It’s not “The Bay” anymore; it’s now “Hudson’s Bay”- a part of the re-positioning of the oldest commercial corporation in North America, which has no doubt seen some rebranding in its time.
And while the department store is getting some good coverage for its partnership with the considerably hipper TopShop, it also deserves some applause for a few of the physical changes it has made inside and out of this venerable edifice, especially those which have restored some of the heritage features.
Up on the sixth floor, where the men’s department has been moved, they’ve uncovered and restored the skylight that used to be a feature of a long-departed restaurant:
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Most visible, of couse, has been the replacement of the heavy, clumsy canopies with glass awnings (still not entirely appropriate to the building). Best of all: formal entrances, complete with crests, to grace the main doors off the streets:
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Not all, actually. There is one entrance that punches its way into the facade in order to give direct access to the TopShop franchise. 
“All we wanted was high presence on the street and we looked like our own store,” (TS managing director Mary Homer said). “It’s as simple as that.”
The downtown Vancouver location was particularly attractive because it has four entrances, which creates exceptional flow, Likeman said.
And two of them come off the SkyTrain corridors:
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While ‘The Bay’ never ignored this incredible transit asset, it seemed unsure how to treat it. For years, the main access to the store off the Expo Line corridor was shielded at night by a metal canopy covered in graffiti – and the other entrances seemed secondary, as though, yes, we we know you’re there, transit users, but don’t expect that we’re going out of our way to entice you.
That’s changed:
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The immersive experience of shopping at 120 beats a minute, expected by the young who pour into downtown along the rapid-transit lines, is seamlessly integrated into the design of the public spaces:
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This may not be everyone’s idea of progress, but it at least says that transit is now being taken seriously by ‘Hudson’s Bay’ – as the dominant mode by which people move and which the marketers now target as their first priority, two doors to one.
