Hudson's Bay, troubled retailer, is axing 2,000 jobs

Hudson's Bay, which owns Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor and Canada's Hudson's Bay, is cutting 2,000 jobs in North America as the retailer shaves costs and tries to adjust to changes in how people shop.

The Toronto-based company says the cuts will save 350 million Canadian dollars ($260 million) annually by the end of 2018.

Traditional retailers are struggling as consumers buy more online and seek lower prices from fast-fashion and discount chains. Macy's (M) is closing stores, Neiman Marcus has said it's exploring a sale of the company and Nordstrom (JWN) said Thursday that its founding family is considering taking the upscale department store private.

Hudson's Bay said Thursday that its first-quarter sales dropped 3 percent and its loss deepened as stores ran sales and customer traffic dropped.