View source for Hudson's Bay Company

{{Short description|Canadian retail business group and former fur trading business}}
{{About|the holding company|the department store chain owned by this company|Hudson's Bay (department store)|other uses|Hudson's Bay (disambiguation){{!}}Hudson's Bay}}

{{Infobox company
| name = Hudson's Bay Company
| logo = Hudson's Bay Company Official Logo 2013.svg
| logo_size = 
| logo_alt = 
| logo_caption = 
| image = HBC Logo.JPG
| image_size = 
| image_alt = 
| image_caption = [[Coat of arms of the Hudson's Bay Company|Coat of arms]] plaque on the exterior of the former [[Hudson's Bay flagship store|flagship store]] in [[Downtown Toronto]] (2007)
| former_name = The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay
| type = [[Privately held company|Privately held]]
| industry = [[Retail]]
| genre = [[Department store]]s
| founded = {{start date and age|1670|05|02|df=yes}} in [[London]], [[Kingdom of England|England]]
| founders = {{ubl|[[Médard des Groseilliers]]|[[Pierre-Esprit Radisson]]}}
| defunct = <!--Do not add until liquidation and dissolution is completed.-->
| fate = Creditor protection and liquidation
| successor = 
* [[Canadian Tire]] (Canadian intellectual property)
* 1242939 B.C. Unlimited Liability Co. (liquidation of remaining Canadian assets)
* [[Saks Global]] (spin-off of American assets)
| hq_location = {{plain list|
* [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]
}}
| num_locations = 
| num_locations_year = 
| areas_served = [[Canada]]
| key_people = [[Richard A. Baker (businessman)|Richard Baker]] (governor, executive chairman and CEO)
| revenue = {{increase}} {{CAD|9.4 billion}}
| revenue_year = 2018
| profit = {{decrease}} {{CAD|-631 million}}
| profit_year = 2018
| num_employees = 9,364
| num_employees_year = at liquidation, 2025
| parent = [[NRDC Equity Partners]] (2008&ndash;2025)
| divisions = 
| subsid = [[Hudson's Bay (department store)|Hudson's Bay]] (1881–2025)
{{hidden begin|title=Previously defunct and/or divested}}
{{plain list|
* [[Saks Fifth Avenue]] (2013–2024)
* [[Saks Off 5th]] (2013–2024)
* [[Home Outfitters]] (1998–2019)
* [[Lord & Taylor]] (2012–2019)
* [[Galeria Kaufhof]] (2015–2018)
* [[Gilt Groupe|Gilt]] (2015–2018)
* [[Zellers]] (1978–2013)
* [[Fields (department store)|Fields]] (1978–2012)
* [[Designer Depot]] (2004–2008)
* [[Kmart|Kmart Canada]] (1998)
* [[Woodward's]] (1993)
* [[Simpsons (department store)|Simpsons]] (1978–1991)
* [[Towers Department Stores|Towers]] (1990–1991)
* [[Shop-Rite (Canada)|Shop-Rite]] (1972–1982)
* [[Morgan's]] (1960–1973)
* [[Freimans]] (1972–1973)
* [[I. G. Baker Company]] (1891)
}}
{{hidden end}}
| website = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/www.hbc.com|Archived official website}}
| footnotes = <ref name="Numbered">{{cite web|url=https://financialpost.com/news/hudsons-bay-numbered-company-sell-assets-repay-creditors|title=Hudson's Bay is now just a numbered company as it continues to sell its assets to repay creditors|last=Kari|first=Naimul|work=Financial Post|date=August 13, 2025|accessdate=August 13, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hudson's Bay files for creditor protection, intends to restructure |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hudsons-bay-creditor-protection-1.7477926 |publisher=CBC News |date=2025-03-07 |access-date=2025-03-07}}</ref><ref name="HBCHQ">{{cite web|url= https://www.hbc.com/contact-us/|title=HBC Corporate Headquarters|publisher=Hudson's Bay Company|access-date=July 4, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Austen">{{cite news |last1=Austen |first1=Ian |title=A 355-Year-Old Company That Once Owned One-Third of Canada Is Shutting Down |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/01/world/canada/canada-hudsons-bay-stores-closing.html |access-date=June 1, 2025 |work=New York Times |date=June 1, 2025}}</ref>
}}
{{History of Canada sidebar}}

The '''Hudson's Bay Company'''{{efn|{{langx|fr|Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson}}}} (abbreviated '''HBC''' and colloquially '''Hudson's Bay'''{{efn|{{langx|fr|la Baie d'Hudson}}}}) i<!-- Do not change to "was" until the company is dissolved by the court. The company still exists contrary to some press reports. -->s a Canadian [[holding company]] of [[department store]]s and [[commercial property]]. It is the oldest corporation in North America, founded in 1670 and currently being liquidated. It is headquartered at the [[Simpson Tower]] in [[Toronto]].

The founding [[royal charter]], issued by [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]], granted the company the right of "sole trade and commerce" over the [[Rupert's Land]] territory, the borders of which were based on the [[Hudson Bay drainage basin]]. It controlled the [[fur trade]] throughout [[British America|English]] and later [[British North America]], and was its ''de facto'' government until it relinquished control of the land to [[Canada]] in 1869. The company then diversifed with the ownership and operation of several retail businesses throughout the latter country. It established its [[Hudson's Bay (department store)|namesake department stores]] in 1881, the [[Home Outfitters]] home furnishings stores in 1999, and acquired the [[Zellers]] and [[Fields (department store)|Fields]] discount stores in 1978. It also owned several regional department stores that were eventually converted to The Bay, including [[Morgan's]], [[Simpsons (department store)|Simpsons]], and [[Woodward's]]. Expansions beyond Canada included the United States, where it owned department stores including [[Lord & Taylor]], [[Saks Fifth Avenue]], and [[Saks Off 5th]] in the 2010s; and the [[Netherlands]], where it sold its remaining stores in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jackson |first1=Adam |title=Saks Off 5th Will Become $1 Billion Standalone Online Business |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-21/saks-off-5th-s-online-business-will-become-1-billion-standalone |publisher=Bloomberg |date=21 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Lauren |title=Saks Fifth Avenue owner spins e-commerce site into separate business |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/05/saks-fifth-avenue-owner-spins-e-commerce-site-into-separate-business.html |publisher=CNBC |date=5 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/04/saks-fifth-avenue-parent-hbc-to-acquire-neiman-marcus-group.html|title=Saks Fifth Avenue parent HBC to acquire Neiman Marcus Group in $2.65 billion deal|author=Alex Herring|publisher=[[CNBC]]|date=July 4, 2024|access-date=July 4, 2024}}</ref>

HBC was bought by American businessman [[Jerry Zucker (businessman)|Jerry Zucker]] in 2006, and acquired by [[NRDC Equity Partners]] in 2008 following Zucker’s death. It was operated by the NRDC holding company [[Hudson's Bay Trading Company]] until 2012. It went [[Public company|public]] on the [[Toronto Stock Exchange]] in 2012, and became [[Privately held company|privately held]] in 2020. The company [[Corporate spin-off|spun-off]] its American assets into the holding company [[Saks Global]] in November 2024, and filed for creditor protection in March 2025. By this time, its business consisted only of Hudson's Bay stores and the Canadian locations of Saks. Following the closure of its remaining stores by June 2025 and the subsequent sale of its intellectual property to [[Canadian Tire]], the Hudson's Bay Company was renamed '''1242939 B.C. Unlimited Liability Co.'''  in August 2025.<ref>{{cite news|last=Chan|first=Kenneth|date=March 21, 2025|title= It's official: Hudson's Bay to liquidate, and close all but six stores|url=https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/hudsons-bay-store-closures-liquidiation-official-confirmed|work=[[Daily Hive]]|publisher=Daily Hive Vancouver|access-date=April 24, 2025}}</ref><ref name=Sales/>

== 17th century history ==
[[File:Ruperts land.svg|thumb|[[Rupert's Land]], an area that encompasses the drainage basin of the [[Hudson Bay]]]]

For much of the 17th century, the French colonists in North America, based in [[New France]], operated a ''de facto'' [[monopoly]] in the North American [[fur trade]]. Two [[French colonization of the Americas|French]] traders, [[Pierre-Esprit Radisson]] and [[Médard des Groseilliers]] (Médard de Chouart, Sieur des Groseilliers), Radisson's brother-in-law, learned from the [[Cree]] that the best fur country lay north and west of [[Lake Superior]], and that there was a "frozen sea" still further north.{{sfn|Newman|1985|p=[https://archive.org/details/companyofadventu0000newm_w0f1/page/64 64]}} Assuming this was Hudson Bay, they sought French backing for a plan to set up a trading post on the Bay in order to reduce the cost of moving furs overland. According to [[Peter C. Newman]], "concerned that exploration of the Hudson Bay route might shift the focus of the fur trade away from the [[St. Lawrence River]], the French governor", [[Pierre de Voyer d'Argenson, Vicomte de Mouzay|Marquis d'Argenson]] (in office 1658–61), "refused to grant the [[Coureur des bois|coureurs des bois]] permission to scout the distant territory".{{sfn|Newman|1985|p=[https://archive.org/details/companyofadventu0000newm_w0f1/page/64 64]}} Despite this refusal, in 1659 Radisson and Groseilliers set out for the upper Great Lakes basin. A year later they returned to Montreal with premium furs, evidence of the potential of the Hudson Bay region. Subsequently, they were arrested by French authorities for trading without a licence and fined, and their furs were confiscated by the government.<ref name="Radisson">{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Explorers: Radisson and des Groseilliers |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/explorers/radisson.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016215139/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/explorers/radisson.asp |archive-date=16 October 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref>

Determined to establish trade in the Hudson Bay area, Radisson and Groseilliers approached a group of English colonial merchants in [[Boston]] to help finance their explorations. The Bostonians agreed on the plan's merits, but their speculative voyage in 1663 failed when their ship ran into [[Sea ice|pack ice]] in the [[Hudson Strait]]. Boston-based English commissioner Colonel George Cartwright learned of the expedition and brought the two to England to raise financing.{{sfn|Newman|1985|p=[https://archive.org/details/companyofadventu0000newm_w0f1/page/64 64]}} Radisson and Groseilliers arrived in London in 1665 at the height of the [[Great Plague of London|Great Plague]]. Eventually, the two met and gained the sponsorship of [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine|Prince Rupert]]. Prince Rupert introduced the two to his cousin, the reigning king – [[Charles II of England|Charles II]].{{sfn|Newman|1985|p=65}} In 1668 the English expedition acquired two ships, the [[Nonsuch (1650 ship)|''Nonsuch'']] and the ''Eaglet'', to explore possible trade into Hudson Bay. Groseilliers sailed on the ''Nonsuch'', commanded by Captain [[Zachariah Gillam]], while the ''Eaglet'' was commanded by Captain William Stannard and accompanied by Radisson. On 5 June 1668, both ships left port at [[Deptford]], England, but the ''Eaglet'' was forced to turn back off the coast of Ireland.<ref name="Radisson" />{{sfn|Rich|1958|pp=36, 38, 42}}

