| Activity | The Hudson's Bay Company (French: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson), abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" ("La Baie" in French) is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada. The company is headquartered in the Simpson Tower in Toronto, Ontario.
The company was incorporated by English royal charter in 1670 as The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay and functioned as the de facto government in parts of North America before European states and later the United States laid claim to those territories. It was at one time the largest landowner in the world, with Rupert's Land having 15% of North American acreage. From its long-time headquarters at York Factory on Hudson Bay, the company controlled the fur trade throughout much of British-controlled North America for several centuries. Undertaking early exploration, its traders and trappers forged early relationships with many groups of First Nations/Native Americans. Its network of trading posts formed the nucleus for later official authority in many areas of Western Canada and the United States. In the late 19th century, its vast territory became the largest component in the newly formed Dominion of Canada, in which the company was the largest private landowner.
With the decline of the fur trade, the company evolved into a mercantile business selling vital goods to settlers in the Canadian West. Today the company owns several retail chains including in Canada and the US including; The Bay, Lord & Taylor, Zellers, and Home Outfitters. The Hudson's Bay Company Archives, a collection of the company's many records and maps, are located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The company was owned by Hudson's Bay Trading Company, the portfolio company of the United States private equity firm NRDC Equity Partners, which also owned U.S. department store chain Lord & Taylor. On 23 January 2012, The Financial Post reported that Richard Baker had dissolved Hudson’s Bay Trading Co., and Hudson's Bay Company would operate both The Bay and Lord & Taylor. This new entity would be run by The Bay CEO Bonnie Brooks. CEO Brendan Hoffman would leave Lord & Taylor and take over as CEO at the department store chain Bon Ton. Baker would remain governor and CEO of the business and Donald Watros would stay on as chief operating officer
Wikipedia Accessed August 2012 |