TORONTO — Canadian Bonnie Brooks, the new president and CEO of the Bay chain of department stores, has a tough job ahead, an analyst said Tuesday following the announcement of her appointment.

Although Brooks has plenty of retail experience, “she has quite the task ahead of her when she gets here,” said Kosta Michalopoulos, senior consultant at Kircher Research Associates Ltd., a Toronto-based retail industry consultancy.

“It’s a really rough landscape she’s going to be inheriting.”

Brooks’ appointment is the latest in a series of senior management changes since parent Hudson’s Bay Co. was purchased last month from the widow of U.S. businessman Jerry Zucker, who died in April.

“Zucker had lots of dreams but not much changed,” said Michalopoulos.

“There’s going to have to be a lot of change (and) the new administration is probably expecting that.”

But, he added, “I’m not sure how much they’ve budgeted to completely revamp the brand and the real estate that they own.”

When purchasing HBC Richard Baker, a principal with new owner NRDC Equity Partners, said Lord & Taylor planned to launch 10 to 15 stores in the country, filling a gap in the Canadian retail landscape between the mid-market Bay department stores and the more upscale Holt Renfrew chain. NRDC also owns Lord & Taylor, an upscale retailer.

He also talked about potentially splitting up some of the Bay’s larger multi-floor stores into various labels, for example installing a Zellers on one floor and a Lord & Taylor on another.

“The role to transform the Bay from its existing format to world class was too compelling to pass up,” said Brooks. “Building exceptional retail destinations is not only my profession, it’s my passion.”

She said she looks forward to acquiring “new prestige brands” for the Bay, “many of whom I have had strong partnerships with for several years.”

Brooks, who is currently working in Asia, has more than 25 years experience in the retail industry in Canada and abroad, including at Holt Renfrew.

She takes up her new position with the 338-year-old company in September.

“Bonnie has spent more than 25 years building prestige retail formats around the world, like Holt Renfrew, Lane Crawford, Harvey Nichols and leading designer brand stand-alone stores in Asia,” said Jeffrey Sherman, president and CEO of Hudson’s Bay Co.

Most recently, she was president of the Lane Crawford Joyce Group based in Hong Kong, a chain of 500 stores across nine Asian countries.

In Canada, she is best known for her time at Holt Renfrew where she held several positions including executive vice-president/general merchandise manager and senior vice-president of marketing, responsible for strategic planning, merchandise buying, and designer brand acquisition.

Brooks’ “retail acumen will assist her as she elevates the Bay to a new position within the Canadian retail landscape; one in which the Bay will be a premiere department store experience with better brands and service,” Sherman said.

Sherman, a 60-year-old veteran of executive roles at U.S. retail icons such as Bloomingdales department stores and Polo Ralph Lauren Corp., took over at Hudson’s Bay Co. early last month.

He has said he intends to focus on what customers want when it comes to all of HBC’s banners — including the Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters — rather than trying to be everything to everybody.

Brooks appointment comes after the recent announcement that Mark Foote, also a seasoned Canadian retail executive, would head Zellers, the company’s discount retail format.