Woot! The Bay now on YLF Collect

The Bay is The Hudson's Bay--it is a department store. It was established by a charter from the King Charles II (and headed up by his cousin Rupert) in the 1670's. The charter gave the company access to all the land and rivers that emptied into The Hudson's Bay. That is about 1/3 the land in Canada!

Basically, the company sent out men to trap and trade for furs from the Native people and sold them to merchants in England. To help the new company along, the King made wearing top hats (made from beaver pelts) mandatory in England.

Unfortunately, The Bay fell onto hard times. In 2008 it was acquired by the same company which owns Lord and Taylor's--and so is no longer Canadian.

It is the oldest operating commercial corporation in North America.

11 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

Laura, the Bay is short for Hudson's Bay--an iconic Canadian department store chain which used to be much like Macy's but has recently been upscaled to be more competitive with the likes of Nordstrom's. The stores are now branded as Hudson's Bay and are owned by the same outfit--the Hudson Bay Company--which also recently bought Lord and Taylor from Macy's so it could upscale L&T in much the same way.
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....and-taylor

11 years ago

Inge

(website)

Moderator

Happy collecting everyone

11 years ago

donnat

Veteran

Alana. Well done!

11 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Brilliant explanations, Alana and Gaylene! And thank you, Greg!

11 years ago

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Yes, thank you Greg! And Alana, for pointing that out. And Gaylene and Alana for the history lesson.

the Bay a stones throw from where I live was one of the ones that closed... I miss it. Not that I used it much when it was there... But now that I appreciate online shopping, it would be VERY handy....

11 years ago

Alana in Canada

(website)

Veteran

So sorry, Elizabeth. It is handy having a physical store close by. Here, the iconic downtown Bay store closed.

Thank you, Gaylene. I didn't know they had upscaled Lord and Taylor, too. I am very happy we now have the kind of store we do.

The only reason the city I live in exists is because it was established as a fur trading post, way, way back. That it has become such a booming metropolis is another story!

11 years ago