Канаданың «Hudson’s Bay» универмагы тарихы

Canadian department store chain
the department store chain

Hudson's Bay , 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. 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 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 story, historic buildings and are located 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 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.

The diversification of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) became necessary with the decline of fur trade in the latter half of the 19th century, and the Deed of Surrender in which ownership of the North Western Territory and Rupert's Land was transferred from HBC to the newly established country of Canada in 1870. The first Hudson's Bay Company store opened in 1881 in Winnipeg, Manitoba with an inventory consisting of dry goods, groceries, and hardware. HBC reorganized into fur trade, lands sales, and retail divisions in 1910; with the guidance of a director from the British department store Harrods, they began construction of full line department stores in 1913. This "modernization program" resulted the "original six" department stores in Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta; Vancouver and Victoria in British Columbia; Winnipeg in Manitoba; and Saskatoon in Saskatchewan. Hudson's Bay Company made inroads to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec with its acquisition of the Montreal based Morgan's department store chain in November 1960.

The Bay offers products from the Hudson's Bay Company Collection in a dedicated store, including items such as the iconic Point Blankets, coats, bed sheets, bags, T shirts, lotions, scents, and candles. HBC has also partnered with Canadian companies like Virginia Johnson, Pink Tartan, and Klaxon Howl to create exclusive, limited edition merchandise. Customized canoes and oars are also available. HBC has also teamed up with international companies for limited edition products, such as Steiff (heritage teddy bear, limited run of 2 500), and Best Made Axe Co. While the Hudson's Bay Company shops appear mainly in flagship stores and its Banff, Alberta location, products from the Hudson's Bay Company Collection (not including limited edition items) are also available at other locations, most notably the Point Blanket. The four point stripes have also been trademarked worldwide, and are planned to be sold through international retailers which including Lord & Taylor in the US, and Colette in France, in an attempt to market HBC as a brand.

Boutiques for Ralph Lauren are in select locations, including Queen Street, Yorkdale, Bayshore Ottawa, Carrefour Laval, Galeries d'Anjou, Vancouver Downtown, Victoria Downtown, Laurier Québec, and Montreal Downtown. Each boutique contains customized decor, and dedicated company specialists. The Toronto Queen Street and Montreal Downtown store has opened ground floor boutiques for Burberry, Coach Leathergoods, and See by Chloé. Vancouver and Montreal ground floor designer boutiques will follow. The website includes online shopping for home fashions and beauty products, and a gift registry.

The Hudson's Bay Company wordmark was written in Blackletter script before 1965. Lippincott & Margulies designed the "folk friendly" 1965 The Bay logo, which features a stylized yellow "B" that was previously seen on the header of Hudson Bay Company's royal charter from 1670. Morgan's stores in Quebec featured a logo with an "M" stylized similarly to the "B" from 1969 until they were rebranded to La Baie in 1972. The coat of arms is reserved for limited occasions.