The ''Nonsuch'' continued to [[James Bay]], the southern portion of Hudson Bay, where its explorers founded, in 1668, the first fort on Hudson Bay, Charles Fort<ref>{{Cite web |title=1668: Des Groseilliers aboard the 12-metre ship Nonsuch travels to James Bay |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/content/timeline |access-date=5 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage – Timeline |archive-date=1 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001221218/http://hbcheritage.ca/content/timeline |url-status=dead}}</ref> at the mouth of the [[Rupert River]]. It later became known as "Rupert House", and developed as the community of present-day [[Waskaganish]], Quebec. Both the [[fort]] and the river were named after the sponsor of the expedition, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, one of the major investors and soon to become the new company's first governor. After a successful trading expedition over the winter of 1668–69, ''Nonsuch'' returned to England on 9 October 1669 with the first cargo of fur resulting from trade in Hudson Bay.<ref name="Radisson" /> The bulk of the fur – worth £1,233 – was sold to Thomas Glover, one of London's most prominent furriers. This and subsequent purchases by Glover proved the viability of the fur trade in Hudson Bay.{{sfn|Rich|1958|pp=38, 42}}

{{anchor|Hudson's Bay Company Act 1689}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Hudson's Bay Company Act 1689
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of England
| long_title            = An Act for confirming to the Governor and Company trading to Hudson's Bay, their Privileges and Trade.
| year                  = 1689
| citation              = [[2 Will. & Mar.]] c. ''15'' {{Small|Pr.}}
| territorial_extent    = [[England and Wales]]
| royal_assent          = 20 May 1690
| commencement          = 20 March 1690{{efn|Start of session.}}
| repeal_date           =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation   =
| status                = Current
| original_text         =
| collapsed             = yes
}}

[[File:In 1671 the Hudson's Bay Company sold its first furs, in London.png|thumb|Depiction of the first sale of Hudson's Bay fur at [[Garraway's Coffee House]] in London, 1671]]
A royal charter from King Charles II incorporated "The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's Bay" on 2 May 1670.<ref name="charter">{{Cite web |title=The Royal Charter of the Hudson's Bay Company |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/collections/archival/charter/charter |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007100328/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/collections/archival/charter/charter |archive-date=7 October 2015 |access-date=5 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref> The charter granted the company a monopoly over the region drained by all rivers and streams flowing into Hudson Bay in northern parts of present-day Canada, taking possession on behalf of England. The area was named "[[Rupert's Land]]"<ref>{{Cite web |year=2015 |orig-year=1670 |title=Royal Charter of the Hudson's Bay Company |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/collections/archival/charter/charter |access-date=3 December 2020 |website=HBC Heritage |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007100328/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/collections/archival/charter/charter |archive-date=7 October 2015 |quote=[...] the said Land be from henceforth reckoned and reputed as one of our Plantations or Colonies in America, called Rupert's Land.}}</ref> after Prince Rupert,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Isaac |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=faxMAAAAMAAJ |title=Names and Their Histories: A Handbook of Historical Geography and Topographical Nomenclature |publisher=Rivingtons |edition=2nd |location=London |publication-date=1898 |page=240 |chapter=Rupert's land |year=1898 |quote=Rupert's Land, an immense territory on [[Rupert River|Rupert's River]], south-west of Hudson's Bay, was discovered in 1668 by Captain [[Zachariah Gillam|Zacharias Gillam]], and named after Prince Rupert, the first governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, constituted in 1670 by Charles II, who granted Rupert's Land to Prince Rupert and other noblemen.|author-link=Isaac Taylor (priest) |access-date=3 December 2020}}</ref>
the first governor of the company appointed by the King. This drainage basin of Hudson Bay spans {{convert|3861400|km2|sqmi}},<ref>{{Cite web |year=1985 |title=Canada Drainage Basins |url=http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/archives/5thedition/environment/water/mcr4055 |access-date=24 November 2010 |website=The National Atlas of Canada, 5th edition |publisher=Natural Resources Canada |archive-date=4 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304184849/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/archives/5thedition/environment/water/mcr4055 |url-status=dead}}</ref> comprising over one-third of the area of modern-day Canada, and stretches into the present-day north-central [[United States]]. The specific boundaries remained unknown at the time. Rupert's Land would eventually become Canada's largest land [[Timeline of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory transfer|"purchase"]] in the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=McIntosh |first1=Andrew |last2=Smith |first2=Shirlee Anne |date=2006-02-07 |title=Rupert's Land |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ruperts-land/ |access-date=3 May 2017 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada}}</ref>

The HBC established six posts between 1668 and 1717. Rupert House (1668, southeast),{{sfn|Voorhis|1930|p=152}} [[Moose Factory]] (1673, south){{sfn|Voorhis|1930|p=119}} and Fort Albany, Ontario (1679, west){{sfn|Voorhis|1930|p=30}} were erected on James Bay; three other posts were established on the western shore of Hudson Bay proper: [[New Severn]] (1685),<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Christianson |first=David J. |title=New Severn or Nieu Savanne: The Identification of an Early Hudson Bay Fur Trade Post |date=1980 |access-date=2025-03-28 |type=MA thesis |publisher=[[McMaster University]] |url=http://hdl.handle.net/11375/10364 |pages=16, 28|hdl=11375/10364 }}</ref> [[York Factory]] (1684), and [[Churchill, Manitoba|Fort Churchill]] (1717). Inland posts [[Asleep by the frozen sea|were not built]] until 1774. After 1774, York Factory became the main post because of its convenient access to the vast interior waterway-systems of the [[Saskatchewan River|Saskatchewan]] and [[Red River of the North|Red]] rivers. Originally called "factories" because the [[Factor (agent)|"factor"]], i.e., a person acting as a mercantile agent, did business from there, these posts operated in the manner of the Dutch fur-trading operations in [[New Netherland]]. By adoption of the Standard of Trade in the 18th century, the HBC ensured consistent pricing throughout Rupert's Land. A means of exchange arose based on the "[[Made Beaver]]" (MB); a prime pelt, worn for a year and ready for processing: "the prices of all trade goods were set in values of Made Beaver (MB) with other animal pelts, such as squirrel, otter and moose quoted in their MB (made beaver) equivalents. For example, two otter pelts might equal 1 MB".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hbc Heritage {{!}} The Standard of Trade |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/business/fur/standardtrade |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416172949/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/business/fur/standardtrade |archive-date=16 April 2016 |access-date=24 April 2016 |website=hbcheritage.ca}}</ref>
[[File:Indians at a Hudson Bay Company trading post.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Trading at an HBC trading post]]

During the fall and winter, [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] men and European [[fur trapping|fur trappers]] accomplished the vast majority of the animal trapping and pelt preparation. They travelled by [[canoe]] and on foot to the forts to sell their pelts. In exchange they typically received popular trade-goods such as knives, kettles, beads, needles, and the [[Hudson's Bay point blanket]]. The arrival of the First Nations trappers was one of the high points of the year, met with pomp and circumstance. The highlight was very formal, an almost ritualized "trading ceremony" between the chief trader and the captain of the Indigenous contingent who traded on their behalf.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: Business: Fur Trade: Trading Ceremony at York Factory, 1780s |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/business/fur/tradingceremony |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313232933/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/business/fur/tradingceremony |archive-date=13 March 2016 |publisher=HBC Heritage}}</ref> During the initial years of the fur trade, prices for items varied from post to post.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: Business: Fur Trade: Standard of Trade |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/business/fur/standardtrade |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416172949/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/business/fur/standardtrade |archive-date=16 April 2016 |publisher=HBC Heritage}}</ref>

The early coastal factory model of the English contrasted with the system of the French, who established an extensive system of inland posts at native villages and sent traders to live among the tribes of the region, learning their languages and often forming alliances through marriages with Indigenous women. In March 1686 the French sent a [[Hudson Bay expedition (1686)|raiding party]] under the [[Pierre de Troyes, Chevalier de Troyes|Chevalier de Troyes]] more than {{convert|1300|km|abbr= on}} to capture the HBC posts along James Bay. The French appointed [[Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville]], who had shown great heroism during the raids, as commander of the company's captured posts. In 1687 an English attempt to [[Battle of Fort Albany|resettle Fort Albany]] failed due to strategic deceptions by d'Iberville. After 1688 England and France [[King William's War|were officially at war]], and the conflict played out in North America as well. D'Iberville raided Fort Severn in 1690 but did not attempt to raid the well-defended local headquarters at York Factory. In 1693 the HBC [[Battle of Fort Albany (1693)|recovered Fort Albany]]; d'Iberville [[Capture of York Factory|captured York Factory]] in 1694, but the company recovered it the next year.{{sfn|Newman|1986|pp=151–158}}
[[File:La prise fort Bourbon dans la baie d'Hudson en 1694 par les Français.jpg|upright|thumb|Depiction of the [[capture of York Factory]] by French forces in 1694]]
In 1697, d'Iberville again commanded a French naval raid on York Factory. On the way to the fort he defeated three ships of the Royal Navy in the [[Battle of Hudson's Bay]] (5 September 1697), the largest naval battle in the history of the North American Arctic. D'Iberville's depleted French force captured York Factory by laying siege to the fort and pretending to be a much larger army. The French retained all of the outposts except Fort Albany until 1713. A small French and Indian force attacked Fort Albany again [[Battle of Fort Albany (1709)|in 1709]] during [[Queen Anne's War]] but was unsuccessful. The economic consequences of the French possession of these posts for the company were significant; the HBC did not pay any dividends for more than 20 years. See [[Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay]].{{sfn|Newman|1986|pp=160–164}}

== 18th century history ==
With the ending of the [[Nine Years' War]] in 1697, and the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] in 1713 with the signing of the [[Treaty of Utrecht]], France had made substantial concessions. Among the treaty's many provisions, it required France to relinquish all claims to Great Britain on the Hudson Bay, which again became a British possession.{{Sfn|Newman|1985|p=352}} (The [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] had been established following the union of Scotland and England in 1707).

