The Bay's Paddlewheel restaurant in Winnipeg closing

The Paddlewheel restaurant, a mainstay of The Bay's downtown store in Winnipeg, will close later this month, company officials have confirmed.

Officials with the Hudson's Bay Company and the Compass Group, a food services company, confirmed to CBC News that the longtime eatery will shut down on Jan. 24.

Officials did not specify why it's shutting down the Paddlewheel, except to say in a statement that the closure supports "The Bay's continued efforts to improve and deliver an exceptional shopping experience to our customers."

The restaurant in the downtown store, at the corner of Portage Avenue and Memorial Boulevard, features a simulated paddlewheel steamship alongside one wall and painted steam clouds on the ceiling.

Some of the seating gives the illusion of being on a paddlewheel deck.

Once an immensely popular restaurant that has served generations of Winnipeggers, the Paddlewheel appears to have fallen out of favour in recent years.

In 2011, The Bay said it was revamping 24 of its in-store restaurants across Canada, including the Paddlewheel.