Dive Brief:

• Upscale American department store Saks Fifth Avenue, its Off 5th discount stores, and the web have carried Toronto-based Hudson’s Bay Co.’s profits into the stratosphere, the company said Thursday. Q4 earnings tripled to 111 million Canadian dollars.

• The company said Q4 sales rose 9.3% to C2.63 billion ($2.11 billion), with same-store sales up 3.2%. Saks stores saw a 2.6% bump, and its off-price Off 5th stores saw a 12.1% jump. Web sales increased a big 35% to C$304 million, it said.

• The company expects continued growth this year and said it will open more Off 5th stores and invest in more digital initiatives.

Dive Insight:

Hudson’s Bay purchase of Saks two years ago caused a certain amount of head-scratching, but the move has worked out well so far for the Canadian retail company. Saks will open in Canada for the first time this year.

Last week the company announced the departure of Marigay McKee as Saks Fifth Avenue president after just a little over a year on the job, to be replaced by Marc Metrick, who was key in the company's acquisition and development of the U.S. department store.

“Sales growth, further progress with the Saks integration and continued strength at HBC Digital has us well-positioned to deliver on our fiscal 2015 strategic priorities and initiatives,” executive chairman Richard Baker said in a statement.