Pop quiz hotshot... name the oldest and longest-surviving company in North America? If you said the Hudson's Bay Company, you are correct. I'd also accept "The Bay", because that's how I've always thought of the company founded in 1670. The Bay has always been there, and this jingle lives rent-free in my head.
Yes, that's all it costs, when you shop at The Bay! That jingle has always been my first thought when I've seen a Bay in the wild, usually at Sherway Gardens. And even though it's always been there, I can't remember buying a single thing at The Bay. Now Zellers, that's another story!
This month, the Hudson Bay Company filed for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, and following a judicial hearing, will liquidate and close most Hudson's Bay stores. It's the end of an era.
As far as I'm concerned, this era ended in 2008. That's the year Hudson's Bay Company was purchased by the US firm NRDC Equity Partners. That's right my fellow Canadians, The Bay hasn't been Canadian in almost two decades. The Americans hammered the final nail into this historical Canadian institution.
Pity.
