Owner of Saks, Lord and Taylor cutting 2,000 jobs

Hudson's Bay Co., which owns Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord and Taylor and Canada's Hudson's Bay, is cutting 2,000 jobs in North America as it 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 is closing stores, Neiman Marcus has said it's exploring a sale of the company and Nordstrom 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.