After the treaty, the HBC built [[Prince of Wales Fort]], a stone [[star fort]] at the mouth of the nearby [[Churchill River (Hudson Bay)|Churchill River]].{{sfn|Newman|1986|pp=202–206}} In 1782, during the [[Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War|American Revolutionary War]], a French squadron under [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse]] [[Hudson Bay expedition|captured and demolished]] York Factory and Prince of Wales Fort in support of the American rebels.{{sfn|Newman|1986|pp=366–371}}

[[File:A Canadian Squaw.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Depiction of an Indigenous woman wearing a [[Hudson's Bay point blanket]], {{circa|1850}}]]
In its trade with Indigenous peoples, Hudson's Bay Company exchanged wool blankets, called Hudson's Bay point blankets, for the beaver pelts trapped by Indigenous hunters. By 1700, point blankets accounted for more than 60 per cent of the trade.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Canadian Museum of Civilization Display}}</ref> The number of [[indigo]] stripes (a.k.a. points) woven into the blankets identified its finished size. A long-held misconception is that the number of stripes was related to its value in beaver pelts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: The Hudson's Bay Company Point Blanket: FAQs |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/faq/pointblanketfaq/default#1 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage |archive-date=5 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005233044/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/faq/pointblanketfaq/default#1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A parallel may be drawn between the HBC's control over Rupert's Land with the trade monopoly and government functions enjoyed by the [[East India Company]] over India during roughly the same period. The HBC invested £10,000 in the East India Company in 1732, which it viewed as a major competitor.{{sfn|Rich|1958|pp=38, 42, 491}}

Hudson's Bay Company's first inland trading post was established by [[Samuel Hearne]] in 1774 with [[Cumberland House, Saskatchewan]].<ref name="DNB_Hearne">{{cite DNB |wstitle=Hearne, Samuel |last=Chichester |first=Henry Manners |author-link=Henry Manners Chichester |volume=25 |page=335}}</ref><ref name="Hearne">{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Explorers: Samuel Hearne |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/explorers/samuelhearne.asp |access-date=14 November 2007 |website=Hudson's Bay Company |archive-date=9 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130109220909/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/explorers/samuelhearne.asp |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Conversely, a number of inland HBC "houses" pre-date the construction of Cumberland House, in 1774. Henley House, (HH) established in 1743, inland from Hudson Bay, at the confluence of the [[Albany River|Albany]] and Kenogami Rivers, a prime strategic location between Upland and Lowland Indigenous peoples, as well as the rival English and French traders. HH was dependent on Albany River – Fort Albany for lines of communication. Henley House was sacked in 1754, and its servants killed. Three of the five attackers (rebels?) were apprehended at Albany Fort and hanged on June 21, 1755. HH was raised a few years later, then rebuilt in 1759, only to be sacked again immediately.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company. Henley House |url=http://pam.minisisinc.com/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/121613084/1/2/12?RECORD&DATABASE=AUTHORITY_WEB_INT |website=Archives of Manitoba |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |access-date=10 September 2021}}</ref> Next, the inland houses of Split Lake and Nelson Houses were established between 1740 and 1760. These were dependent on York River – York Factory and Churchill River, respectively. Although not inland, Richmond Fort was established in 1749. This was on an island within Hudson Bay. It was titled a "New Discovery" in 1749, and by 1750 was titled Richmond Gulf. The name was changed to Richmond Fort and given the abbreviation RF from 1756 to 1759, it served mainly as a trade goods and provisions storage location.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fort Richmond |url=http://pam.minisisinc.com/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/121613105/1/1/20?RECORD&DATABASE=AUTHORITY_WEB_INT |website=Archives of Manitoba |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |access-date=10 September 2021}}</ref> Additional inland posts were Capusco River and Chickney Creek, both circa 1750. Likewise, Brunswick (1776), New Brunswick (1777), Gloucester (1777), Upper Hudson (ca. 1778), Lower Hudson (1779), Rupert, and Wapiscogami Houses were established in the 1770s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brunswick House post journals |url=http://pam.minisisinc.com/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/121613139/1/1/7?RECORD&DATABASE=AUTHORITY_WEB_INT |website=Archives of Manitoba |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |access-date=10 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company. New Brunswick |url=http://pam.minisisinc.com/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/121613139/1/3/56?RECORD&DATABASE=AUTHORITY_WEB_INT |website=Archives of Manitoba |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |access-date=10 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company. Gloucester House |url=http://pam.minisisinc.com/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/121613154/1/2/11?RECORD&DATABASE=AUTHORITY_WEB_INT |website=Archives of Manitoba |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |access-date=10 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company. Upper Hudson House |url=http://pam.minisisinc.com/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/121613165/1/16/1578?RECORD&DATABASE=AUTHORITY_WEB_INT |website=Archives of Manitoba |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |access-date=10 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company. Lower Hudson House |url=http://pam.minisisinc.com/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/121613165/1/17/1579?RECORD&DATABASE=AUTHORITY_WEB_INT |website=Archives of Manitoba |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |access-date=10 September 2021}}</ref> These post-date Cumberland House, yet speak to the expanding inland incursion of the HBC in the last quarter of the 18th century. Minor posts also during this time period include Mesackamy/Mesagami Lake (1777), Sturgeon Lake (1778), and Beaver Lake Posts.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company. Mesackamee |url=https://pam.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/121613196/1/1?RECLIST&DATABASE=AUTHORITY_WEB_INT |website=Archives of Manitoba |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |access-date=10 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company. Sturgeon Lake (Ont.) |url=http://pam.minisisinc.com/SCRIPTS/MWIMAIN.DLL/121613212/1/1/17?RECORD&DATABASE=AUTHORITY_WEB_INT |website=Archives of Manitoba |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |access-date=10 September 2021}}</ref>

In 1779, other traders founded the [[North West Company]] (NWC) in [[Montreal]] as a seasonal partnership to provide more capital and to continue competing with the HBC. It became operative for the outfit of 1780 and was the first [[joint-stock company]] in Canada and possibly North America. The agreement lasted one year. A second agreement established in 1780 had a three-year term. The company became a permanent entity in 1783.{{sfn|Newman|1985|p=354}} By 1784, the NWC had begun to make serious inroads into the HBC's profits.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: Acquisitions: Fur Trade: The North West Company |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/acquisitions/furtrade/nwc.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113095508/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/acquisitions/furtrade/nwc.asp |archive-date=13 January 2016}}</ref>

== 19th century history ==
[[File:The Fight at Seven Oaks.jpg|thumb|Depiction of the [[Battle of Seven Oaks]], a violent confrontation between HBC and the [[North West Company]] during the [[Pemmican War]]]]

The North West Company (NWC) was the main rival in the fur trade. The competition led to the small [[Pemmican War]] in 1816, which culminated in the [[Battle of Seven Oaks]] on 19 June 1816.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dick |first=Lyle |date=1991 |title=The Seven Oaks Incident and the Construction of a Historical Tradition, 1816 to 1970 |journal=Journal of the Canadian Historical Association / Revue de la Société historique du Canada |language=en |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=91–113 |doi=10.7202/031029ar |issn=0847-4478 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In 1821, the NWC and Hudson's Bay Company were forcibly merged by intervention of the British government to put an end to the violent competition. Of the 175 posts, 68 of them the HBC's, were reduced to 52 for efficiency and because many were redundant as a result of the rivalry and were inherently unprofitable.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Early Trading Networks |url=http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/themes.aspx?id=earlytrade&sub=earlytrade_east_hudsons&lang=En |access-date=6 October 2015 |publisher=Canadian Geographic magazine |archive-date=7 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007150457/http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/themes.aspx?id=earlytrade&sub=earlytrade_east_hudsons&lang=En |url-status=dead}}</ref> Their combined territory was extended by a licence to the [[North-Western Territory]], which reached to the [[Arctic Ocean]] in the north and, with the creation of the [[Columbia Department]] in the [[Pacific Northwest]], to the [[Pacific Ocean]] in the west. The NWC's regional headquarters at [[Fort Astoria|Fort George]] (Fort Astoria) was relocated to [[Fort Vancouver]] by 1825, making it the HBC's base of operations on the [[Pacific Slope]].{{sfn|Newman|1988|pp=369–370}}

Before the merger, the employees of the HBC, unlike those of the NWC, did not participate in its profits. After the merger, with all operations under the management of [[George Simpson (administrator)|Sir George Simpson]] (1826–60), the company had a corps of commissioned officers: 25 chief factors and 28 chief traders, who shared in the company's profits during the monopoly years. Its trade covered {{convert|7770000|km2|abbr=on}}, and it had 1,500 contract employees.{{sfn|Galbraith |1957 |pp=[{{google books|fOscZfLNOQkC|plainurl=yes|page=8}} 8–23]}}
[[File:Hudsons Bay Company currency to fur traders 1820 Fort York (crop).jpg|thumb|Currency issued by the Hudson's Bay Company, 1820]]
Between 1820 and 1870, the HBC issued its own [[Banknote|paper money]]. The notes, denominated in sterling, were printed in London and issued at York Factory for circulation primarily in the [[Red River Colony]].<ref>{{citation |last=Ryan |first=Michael H. |date=2022 |title=Paper Money of a 'Peculiar Character': The Notes of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1820–1870 |work=SSRN |doi=10.2139/ssrn.4256795}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=McCullough |first=A. B. |date=1996 |title=Money and Exchange in Canada to 1900 |publisher=Dundurn |pages=230–232 |isbn=978-1-5548-8228-1}}</ref>

=== Competition and exploration ===
Although the HBC maintained a monopoly on the fur trade during the early to mid-19th century, there was competition from James Sinclair and [[Andrew McDermot]] (Dermott), independent traders in the Red River Colony. They shipped furs by the [[Red River Trails]] to [[Norman Kittson]],{{sfn|Galbraith|1957|pp=60–72}} a buyer in the United States. In addition, Americans controlled the [[maritime fur trade]] on the Northwest Coast until the 1830s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gibson |first=James R. |url={{google books||plainurl=yes|page=60}} |title=Otter Skins, Boston Ships, and China Goods: The Maritime Fur Trade of the Northwest Coast, 1785–1841 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-7735-2028-8 |location=Montreal, Quebec |pages=60–61 |access-date=6 October 2015}}</ref>

Throughout the 1820s and the 1830s, the HBC controlled nearly all trading operations in the Pacific Northwest region and was based at its headquarters at Fort Vancouver, on the [[Columbia River]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zeller |first=Suzanne |date=1 Jul 2006 |title=Humboldt and the Habitability of Canada's Great Northwest |journal=Geographical Review |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=382–398 |doi=10.1111/j.1931-0846.2006.tb00257.x |bibcode=2006GeoRv..96..382Z |s2cid=159102947}}</ref> Although claims to the region were by agreement in abeyance, commercial operating rights were nominally shared by the United States and Britain through the [[Treaty of 1818|Anglo-American Convention of 1818]], but company policy, enforced via Chief Factor [[John McLoughlin]] of the company's [[Columbia District]], was to discourage US settlement of the territory. The company's effective monopoly on trade virtually forbade any settlement in the region.{{sfn|Newman|1988|p=370}}

=== Additional early presence in present-day United States ===
Over and above the NWC Fort George headquarters site, the HBC carried on the early presence in the region of the NWC when it merged in 1821 with noteworthy sites: [[Spokane House]], [[Fort Okanogan]] and [[Fort Nez Percés]]. [[Fort Colville]] located further North on the Columbia River replaced Spokane House in 1825.

In the mid-1820s, [[Peter Skene Ogden]] and a brigade of over 100 men pushed south to trap in the area that is now the state of [[Utah]]. As one of the notable early European explorers in the region, several locations in northern Utah now bear Ogden's name, including the city of [[Ogden, Utah|Ogden]],<ref>{{Citation | last1 = Despain | first1 = S. Matthew | last2 = Gowans | first2 = Fred R. | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = OGDEN, PETER SKENE | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/o/OGDEN_PETER.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250425012724/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/o/OGDEN_PETER.shtml | archive-date = April 25, 2025 | isbn =9780874804256 | access-date = June 8, 2025}}</ref> the [[Ogden Valley, Utah|Ogden Valley]] and the [[Ogden River]].

