The Bay

The Bay est en fait un Grand Magasin canadien. Pour les français, c’est un peu l’équivalent des Galeries Lafayette ou du Printemps. C’est donc un haut lieu du shopping. Si vous voulez trouver les marques de luxe ça sera ici.
Personnellement, je n’ai pas vraiment fréquenté ce lieu car je trouvais déjà mon bonheur magasinage dans le centre rideau juste en face. Mais chacun ses goûts.

The Bay… what can I say about The Bay… sometimes I wonder if The Bay knows what it wants to be and if it knows how to be it. Overall the selection of the store is good and sometimes great. Unfortunately sometimes it is poor. I think The Bay is trying to turn into a more upscale department store, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Physically the store is not great — it feels dated and in some areas, it does not seem that people are looking after their area. It sometimes feels odd that The Bay has some quality items but the environment in which it is in doesn’t match.
I find the service to be hit and miss as well. If The Bay is looking to become more upscale, then their service has to match. A few times I have dealt with employees who don’t seem to care about my needs. It’s not they are overtly rude, but they don’t seem invested. It’s odd, but it seems that The Bay in Toronto (Yonge and Queen) has gotten all of the attention.
Anyways, despite these issues, The Bay has a lot of sales, and on the whole has a wide selection. Overall I like going there as it is close to where I live and I can pretty much get what I want/​need. I just wish they spent some time working to improve upon the different aspects of customer relations. It isn’t great, but it isn’t bad enough for me to not want to go. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

This Bay is very central in Ottawa. It’s located across the street from the Rideau Centre with a bridge that connects the two. On the other side is the Byward Market.
The place is old… pretty old and small compared to a lot of the newer Bays opening up in the mega malls around Canada.
I found the selection clothing and appliances smaller than a lot of the other Bays.
Today I went to try on a pair of jeans and in each of the change rooms there were pins everywhere. This usually wouldn’t be an issue but trying jeans on required me to take off my shoes and I stepped on a few pins. Seriously people, take a vacuum to the floor!

Despite The Bay being a very large department store located smack dab in the middle of downtown Ottawa, I often forget about this place.
In fact, I never find that it’s really all that busy. The floors of The Bay are broken down by styles — women’s, men’s, kids, groceries and house items.
The main floor is always busy as it’s a thoroughfare for people going between the Rideau Centre and the Byward Market. It’s also an extremely busy cosmetic and makeup store on the main floor.
One issue I have with this place is that it’s often hard to find an employee or an open cash register. If you wait around long enough you should be able to find some assistance but the place sometimes lacks service.
The store is also like a sauna sometimes with poor ventilation.
They do have groceries on the basement floor along with other houseware items. For a couple of years I didn’t even know The Bay at Rideau even had a basement!

This is arguably the biggest Bay I’ve ever been to! I might be mistaken, but I believe it’s actually four floors. All I know is that every time I come here, I always get lost. Sure, there are signs and directories everywhere, but because it’s so large, I get easily distracted walking from one department to the next.
In addition to your usual department store sections, you can also find a pharmacy, salon, optical centre, watch repair, travel agency, and post office here. They also have a really big lingerie section ;)
There is a lot of traffic on the main floor, through the perfume section. Most people walk through it as a shortcut from George Street to Rideau Street. This is usually pretty convenient, especially when it gets really hot or cold out, but it’s terrible for those with sensitive noses and allergies. The people working in this section will be spraying all sorts of perfumes and colognes, and will try to hand you some sort of scented card.
Tip: With all of the restaurants and stores with public restrooms, finding somewhere to go to the washroom downtown on Canada Day is not the most fun. The washroom lines at The Bay are usually short and go very quickly, and they won’t complain if you use one of their many facilities.