight, with plans to add the ninth, in Nanaimo, later this fall. Western Canada has embraced us - that’s why we plan to have as many as 25 locations in Western Canada within the next five years.”

Home Outfitters is the largest home décor superstore of its kind in Canada with a deep assortment of kitchen, bed, and bath products, amounting to over 25,000 products or skus, and continues to look for new and innovative product for the kitchen, bedroom and home. For example, customers can find a wide variety of coffee markers, from a Black & Decker model for $39.99, to a top of the line, fully automatic Saeco espresso maker for $1,999.99. Home Outfitters carries products to fit every budget.

In addition to its depth of assortment, Hbc’s strategy for Home Outfitters is focused on exclusive brands, the most innovative products and trusted national and private brand names including:

Approximately 20 percent of Home Outfitters brands are exclusive to Hbc, and the new Burnaby store will feature the latest brands like House & Home: Style for Living. This assortment, available at Home Outfitters, includes bedding, bath, dinnerware and storage.

In addition to offering the latest brands for home, Home Outfitters also has a growing gift registry business. Opened in 2003, and linked to the Bay’s registry program, Hbc’s National Gift Registry is now Canada’s largest and Canada’s best gift registry. Home Outfitters has gift registry desks set up in each of its locations. The banner has experienced growth of nearly 40 percent in its gift registry business over last year and intends to double its current registry business.

For more information on Hbc’s Home Outfitters division, please see the ‘Investor Relations’ section of our website for a special presentation deck. This can be found at www.hbc.ca.

Hudson's Bay Company, established in 1670, is Canada's largest department store retailer and oldest corporation. The Company provides Canadians with the widest selection of goods and services available through retail channels that include almost 500 stores led by the Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters chains. Hudson's Bay Company employs nearly 70,000 associates and has operations in every province in Canada.