[[Fort Umpqua]] was established in 1832 in present-day southern [[Oregon]] after the [[Willamette River]] had been explored up toward its headwaters by mainly the NWC. Nisqually House was built during the same year to establish a presence further North on Puget Sound in present-day State of [[Washington (State)|Washington]], resulting in [[Fort Nisqually]] a few years later closer to present-day Canadian sites.

The HBC established [[Fort Boise]] in 1834 (in present-day southwestern Idaho) to compete with the American [[Fort Hall]], {{convert|483|km|mi|abbr=on}} to the east. In 1837, it purchased Fort Hall, also along the route of the [[Oregon Trail]]. The outpost director displayed the abandoned wagons of discouraged settlers to those seeking to move west along the trail.{{sfn|Mackie|1998|pp=106–107}}
[[File:Hudson's Bay Company express canoe.jpg|thumb|left|HBC officials in an express canoe crossing a lake, 1825]]

HBC trappers were also deeply involved in the early exploration and development of [[Northern California]]. Company trapping brigades were sent south from Fort Vancouver, along what became known as the [[Siskiyou Trail]], into Northern California as far south as the [[San Francisco Bay Area]], where the company operated a trading post at [[Yerba Buena, California|Yerba Buena]] ([[San Francisco]]). The southern-most camp of the company was [[French Camp, California#History|French Camp]], east of San Francisco in the Central Valley adjacent to the future site of the city of [[Stockton, California|Stockton]].  These trapping brigades in Northern California faced serious risks, and were often the first to explore relatively uncharted territory. They included the lesser known [[Peter Skene Ogden]] and [[Samuel Black]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Paterson |first=TW |date=7 September 2019 |title=T.W. Paterson column: Peter Skene Ogden the latest victim of map mending |url=https://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/t-w-paterson-column-peter-skene-ogden-the-latest-victim-of-map-mending/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190916011255/https://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/t-w-paterson-column-peter-skene-ogden-the-latest-victim-of-map-mending/ |archive-date=16 September 2019 |access-date=17 December 2020 |website=BC Local News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Maloney |first=Alice B. |date=March 1936 |title=[[s:en:Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 37/Number 1#9|Hudson's Bay Company in California]] |work=[[Oregon Historical Quarterly]]}}</ref>

The HBC also operated a store in what were then known as the Sandwich Islands (now the [[Hawaiian Islands]]), engaging in merchant shipping to the islands between 1828 and 1859.<ref>Spoehr, A. "A 19th Century Chapter in Hawaii's maritime history" ''Hawaiian Journal of History'' 1988 (vol 22)</ref>

Extending the presence it had built in present-day British Columbia northern coast, the HBC reached by 1838 as far North as [[Fort Stikine]] in the [[Alaska Panhandle]] by present-day [[Wrangell]]. The [[RAC-HBC agreement]] (1839) with the [[Russian American Company]] (RAC) provided for such a continuing presence in exchange for the HBC to supply the Russian coastal sites with agricultural products. The [[Puget Sound Agricultural Company]] subsidiary was created to supply grain, dairy, livestock and manufactured goods out of Fort Vancouver, Fort Nisqually, [[Cowlitz Farm|Fort Cowlitz]] and [[Fort Langley]] in present-day southern British Columbia.

The company's stranglehold on the region was broken by the [[Oregon Trail#Great Migration of 1843|first successful large wagon train to reach Oregon in 1843]], led by [[Marcus Whitman]]. In the years that followed, thousands of emigrants poured into the [[Willamette Valley]] of Oregon. In 1846, the United States acquired full authority south of the [[49th parallel north|49th parallel]]; the most settled areas of the Oregon Country were south of the Columbia River in what is now Oregon. McLoughlin, who had once turned away would-be settlers when he was company director, then welcomed them from his general store at [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]]. He later became known as the "Father of Oregon".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Voorhies Holman |first=Frederick |title=Dr. John McLoughlin, the Father of Oregon |publisher=Nabu Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1279056677}}</ref>

=== Early presence in present-day Canada (British Columbia) ===
The HBC also carried on the early presence in the region of the NWC in present-day central and northern [[British Columbia]] with noteworthy sites: [[Alexandria, British Columbia|Fort Alexandria]], [[Fort St. John, British Columbia|Fort d'Épinette (Fort St. John)]], [[Fort St. James]], [[Prince George (British Columbia)|Fort George]] and [[Kamloops|Fort Shuswap (Fort Kamloops)]].

Since the 1818 Treaty settled the 49th parallel border only as far as the [[Rocky Mountains]], the HBC was looking for a site further West in case the parallel border would become further extended at the end of the 10 years joint occupancy term.  By 1824, the HBC was commissioning an expedition to travel from the [[Fort Astoria|Fort George]] regional headquarter on the southern shore of the [[Columbia River]] all the way to the [[Fraser River]]. The three boats 40 some crew led by the [[James McMillan (fur trader)|James McMillan]] were first to officially ever make it to [[Puget Sound]] from the continent, to reach its northern end into [[Boundary Bay]] and to bypass the mouth of the Fraser. They shortcut through two mainland rivers and a portage in order to finally reach the lower Fraser. Friendly tribes were identified along with subsistence farming land suitable for sustaining a trading post. The first [[Fort Langley National Historic Site|Fort Langley]] was subsequently built (1827), establishing an early settlers long lasting presence in current day southern British Columbia. The fur trade in a wet climate turned out to be marginal and quickly evolved into a salmon trade site with abundant supply in the vicinity.

The HBC stretched its presence North on the coastline with [[Fort Simpson (Columbia Department)|Fort Simpson]] (1831) on the [[Nass River]], [[Fort McLoughlin]] (1833) and the [[Beaver (steamship)|Beaver]] (1836), the first steamship to ever roam the Pacific Northwest for resupplying its coastline sites. The HBC was securing a trading monopoly on the coastline keeping away independent American traders: "By 1837, American competition on the North West Coast was effectively over".{{sfn|Mackie|1998|p=126}}

The HBC gained more control of the fur trade with both the coastline and inland tribes to access the fur rich [[New Caledonia (Canada)|New Caledonia district]] in current day northern British Columbia: "monopoly control of the coastal fur trade allowed the HBC to impose a uniform tariff on both sides of the Coast Mountains".{{sfn|Mackie|1998|p=133}}

By 1843, under pressure from the Americans to withdraw further North with the looming [[Oregon Treaty]] border negotiation finalized in 1846, and strong of its coastal presence on the northern coast,  HBC built [[Fort Victoria (British Columbia)|Fort Victoria]] at the southern end of present-day [[Vancouver Island]] in southern BC. A well sheltered ocean port with agricultural potential in the vicinity would allow the new regional headquarter to further develop the trade on salmon, timber and cranberries. Trade via the Hawaiian post was also increasing. The [[Fort Rupert]] (1849) at the northern end of the island would open up access to coal fields. On the continent mainland, [[Hope, British Columbia|Fort Hope]] and [[Yale, British Columbia|Fort Yale]] (1848) were built to extend the HBC presence on the [[Fraser River]] as far as navigable. Brigades would link a rebuilt [[Fort Langley]] (1840) on the Lower Fraser to [[Kamloops|Fort Kamloops]] by 1850 and the rest of the transportation network to [[York Factory]] on the [[Hudson Bay]] along with the [[New Caledonia (Canada)|New Caledonia district]] fur returns.

=== End of monopoly ===
[[File:A Section of a General Map of the Routes in British North America Explored by the Expedition Under Captain Palliser (1865) (2211818555).jpg|thumb|A section of a map showing the routes explored during the [[Palliser expedition]]]]

The Guillaume Sayer trial in 1849 contributed to the end of the HBC monopoly. [[Guillaume Sayer]], a [[Métis people (Canada)|Métis]] trapper and trader, was accused of illegal trading in furs. The Court of [[Assiniboia]] brought Sayer to trial, before a jury of HBC officials and supporters. During the trial, a crowd of armed Métis men led by [[Louis Riel Sr.]] gathered outside the courtroom. Although Sayer was found guilty of illegal trade, having evaded the HBC monopoly, Judge [[Adam Thom]] did not levy a fine or punishment. Some accounts attributed that to the intimidating armed crowd gathered outside the courthouse. With the cry, "{{lang|fr|Le commerce est libre! Le commerce est libre!}}" ("Trade is free! Trade is free!"), the Métis loosened the HBC's previous control of the courts, which had enforced their monopoly on the settlers of Red River.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

Another factor was the findings of the [[Palliser Expedition]] of 1857 to 1860, led by Captain [[John Palliser]]. He surveyed the area of the prairies and wilderness from Lake Superior to the southern passes of the Rocky Mountains. Although he recommended against settlement of the region, the report sparked a debate. It ended the myth publicized by Hudson's Bay Company: that the Canadian West was unfit for agricultural settlement.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

In 1863, the [[International Financial Society]] bought controlling interest in the HBC, signalling a shift in the company's outlook: most of the new shareholders were less interested in the fur trade than in real estate speculation and economic development in the West. The Society floated £2 million in public shares on non-ceded land held ostensibly by the Hudson's Bay Company as an asset and leveraged this asset for collateral for these funds. These funds allowed the Society the financial means to weather the [[Panic of 1866|financial collapse of 1866]] which destroyed many competitors and invest in railways in North America.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Records of the International Finance Society |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb50-udfs |access-date=16 November 2018 |website=Archives Hub |publisher=[[Jisc]]}}</ref>

[[File:Canada provinces 1867-1870.png|thumb|Map of [[British North America]] in 1870, prior to HBC ceding [[Rupert's Land]] and the [[North-Western Territory]] to Canada]]
In 1869, after rejecting the American government offer of {{CAD|10}}{{nbsp}}million,<ref>{{Cite web |title=John A. Macdonald |url=http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/Politics/pm/johnmacdonald.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405101925/http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/Politics/pm/johnmacdonald.htm |archive-date=5 April 2007 |access-date=17 November 2013 |website=Canada History |publisher=Access HT}}</ref> the company approved the return of Rupert's Land to Britain. The government gave it to Canada and loaned the new country the £300,000 required to compensate HBC for its losses.<ref name="H-2" /> HBC also received one-twentieth of the fertile areas to be opened for settlement and retained title to the lands on which it had built trading establishments.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Hudson's Bay Company |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/hudsons-bay-company |access-date=16 November 2018}}</ref> The deal, known as the [[Deed of Surrender]], came into force the following year. The resulting territory, the [[North-West Territories]], was brought under Canadian jurisdiction under the terms of the [[Rupert's Land Act 1868]], enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Deed enabled the admission of the fifth province, [[Manitoba]], to the [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]] on 15 July 1870, the same day that the deed itself came into force.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: Business: Fur Trade: The Deed of Surrender |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/week/the-deed-of-surrender |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage |archive-date=7 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007091750/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/week/the-deed-of-surrender |url-status=dead}}</ref>

