Canadian department store group Hudson’s Bay is planning to open 60 stores in the Netherlands in due time, with or without the takeover of the V&D department store’s locations, the Volkskrant says on Thursday.

The paper bases its claim on sources close to the talks on the future of V&D, which went bankrupt at the end of last year. The stores Hudson’s Bay is considering bringing to the Netherlands are along the lines of Belgium’s Galeria Inno and Saks Off 5th, the paper says.

Group chairman Richard Baker told the paper: ‘We are always interested in the option of entering a select group of European countries as part of our growth strategy. The Netherlands is definitely included.’

Since V&D went bust, there have been intensive talks between the owners of the retail locations and teams from Hudson’s Bay, the VK says. The company is also active in Germany and recently took over 137 shops from the Kauthof chain.

Dutch retailer Ronald Kahn is also in talks with V&D’s receivers. He wants to take over some two-thirds of the 62 V&D outlets. While that would be the receivers’ preferred option in terms of jobs and suppliers, some property owners have doubts about Kahn’s finances, the Volkskrant says.