Hudson's Bay (department store)

This article is about the department store chain. For the parent company, see Hudson's Bay Company.

Hudson's Bay
La Baie d'Hudson
Formerly
  • Hudson's Bay Company (1881–1965)
  • The Bay (1965–2013)
Company typeDivision
IndustryRetail
Founded
Headquarters8925 Torbram Road,
Brampton, Ontario
,
Canada
Number of locations
83 Full Line, 2 Outlet Stores, and 1 Warehouse Store
Area served
Canada
Products
  • Clothing
  • footwear
  • bedding
  • furniture
  • jewellery
  • beauty products
  • electronics
  • housewares
ParentHudson's Bay Company
Websitethebay.com
Footnotes / references
[3][4][5][6]

Hudson's Bay (French: La Baie d'Hudson), also known as The Bay (French: La Baie), is a Canadian department store chain. It is the flagship brand of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), the oldest and longest-surviving company in North America as well as one of the oldest and largest continuously operating companies in the world.[7][8]

Founded on 2 May 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company opened its first department store in 1881 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The chain operated under the company name until 1965, when the stores were rebranded as The Bay. Operating primarily in Western Canada at first, the chain eventually achieved nationwide presence in the second half of the 20th century by opening new locations as well as successively acquiring and converting the department stores Morgan's, Freimans, Simpsons, and Woodward's. In 2013, the chain rebranded as Hudson's Bay; since 2021, the HBC has used the previous The Bay branding for its e-commerce operations, which had been separated from those of the Hudson's Bay retail chain.

As of August 2021, Hudson's Bay operates 86 locations in seven Canadian provinces. Its full-line department stores focus on high-end fashion apparel, accessories, and home goods; flagship stores carry a bigger range and selection of goods than typical locations. The flagship stores are often multi-storey, historic buildings and are in Canada's largest cities (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, and Ottawa). The largest of the flagship stores is the Toronto store on Queen Street, at about 79,000 square metres (850,000 sq ft).[9] Amid the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada and other factors, the chain has closed multiple flagship locations since 2020, including locations in Edmonton, Toronto, and Winnipeg.

  1. ^ "From expansion to contraction: A brief history of HBC". Toronto Star. 4 September 2021.
  2. ^ Carlos, Ann M.; Lewis, Frank D. (6 June 2011). Commerce by a Frozen Sea: Native Americans and the European Fur Trade. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-8122-0482-7.
  3. ^ Shaw, Hollie (13 March 2013). "The Bay gets a new logo for first time in almost 50 years". National Post. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Our History". The Hudson's Bay Company. 2013. Archived from the original on 31 May 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  5. ^ "Hudson's Bay Company History". Government of Manitoba. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  6. ^ "HBC Heritage - Canada's Merchants Since 1670". The Hudson's Bay Company. 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  7. ^ "A Canadian Style Legacy". Hudson's Bay Company. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  8. ^ Williams, Pat (24 October 2009). "Hudson's Bay Company". Canadiana Connection. Archived from the original on 28 February 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Tourism Toronto | What to Do - Shopping". Mytorontomeeting.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2013.