During the 19th century the Hudson's Bay Company went through great changes in response to such factors as growth of population and new settlements in part of its territory, and ongoing pressure from Britain. It seemed unlikely that it would continue to control the future of the West.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Owram |first=Doug |url={{google books|IHZhBKRH080C|plainurl=yes|page=3}} |title=The Promise of the West as Settlement Frontier |date=2007 |work=The Prairie West as Promised Land |publisher=University of Calgary Press |editor-last=Francis |editor-first=R. Douglas |location=Calgary, Alberta |pages=3–28 |access-date=2 February 2015 |editor-last2=Kitzan |editor-first2=C.}}</ref>

=== Shift to department stores ===
{{See also|Hudson's Bay (department store)}}
[[File:Hudsons Bay Company on Cordova Street.jpg|thumb|An [[Hudson's Bay (department store)|HBC store]] in [[Vancouver]], {{circa|1890s}}]]

The modern department store evolved from trading posts at the start of the 19th century, when they began to see demand for general merchandise grow rapidly. HBC soon expanded into the interior and set-up posts along river settlements that later developed into the modern cities of Winnipeg, [[Calgary]] and [[Edmonton]]. In 1857, the first sales shop was established in [[Fort Langley]]. This was followed by other sales shops in [[Victoria, British Columbia|Fort Victoria]] (1859), Winnipeg (1881), Calgary (1884), [[Vancouver]] (1887), [[Vernon, British Columbia|Vernon]] (1887), Edmonton (1890), [[Yorkton]] (1898), and [[Nelson, British Columbia|Nelson]] (1902). The first of the grand "original six" department stores was built in Calgary in 1913. The other department stores that followed were in Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, [[Saskatoon]], and Winnipeg.<ref name="HH-3">{{Cite web |title=Our History: Timelines: Early Stores |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/timeline/early/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927094024/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/timeline/early/ |archive-date=27 September 2015 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=http://www2.hbc.com/hbc/history/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150531192023/http://www2.hbc.com/hbc/history/ |archive-date=31 May 2015 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company}}</ref>

== 20th century history ==
The [[World War I|First World War]] interrupted a major remodelling and restoration of retail trade shops planned in 1912. Following the war, the company revitalized its fur trade and real estate activities, and diversified its operations by venturing into the oil business.<ref name="HBC Heritage">{{Cite web |title=Our History: Overview |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/overview |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001212555/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/overview |archive-date=1 October 2015 |access-date=5 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Builders: Burbidge |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/builders/burbidge |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926115645/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/builders/burbidge |archive-date=26 September 2015 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref> During the [[Russian Civil War]], the company briefly operated in the [[Russian Far East|Siberian far east]], even obtaining an agreement with the [[Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet government]] until departing in 1924.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Declerq |first=Robrecht |date=January 2019 |title=Far Eastern Promises: The Failed Expedition of the Hudson's Bay Company in Kamchatka and Eastern Siberia (1919–1915) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334077224 |journal=Quaestio Rossica |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=571–586 |doi=10.15826/qr.2019.2.394 |via=ResearchGate|hdl=10995/74663 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The company co-founded [[Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas Company]] (HBOG) in 1926 with [[Marland Oil Company]] (which merged with [[Conoco]] in 1929). Although the company diversified into a number of areas, its department store business is the only remaining part of the company's operations, in the form of department stores under the Hudson's Bay brand.<ref name="Funding Universe">{{Cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company History |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/hudson-s-bay-company-history/ |access-date=2 September 2012 |website=Funding Universe}}</ref> The company also established new trading posts in the Canadian Arctic.

=== Indigenous health ===
The medical scientist [[Frederick Banting]] was travelling in the Arctic in 1927 when he realized that crew or passengers on board the HBC paddle wheeler [[Distributor (HBC vessel)|''Distributor'']] were responsible for spreading the influenza virus down the [[Slave River]] and [[Mackenzie River]]. Less than a decade after [[Spanish flu|the 1918 global flu pandemic]], a similar virus spread territory-wide over the summer and autumn, devastating the Indigenous population of the north.<ref name="Jackson-1965">{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=Alexander Young |date=15 May 1965 |title=Men and books: Memories of a fellow artist, Frederick Grant Banting |url=https://insulin.library.utoronto.ca/islandora/object/insulin%3AT10193 |journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal |volume=92 |pages=1077–1084 |via=University of Toronto Libraries}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1925–1949, Historical Timeline of the Northwest Territories |url=https://www.nwttimeline.ca/1925/1928JacksonBanting.htm |access-date=13 March 2019 |website=Historical Timeline of the Northwest Territories |archive-date=5 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205154729/http://nwttimeline.ca/1925/1928JacksonBanting.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> Returning from the trip, Banting gave an interview in Montreal with a ''[[Toronto Star]]'' reporter under the agreement that his statements on HBC would remain off the record.<ref name="Jackson-1965" /> The newspaper nonetheless published the conversation, which rapidly reached a wide audience across Europe and Australia.<ref name="Jackson-1965" /><ref name="Tester-2008">{{Cite journal |last1=Tester |first1=Frank James |last2=McNicoll |first2=Paule |date=Nov 2008 |title=A Voice of Presence: Inuit Contributions toward the Public Provision of Health Care in Canada, 1900–1930 |journal=Social History/Histoire Sociale |volume=41 |issue=82 |pages=535–561 |doi=10.1353/his.0.0034 |s2cid=144773818}}</ref> Banting was angry at the leak, having promised the Department of the Interior not to make any statements to the press prior to clearing them.<ref name="Tester-2008" />

The article noted that Banting had given the journalist C. R. Greenaway repeated instances of how the fox fur trade always favoured the company: "For over $100,000 of fox skins, he estimated that the Eskimos had not received $5,000 worth of goods."<ref name="Tester-2008" /> He traced this treatment to health, consistent with reports made in previous years by RCMP officers, suggesting that "the result was a diet of 'flour, [[hard tack|sea-biscuits]], tea and tobacco,' with the skins that once were used for clothing traded merely for 'cheap whiteman's goods.{{'"}}<ref name="Tester-2008" />

The HBC fur trade commissioner called Banting's remarks "false and slanderous", and a month later, the governor and general manager met Banting at the [[The Omni King Edward Hotel|King Edward Hotel]] to demand a retraction.<ref name="Jackson-1965" /><ref name="Tester-2008" /> Banting stated that the reporter had betrayed his confidence, but did not retract his statement and reaffirmed that HBC was responsible for the death of Indigenous residents by supplying the wrong kind of food and introducing diseases into the Arctic.<ref name="Jackson-1965" /> As [[A. Y. Jackson]], the [[Group of Seven (artists)|Group of Seven]] painter with whom Banting was travelling, noted in his memoir that since neither the governor nor the general manager had been to the Arctic, the meeting ended with them asking Banting's advice on what HBC ought to do: "He gave them some good advice and later he received a card at Christmas with the Governor's best wishes."<ref name="Jackson-1965" />

Banting maintained this position in his report to the Department of the Interior:<ref name="Tester-2008" /><blockquote>He noted that "infant mortality was high because of the undernourishment of the mother before birth"; that "white man's food leads to decay of native teeth"; that "tuberculosis has commenced. Saw several cases at Godhavn, Etah, Port Burwell, Arctic Bay"; that "an epidemic resembling influenza killed a considerable proportion of population at Port Burwell"; and that "the gravest danger faces the Eskimo in his transfer from a race-long hunter to a dependent trapper. White flour, sea-biscuits, tea and tobacco do not provide sufficient fuel to warm and nourish him". Furthermore, he discouraged the establishment of an Arctic hospital. The "proposed hospital at Pangnirtung would be a waste of money, as it could be reached by only a few natives". Banting's report contrasted starkly with the bland descriptions provided by the ship's physician, F. H. Stringer.</blockquote>

=== Latter 20th century ===
[[File:Edificio Henry Morgan, Montreal, Canadá, 2017-08-11, DD 43.jpg|thumb|[[Hudson's Bay Montreal Downtown]]. Originally the flagship store for [[Morgan's]], the department store chain was acquired by HBC in 1960.]]

HBOG also expanded during the 1960s, as it began shipping Canadian crude through a new link to the Glacier pipeline and on to the refinery in [[Billings, Montana]]. The company became the sixth-largest Canadian oil producer in 1967.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=http://www.conocophillips.ca/who-we-are/our-history/Pages/1900s.aspx |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=ConocoPhillips Canada}}</ref>

In 1970, on the company's 300th anniversary, as a result of punishing new British tax laws, the company relocated to Canada, and was rechartered as a Canadian business corporation under Canadian law,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: Timelines: HBC: 1970 |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/timeline/hbc/ |website=HBC Heritage |access-date=19 April 2013 |archive-date=23 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121123055342/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/timeline/hbc/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Head Office functions were transferred from London to Winnipeg. By 1974, as the company expanded into eastern Canada, head office functions were moved to Toronto.

In 1972, the company acquired the four-store [[Shop-Rite (Canada)|Shop-Rite]] chain of [[catalog merchant|catalogue stores]]. The chain quickly expanded to 65 stores in Ontario, but closed in 1982 due to declining sales.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Sweetman |first1=Keri |last2=Harrington |first2=Denise |date=18 November 1981 |title=600 to lose jobs as Bay closes Shop-Rite stores |work=Ottawa Citizen |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19811118&id=2a4yAAAAIBAJ&pg=1164,5107737 |access-date=6 October 2015}}</ref> In these stores, little merchandise was displayed; customers made their selections from catalogues, and staff would retrieve the merchandise from storerooms. The HBC also acquired [[Freimans]] department stores in Ottawa and converted them to The Bay.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: Timelines: Acquisitions |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/timeline/acquisitions/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927122300/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/timeline/acquisitions/ |archive-date=27 September 2015 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref>

In 1973, HBOG acquired a 35 per cent stake in Siebens Oil and Gas, and, in 1979, it divested that interest. In 1980, it bought a controlling interest in Roxy Petroleum.

