Hudson's Bay

Hudson's Bay, also known as The Bay (French: ), is a Canadian luxury goods 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. , 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 and other factors, the chain has closed multiple flagship locations since 2020, including locations in Edmonton, Toronto, and Winnipeg. History