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

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."