In 1978, the [[Zellers]] discount store chain made a bid to acquire the HBC; however, the HBC turned the tables and acquired Zellers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HBC Heritage – Zellers |url=https://www.hbcheritage.ca/history/acquisitions/zellers |access-date=27 July 2020 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727155532/https://www.hbcheritage.ca/history/acquisitions/zellers |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1979, Canadian billionaire [[Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet|Kenneth Thomson]] won control of the company in a battle with [[George Weston Limited]], and acquired a 75 per cent stake for $400&nbsp;million.<ref name="CanEncycl_HBC">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Hudson's Bay Company |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/hudsons-bay-company |access-date=6 October 2015 |last=Ray |first=Arthur J. |date=2 April 2009}}</ref> Thomson sold the company's oil and gas business, financial services, distillery, and other interests for approximately $550&nbsp;million, transforming the company into a leaner, more focused operation.  In the 1980s, sales and oil prices slipped, while debt from acquisitions piled up which led to Hudson's Bay Company selling its 10.1 per cent stake in HBOG to [[Dome Petroleum]] in 1981.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Dome Petroleum Limited |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dome-petroleum-limited |access-date=17 June 2010 |last=Sawyer |first=Deborah C. |date=2 February 2006 |edition=online |archive-date=7 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007004645/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/dome-petroleum-limited/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1997, the Thomson family sold the last of its remaining shares.<ref name="CanEncycl_HBC" />

Hudson's Bay Company reversed a formidable debt problem in 1987, by shedding non-strategic assets such as its wholesale division and getting completely out of the oil and gas business. HBC also sold its Canadian fur-auction business to Hudson's Bay Fur Sales Canada (now [[North American Fur Auctions]]). The Northern Stores Division was sold that same year to a group of investors and employees, which adopted [[The North West Company]] name three years later.<ref name="HBC.com HBC Heritage">{{Cite web |title=Hbc Heritage – Timeline |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/timeline/hbc/home |website=hbcheritage.ca |access-date=19 April 2013 |archive-date=2 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102011936/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/timeline/hbc/home |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1991, the Bay agreed to stop retailing [[fur]] in response to complaints from people opposed to killing animals for this purpose.<ref name="cbc.ca">{{Cite web |title=1991: Hudson's Bay Company ends its fur trade – CBC Archives |url=http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/1991-hudsons-bay-company-ends-its-fur-trade |access-date=10 January 2018 |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref> In 1997, the Bay reopened its fur salons to meet consumer demand.<ref name="cbc.ca" />

== 21st century history ==
=== 2000s ===
In December 2003, Maple Leaf Heritage Investments, a [[Nova Scotia]]-based company created to acquire shares of Hudson's Bay Company, announced that it was considering making an offer to acquire all or some of the common shares of Hudson's Bay Company.<ref name="Privco">{{Cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company |url=http://www.privco.com/private-company/hudson-bay-company |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Privco.com}}</ref> Maple Leaf Heritage Investments is a subsidiary of B-Bay Inc. Its CEO and chairman is American businesswoman [[Anita Zucker]], widow of [[Jerry Zucker (businessman)|Jerry Zucker]]. Zucker had previously been the head of the Polymer Group, which acquired another Canadian institution, [[Dominion Textile]].

It had been a member of the [[International Association of Department Stores]] from 2001 to 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|title=List of members|url=https://www.iads.org/web/home-public/2285-list-of-members.php|access-date=2021-06-20|website=www.iads.org}}</ref> On 26 January 2006, the HBC's board agreed to a bid from Jerry Zucker. The South Carolina billionaire financier was a longtime HBC minority shareholder. In a 9 March 2006 press release,<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Hudson's Bay Company Announces Realignment of Senior Management Team and Appoints New Board of Directors |date=9 March 2006 |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |url=http://www.hbc.com/hbc/mediacentre/press/hbc/press.asp?prId=214 |last1=Stauth |first1=Hillary |access-date=6 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060316021530/http://www.hbc.com/hbc/mediacentre/press/hbc/press.asp?prId=214 |archive-date=16 March 2006}}</ref> the HBC announced that Zucker would replace [[Yves Fortier (lawyer)|Yves Fortier]] as governor and [[George Heller]] as CEO, becoming the first US citizen to lead the company. After Jerry Zucker's death, the board named his widow, Anita Zucker, as HBC Governor and HBC Deputy-Governor Rob Johnston as CEO.<ref name="Privco" />

From 2004 to 2008, the HBC owned and operated a small chain of off-price stores called [[Designer Depot]]. Similar to the [[Winners]] and [[HomeSense]] retail format, Designer Depot did not meet sales expectations, and its nine stores were sold.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Eager to Log Onto New Era |url=http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=428721 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516083404/http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=428721 |archive-date=16 May 2008 |access-date=8 April 2008 |website=Financial Post/National Post}}</ref>

On 16 July 2008, the company was sold to [[NRDC Equity Partners]] for just over $1.1 billion,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wong |first1=Tony |title=The Bay sold to U.S. retailer |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/2008/07/17/the_bay_sold_to_us_retailer.html |website=Toronto Star |date=17 July 2008 |access-date=2 February 2022 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029193452/https://www.thestar.com/news/2008/07/17/the_bay_sold_to_us_retailer.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> a private equity firm based in [[Purchase, New York]], which already owned [[Lord & Taylor]], the oldest department store in the United States.<ref name="GT-DEX-2008-19">{{Cite news |last=Bell |first=Kevin |date=1 September 2012 |title=NRDC Buys Hudson's Bay, Says Lord & Taylor to Expand (Update2) |work=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&refer=canada&sid=aycn1XaTmvXI |access-date=16 July 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Friend |first=David |date=16 July 2008 |title=New owner to spruce up Bay |work=Toronto Star |url=https://www.thestar.com/Business/article/461506 |access-date=16 July 2008 |archive-date=22 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022181607/http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/461506 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Canadian and US holdings were transferred to NRDC Equity Partners' holding company, [[Hudson's Bay Trading Company]], as of late 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 July 2008 |title=NRDC Equity snaps up Hudson's Bay Co |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hudsonsbay-idUSN1639158120080716 |work=Reuters}}</ref>

=== 2010s ===
[[File:HBC Logo.svg|thumb|HBC's [[Coat of arms of the Hudson's Bay Company|coat of arms]] logo (used from 2009 to 2013)<ref name="Coat of Arms" />]]

Another HBC chain, [[Fields (department store)|Fields]], was sold to a private firm in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 May 2012 |title=Fields Stores to Flourish Again in Western Canada |url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/964933/fields-stores-to-flourish-again-in-western-canada |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606230619/http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/964933/fields-stores-to-flourish-again-in-western-canada |archive-date=6 June 2012 |access-date=1 June 2012 |publisher=Canada Newswire}}</ref> Established in 1950, Fields was acquired by [[Zellers]] in 1976. When Zellers was acquired by HBC in 1978, Fields became part of the HBC portfolio.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: Acquisitions: Retail: Fields |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/acquisitions/retail/fields |website=HBC Heritage |access-date=16 September 2013 |archive-date=1 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140901003241/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/acquisitions/retail/fields |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

In October 2012, the HBC announced a $1.6 billion [[initial public offering]] (IPO); Baker planned to use the IPO to allow Canadian ownership to return to the company, and to help pay off debts with other partners.

In January 2016, HBC announced it would expand deeper into digital space with the acquisition of an [[e-commerce|online]] flash sales site, the [[Gilt Groupe]], for {{Currency|250 million|USD}}.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Picker |first=Leslie |date=7 January 2016 |title=Saks Owner Clinches Deal for Gilt Groupe |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/business/dealbook/saks-owner-clinches-deal-for-gilt-groupe.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/business/dealbook/saks-owner-clinches-deal-for-gilt-groupe.html |archive-date=2022-01-02 |access-date=23 October 2016 |publisher=[[CBC News]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Langone |first=Alix |date=2018-06-04 |title=Rue La La Buys Gilt Groupe, Combining Two Popular Flash Sale Sites |url=http://fortune.com/2018/06/04/rue-la-la-buys-gilt-groupe-combining-two-popular-flash-sale-sites/ |access-date=6 June 2018 |work=[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]}}</ref> HBC also announced its expansion into the Netherlands in May 2016 with the takeover of 20 former [[Vroom & Dreesmann]] (V&D) sites by 2017. V&D, a historic Dutch department store chain, had gone [[bankrupt]] and shut down in early 2016.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 May 2016 |title=HBC to expand to the Netherlands |publisher=[[CBC News]] |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hbc-bay-saks-netherlands-1.3585549 |access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref> As of November 2017, the company also expanded retail operations into Europe, including five Saks Off Fifth stores in Germany.<ref name="financialpost.com">{{Cite news |last=Shaw |first=Hollie |date=1 November 2017 |title=HBC mulls reported 3&nbsp;billion euro offer for lagging European business |url=http://business.financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/hbc-mulls-reported-3-billion-euro-offer-for-lagging-european-business |access-date=10 January 2018 |newspaper=Financial Post}}</ref>

In early 2017, the Hudson's Bay Company made an overture to [[Macy's]] for a potential takeover of the US department store chain. Later, HBC also considered a purchase of [[Neiman Marcus Group]] Inc. It did not proceed with either deal.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Strauss |first=Marina |date=9 June 2017 |title=No timeline for turnaround as HBC cuts deep |url=https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/hbc-cuts-2000-jobs-in-face-of-retail-headwinds/article35263541/ |access-date=10 January 2018 |website=[[The Globe and Mail]]}}</ref>

On 1 April 2018, HBC disclosed that more than five million credit and debit cards used for in-store purchases had been recently breached by hackers. The compromised credit card transactions took place at Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off 5th, and Lord & Taylor stores. The hack had been discovered by Gemini Advisory, which called the breach "amongst the biggest and most damaging to ever hit retail companies".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wattles |first=Jackie |date=2018-04-01 |title=Saks, Lord & Taylor breach: Data stolen on 5 million cards |url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/01/technology/saks-hack-credit-debit-card/index.html |access-date=6 April 2018 |work=[[CNN Money]]}}</ref> A July 2019 hack of [[Capital One]], which provides HBC Mastercards, did not affect the HBC credit cards or card applications, according to HBC.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/capital-one-data-breach-1.5230287 |title=Everything Canadians need to know about the Capital One data breach |work=CBC News |last=Bennardo |first=Melissa |date=30 July 2019 |access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref>

In June 2019, a consortium including chairman [[Richard A. Baker (businessman)|Richard Baker]], [[Rhône Group]], [[WeWork]], Hanover Investments ([[Luxembourg]]) and Abrams Capital Management announced that it wanted to take the company private.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hirsch |first=Lauren |date=10 June 2019 |title=Chairman of Saks-owner Hudson's Bay Co. puts in bid to take retailer private |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/10/chairman-of-saks-owner-hudsons-bay-company-bids-to-buy-retailer.html |access-date=22 March 2022 |work=[[CNBC]]}}</ref> The group then owned just over 50 per cent of HBC shares. In mid-August, the consortium said that it owned 57 per cent of the HBC shares. By 19 August 2019, however, Canadian investment firm [[Newton Glassman|Catalyst Capital Group Inc.]] said it had acquired enough shares to block the plan. A US company, Land & Buildings Investment Management, the owner of over 6 per cent of the shares, had also criticized the Baker plan.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/saks-owner-hudsons-bay-co-mulls-privatisation-proposal |title=Can Going Private Save Hudson's Bay Company? |work=Business of Fashion |last=Chen |first=Cathaleen |date=10 June 2019 |access-date=22 March 2022 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hbc-catalyst-1.5251855 |title=Catalyst buys 18M HBC shares in move to block privatization plan |work=CBC News |date=19 August 2019 |access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Schechter |first1=Barbara |last2=Edmiston |first2=Jake |date=19 August 2019 |title=Catalyst adds to stake in HBC as battle over retailer's fate heats up |url=https://business.financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/catalyst-adds-to-stake-in-hbc-as-battle-over-retailers-fate-heats-up |access-date=22 March 2022 |work=[[Financial Post]]}}</ref> In March 2020, Baker and a group of shareholders were successful in taking the company private.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shecter |first1=Barbara |date=27 February 2020 |title=Baker's HBC privatization bid approved after plenty of 'noise and aggravation' |url=https://financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/hudsons-bay-co-shareholders-vote-overwhelmingly-to-take-canadas-oldest-retailer-private |access-date=2 February 2022 |website=[[Financial Post]]}}</ref>

HBC sold [[Galeria Kaufhof]], [[Galeria Inno]], [[Gilt Groupe]], and [[Lord & Taylor]] by August 2019. A feature article by [[Bloomberg News]] mentioned that CEO [[Helena Foulkes]], recruited in 2018, "had helped improve the bottom line at Hudson's Bay". She was selling assets "to put the company on more solid financial footing" and could then focus on Saks Fifth Avenue and the Bay. On the other hand, Bloomberg suggested that millennial shoppers prefer to make purchases online, or direct from various brands' own stores, and that HBC "has yet to offer something they can't find somewhere else and risks drifting into irrelevance".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rastello |first1=Sandrine |last2=Robinson |first2=Ashley |date=5 September 2019 |title=Founded in 1670 to Trade Furs, Hudson's Bay Chases Relevance |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-05/hudson-s-bay-millennial-shoppers-are-shunning-department-stores |url-access=subscription |access-date=22 March 2022 |work=[[Bloomberg News]]}}</ref>

=== 2020s ===
In February 2020, shareholders of the company voted in favour of a plan to become a private company at a special meeting of shareholders. Under the plan of arrangement, the company will be owned by a group of continuing shareholders led by HBC governor and executive chairman Richard Baker. Effective 3 March 2020, the company was delisted from the [[Toronto Stock Exchange]], with [[Richard A. Baker (businessman)|Richard A. Baker]] replacing Foulkes as CEO.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Hudson's Bay Company Announces Court Approval of Privatization Transaction |date=2020-02-28 |publisher=[[Business Wire]] |location=Toronto & New York |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200228005441/en/Hudsons-Bay-Company-Announces-Court-Approval-of-Privatization-Transaction |via= |access-date=2025-03-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Deschamps |first=Tara |date=3 March 2020 |title=HBC chairman Richard Baker replacing Helena Foulkes as CEO |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-helena-foulkes-to-step-down-as-hudsons-bay-ceo-chairman-richard/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=[[The Globe and Mail]]}}</ref>

On March 16, 2022, it was announced that HBC and [[Sycamore Partners]] were preparing bids to buy [[Kohl's]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Lauren |date=2022-03-16 |title=Kohl's shares jump 17% after reports say Hudson's Bay, Sycamore are preparing bids |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/16/kohls-shares-jump-after-report-says-hudsons-bay-is-considering-buyout-bid.html |access-date=2022-05-10 |website=[[CNBC]] |language=en}}</ref>

In 2023, Hudson's Bay officially stopped selling animal fur products.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Feitelberg |first=Rosemary |date=2023-03-23 |title=Hudson's Bay Company Officially Goes Fur-free |url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/hudsons-bay-company-officially-goes-fur-free-peta-1235593248/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=[[Women's Wear Daily]]}}</ref>

=== 2025 liquidation and dissolution ===
[[File:Hudson's Bay - Store closing sale - 20250524 - 06.jpg|thumb|Store closing sale in May 2025]]

HBC filed for creditor protection in Canada under the ''[[Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act]]'' on 7 March 2025,<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Hudson's Bay Company ULC, the Operator of Hudson's Bay Stores and TheBay.com, Initiates Restructuring Proceedings Under CCAA in Response to Canadian Retail Industry Challenges |date=2025-03-07 |publisher=[[Business Wire]] |location=Toronto |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250307260606/en/Hudsons-Bay-Company-ULC-the-Operator-of-Hudsons-Bay-Stores-and-TheBay.com-Initiates-Restructuring-Proceedings-Under-CCAA-in-Response-to-Canadian-Retail-Industry-Challenges |access-date=2025-03-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250322094647/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250307260606/en/Hudsons-Bay-Company-ULC-the-Operator-of-Hudsons-Bay-Stores-and-TheBay.com-Initiates-Restructuring-Proceedings-Under-CCAA-in-Response-to-Canadian-Retail-Industry-Challenges|archive-date=2025-03-22}}</ref> after failing to secure financing and consistently delaying in paying suppliers.<ref name="BloombergNews1">{{Cite web |last1=Basu |first1=Reshmi |last2=Sambo |first2=Paula |date=March 7, 2025 |title=Canadian Retailer Hudson's Bay Prepares to File for Bankruptcy |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-07/canadian-retailer-hudson-s-bay-prepares-to-file-for-bankruptcy |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 7, 2025 |website=[[Bloomberg News]] |language=en}}</ref> The filing came during a [[2025 United States trade war with Canada and Mexico|trade war]] with the United States and a poor retail environment after the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.retaildive.com/news/hudsons-bay-co-saks-bankruptcy-trump-tariffs/742009/|title=Hudson's Bay Co. cites Trump tariffs in bankruptcy filing &#124; Retail Dive|website=www.retaildive.com}}</ref> Chief financial officer Jennifer Bewley warned that if funding was not received within days, it would struggle with payroll obligations, lease defaults, and possible store closings.<ref name="CBC1">{{citation|title=Hudson's Bay files for creditor protection, intends to restructure business|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hudsons-bay-creditor-protection-1.7477926|date=2025-03-07|access-date=2025-05-09|work=[[CBC News]] website|agency=The Canadian Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250312191837/https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hudsons-bay-creditor-protection-1.7477926|archive-date=2025-03-12|quote=Bewley said the company would be days away from failing to meet its payroll obligations, if it doesn't receive more funding. It has 9,364 employees, the court filing says.}}</ref> HBC began liquidating 74 Hudson's Bay stores, two Saks Fifth Avenue stores, and all 13 Saks Off Fifth outlets later that month, resulting in 9,000 employee layoffs.<ref name="Insider-2025-03-21">{{Cite web |last=Patterson |first=Craig |date=21 March 2025 |title=Hudson's Bay to Liquidate Most Stores, Six Stay Open |url=https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2025/03/hudsons-bay-to-liquidate-most-stores-six-may-survive/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Retail Insider}}</ref> HBC intended for six Hudson's Bay stores in Ontario and Quebec to stay open.<ref name="CBC1" /> However, on 23 April, the company announced the liquidation of all remaining stores after a court ruling determined that it was unlikely that they would be bought.<ref>{{cite news|last=Deschamps|first=Tara|date=April 23, 2025|title= Hudson's Bay will liquidate last 6 remaining stores, court filing says|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/11146195/hudsons-bay-liquidating-remaining-6-stores/|work=[[Global News]]|publisher=Global News|access-date=April 24, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Deschamps|first=Tara|date=April 25, 2025|title=Hudson's Bay liquidation begins at final stores with markdowns of up to 70 per cent|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/11149066/hudsons-bay-liquidation-final-stores-ontario-quebec/|work=[[Global News]]|publisher=Global News|access-date=April 25, 2025}}</ref> All remaining Hudson's Bay, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Saks Off Fifth stores were permanently closed by 1 June.<ref name="Brandon Gonez">{{Cite web|url=https://brandongonezshow.com/episode/end-of-an-era-hudsons-bay-officially-closes-for-good-8000-people-now-jobless/ |title=End of an Era: Hudson's Bay Officially Closes For Good, 8,000 People Now Jobless|date=1 June 2025|access-date=1 June 2025|website=The Brandon Gonez Show|language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602012434/https://brandongonezshow.com/episode/end-of-an-era-hudsons-bay-officially-closes-for-good-8000-people-now-jobless/ |archive-date=2025-06-02 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

In early May, the liquidator solicited bids for HBC's leases, intellectual property, and real estate.<ref name="TorontoStar1">{{citation|author1-last=Ren|author1-first=Estella|title=Hudson's Bay expects liquidation sales to continue through May, confirms no insider bid has been received|website=[[Toronto Star]] website|url=https://www.thestar.com/business/hudsons-bay-expects-liquidation-sales-to-continue-through-may-confirms-no-insider-bid-has-been/article_25eee5dc-3815-4ba2-835b-9a155c6431f9.html|date=2025-05-07|access-date=2025-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250509204924/https://www.thestar.com/business/hudsons-bay-expects-liquidation-sales-to-continue-through-may-confirms-no-insider-bid-has-been/article_25eee5dc-3815-4ba2-835b-9a155c6431f9.html|archive-date=2025-05-09|quote=Earlier this week, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice overseeing the liquidation of Hudson’s Bay appointed a law firm to represent the company’s active and retired non-unionized employees.}}</ref><ref name="TorontoStar2">{{citation|author1-last=Ren|author1-first=Estella|title=Hudson's Bay receives 17 bids for some of its leases, IP and real estate|website=Toronto Star website|url=https://www.thestar.com/business/hudsons-bay-receives-17-bids-for-some-of-its-leases-ip-and-real-estate/article_993d3daf-bb60-4f67-95fb-29de737cea6c.html|date=2025-05-09|access-date=2025-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250509203015/https://www.thestar.com/business/hudsons-bay-receives-17-bids-for-some-of-its-leases-ip-and-real-estate/article_993d3daf-bb60-4f67-95fb-29de737cea6c.html|archive-date=2025-05-09|quote=Hudson’s Bay will return to court next Tuesday to seek court permission to extend creditor protection until 31 July to complete the liquidation and sale of its assets.}}</ref> By 3 June, HBC had completed its efforts to auction off its store leases. 62 leases had no bidder interest, and were returned to their landlords, and 12 properties were co-owned by RioCan, who decided to put them into receivership.<ref name="TheStar-2025-06-03">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/court-approves-hudsons-bay-ip-sale-to-canadian-tire/article_f0375d88-fdac-45c1-a186-4b2b75371051.html |title=Court approves Hudson's Bay IP sale to Canadian Tire |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |date=2025-06-03 }}</ref> On 23 May, successful bids were made by [[Ruby Liu Commercial Investment Corporation]] for 28 Hudson's Bay store leases.<ref name="TheStar-2025-05-23">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/billionaire-b-c-mall-owner-weihong-liu-signs-deal-to-buy-28-hudson-s-bay/article_2c94cdf1-5968-4f25-8b85-34c4978713dd.html |title=Billionaire B.C. mall owner Weihong Liu signs deal to buy 28 Hudson's Bay Store leases |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |date=2025-05-23 }}</ref> Objections were made by landlords for 23 of the leases, citing an insufficient business plan, financing, or retail expertise.<ref name="G&M-2025-06-20">{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-hudsons-bay-former-landlords-oppose-ruby-liu-stores/ |title=Landlords for 23 former Hudson's Bay locations oppose plans for Ruby Liu department stores |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=2025-06-20 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> On 23 June, the court approved the acquisition of 3 leases where Liu was the landlord.<ref name="TheStar-2025-06-23">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/court-approves-sale-of-three-hudsons-bay-leases-to-billionaire-mall-owner-weihong-liu/article_11c745de-2d90-4716-ad71-fc94749063dc.html |title=Court approves sale of three Hudson's Bay leases to billionaire mall owner Weihong Liu |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |date=2025-06-23 }}</ref> By late July 2025, HBC reached a deal with YM Inc. to sell the leases to five stores in Ontario, Alberta, and Manitoba for $5.3{{Nbsp}}million.<ref name="G&M-2025-07-25">{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-hudsons-bay-reaches-more-lease-deals-across-canada-for-its-locations/ |title=Hudson's Bay reaches more lease deals across Canada for its locations |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=2025-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250726210629/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-hudsons-bay-reaches-more-lease-deals-across-canada-for-its-locations/ |archive-date=2025-07-26 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> At the same time, a deal was reached with Ivanhoe Realties Inc. to sell the lease to a store in a mall owned by [[Ivanhoe Cambridge]].<ref name="TheStar-2025-07-31">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/hudsons-bay-headed-back-to-court-to-get-permission-to-sell-six-leases/article_7534ac39-9051-5dad-995d-0d91b257bacf.html |title=Hudson's Bay headed back to court to get permission to sell six leases |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |date=2025-07-31 }}</ref>

On 27 May, it was announced by the liquidator that HBC's [[intellectual property]] rights had been purchased by [[Canadian Tire]] for $30 million. The property consisted of the Hudson's Bay name, trademarks, logos, coat of arms, and stripes pattern, as well as many slogans, including Zellers's catchphrase, "Lowest price is the law".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/article/court-docs-offer-peek-at-massive-trove-of-hudsons-bay-trademarks-canadian-tire-wants/|title=Court docs offer peek at massive trove of Hudson's Bay trademarks Canadian Tire wants|first=The Canadian|last=Press|date=28 May 2025|website=CTVNews}}</ref> However, the Zellers brand itself was not acquired by Canadian Tire.<ref name="gm3">{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-hudsons-bay-employees-who-lost-jobs-can-apply-for-federal-support/ |title=Court approves Canadian Tire's $30-million acquisition of Hudson's Bay assets |date=2025-06-03 |accessdate=2025-06-04}}</ref><ref name="fn1">{{cite news |url=https://ca.fashionnetwork.com/news/Hudson-s-bay-to-sell-28-leases-to-ruby-liu-for-new-department-store-concept,1734192.html |title=Hudson's Bay to sell 28 leases to Ruby Liu for new department store concept |date=2025-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250604171619/https://ca.fashionnetwork.com/news/Hudson-s-bay-to-sell-28-leases-to-ruby-liu-for-new-department-store-concept,1734192.html |archive-date=2025-06-04 |url-status=live
}}</ref> The purchase of intellectual property by Canadian Tire required that HBC be renamed during the final liquidation proceedings to avoid confusion with the trademark acquired.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2025/06/hudsons-bay-to-rename-following-canadian-tire-deal/|title=Hudson’s Bay to Rename Following Canadian Tire Deal|first=Craig|last=Patterson|date=17 June 2025}}</ref> By August 13, the company changed its name to 1242939 B.C. Unlimited Liability Co.<!-- "Rupert Legacy" was a temporary placeholder name used briefly before the switch to numbered companies across all of it's subsidiaries. It is not the official nor trade name of the numbered companies. -->, which will be responsible for selling the former HBC's leases and auctioning its remaining art and artifacts.<ref name=Sales>{{cite news |last1=Deschamps |first1=Tara |title=Hudson’s Bay and subsidiaries change names to numbered companies |url=https://halifax.citynews.ca/2025/08/13/hudsons-bay-and-subsidiaries-change-names-to-numbered-companies/ |access-date=August 14, 2025 |work=CityNews |date=August 13, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Karim |first=Naimul |date=13 August 2025 |title=Hudson's Bay is now just a numbered company as it continues to sell its assets to repay creditors |url=https://financialpost.com/news/hudsons-bay-numbered-company-sell-assets-repay-creditors |access-date=18 August 2025 |website=[[Financial Post]]}}</ref>

The Heffel Gallery was appointed to auction off 1,700 pieces of art and 2,700 artifacts including the 1670 royal charter.<ref name="CBC-2025-04-24">{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/hudsons-bay-court-permission-auction-charter-artifacts-manitoba-1.7517278 |title=Hudson's Bay artifacts, including royal charter, can go up for auction, court rules |newspaper=[[CBC News]] |date=2025-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250428074104/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/hudsons-bay-court-permission-auction-charter-artifacts-manitoba-1.7517278 |archive-date=2025-04-28 |url-status=live }}</ref> In July 2025, the [[Weston family]] agreed to pay $12.5{{Nbsp}}million for the royal charter document in order to donate it to the [[Canadian Museum of History]] in [[Gatineau, Quebec]], pending court approval. Written on parchment and bearing the seal of King Charles II, the document had been displayed at HBC's head office in Toronto.<ref name="G&M-2025-07-30">{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-hudsons-bay-company-royal-charter-weston-family/ |title=Weston family to buy Hudson's Bay charter to donate to museum in $12.5-million deal  |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=2025-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250731180534/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-hudsons-bay-company-royal-charter-weston-family/ |archive-date=2025-07-31 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Canadian stores ==
=== Hudson's Bay (1881–2025) ===
{{main|Hudson's Bay (department store)}}
[[File:Hudson's Bay Queen Street 2021.jpg|thumb|The former [[Hudson's Bay flagship store]] in Toronto, converted from the Simpsons flagship store (2021)]]

The first Hudson's Bay Company department store opened in [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]] in 1881. The chain was rebranded "the Bay" in 1965,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Infantry |first=Ashante |date=2013-03-06 |title=The Hudson's Bay Company unveils new logo for Canada's oldest department store |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/2013/03/06/the_hudsons_bay_company_unveils_new_logo_for_canadas_oldest_department_store.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-14 |work=[[The Toronto Star]] |language=en-CA |issn=0319-0781}}</ref> and "Hudson's Bay" in 2013.<ref name="gandm-ipo">{{Cite news |last=Strauss |first=Marina |date=17 October 2012 |title=HBC launches IPO as new rivals loom |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |location=Toronto |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/hbc-launches-ipo-as-new-rivals-loom/article4618187/ |access-date=24 October 2012}}</ref> It was the final HBC retail operation at the time of its liquidation in 2025.

HBC acquired the [[Morgan's]] department stores in 1960 and converted its Ontario stores to the Bay by 1968 and its Quebec stores to la Baie in 1973.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Patterson |first1=Craig |date=20 October 2020 |title=Hudson's Bay Company Announces Division to Redevelop Real Estate Assets |url=https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2020/10/hudsons-bay-company-announces-division-to-redevelop-real-estate-assets/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=Retail Insider |publisher=}}</ref>  Before the conversions, HBC updated the Morgan's logo to match the Bay's visual identity in 1965.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: Acquisitions: Retail: Morgan's |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/acquisitions/retail/morgans |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006202035/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/acquisitions/retail/morgans |archive-date=6 October 2015 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref> HBC acquired the [[Simpsons (department store)|Simpsons]] department stores in Ontario and Quebec in 1978 and converted them to the Bay in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HBC Heritage – The Robert Simpson Company |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/history/acquisitions/robert-simpson-company |access-date=11 December 2018 |website=hbcheritage.ca |archive-date=17 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017225005/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/history/acquisitions/robert-simpson-company |url-status=dead }}</ref> The related Simpsons-Sears department stores were not acquired by the Bay, and became [[Sears Canada]] in 1978.

=== Zellers (1978–2013) ===
{{main|Zellers}}
[[File:Kmart Zellers Nepean, ON (38534115376).jpg|thumb|The former Zellers in [[Nepean, Ontario]], converted from Kmart and one of the final three stores (2017)]]

[[Zellers]] was founded in 1931 by [[Walter P. Zeller]], and acquired by HBC in 1978. It expanded in part with the HBC acquisitions and conversions of [[Towers Department Stores]] (1990) and [[Kmart|Kmart Canada]] (1998).<ref name="HBC.com HBC Heritage" />

In September 2011, the HBC announced that it would sell the majority of the Zellers leases for $1.825 billion to the US-based retailer [[Target Corporation|Target]] and shutter all of their remaining locations by early 2013.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Ho |first1=Solarina |last2=Wohl |first2=Jessica |date=2011-01-13 |title=Target takes 1st step outside U.S. with Canada deal |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1326316220110113/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> Target used the acquisition of this real estate as a means to enable its entry in the Canadian market. HBC used some of the proceeds to pay down debt and to invest in growing its Hudson's Bay and Lord & Taylor banners. In January 2013, it was confirmed that three Zellers locations, re-purposed as discount department stores for The Bay and Home Outfitters, would remain open.<ref name="three Zellers stores">{{Cite news |last=Weisblott |first=Marc |title=Zellers will stick around Canada's three biggest cities after Target arrives |work=O.Canada.com |publisher=Postmedia Network |url=http://o.canada.com/2013/01/08/zellers-will-stick-around-canadas-three-biggest-cities-after-target-arrives/ |access-date=14 January 2013 |archive-date=14 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114212716/http://o.canada.com/2013/01/08/zellers-will-stick-around-canadas-three-biggest-cities-after-target-arrives/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite press release |title=Target Finalizes Real Estate Transaction with Selection of 84 Additional Zellers Leases |date=23 September 2011 |publisher=Target Corporation |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |url=http://pressroom.target.com/pr/news/target-finalizes-real-estate-transaction-215949.aspx |access-date=26 September 2011 |archive-date=27 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927021723/http://pressroom.target.com/pr/news/target-finalizes-real-estate-transaction-215949.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Flavelle |first=Dana |date=26 July 2012 |title=Zellers to close last 64 stores as Target moves into Canada |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/zellers-to-close-last-64-stores-as-target-moves-into-canada/article_689f29fb-49fc-5bbf-9994-c8c1be1fdafc.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=[[Toronto Star]]}}</ref><ref name="gandm-ipo" /> The Target Canada chain folded in 2015; the leases were subsequently returned to landlords or re-sold to other retailers.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-05-01 |title=Target returns, auctions off leases on most Canadian properties |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/target-returns-auctions-off-leases-on-most-canadian-properties-1.3057433 |access-date=8 May 2015 |work=[[CBC News]] |publisher=}}</ref> Zellers was still owned by HBC as two remaining stores following the sale of its lease portfolio to [[Target Canada]] in 2011.<ref name="three Zellers stores" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=HBC store locator |url=http://www.hbc.com/storelocator/?langid=en&src=hbc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311201749/http://www.hbc.com/storelocator/?langid=en&src=hbc |archive-date=11 March 2014 |access-date=2 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Zellers store to stay open at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre |url=http://www.thenownewspaper.com/business/Zellers+store+stay+open+Semiahmoo+Shopping+Centre/7800250/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130013814/http://www.thenownewspaper.com/business/Zellers+store+stay+open+Semiahmoo+Shopping+Centre/7800250/story.html#ixzz2Hz7zrhhS |archive-date=30 January 2013 |access-date=14 January 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Those stores closed in January 2020.

In August 2022, the Hudson's Bay Company announced it would be reviving the Zellers brand through online shopping and within Hudson's Bay physical locations in 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Benechetrit |first=Jenna |date=August 17, 2022 |title=Hudson's Bay to resurrect discount retail chain Zellers |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hbc-resurrects-zellers-1.6553473 |access-date=August 17, 2022 |work=[[CBC News]] |pages=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/5866980/hudsons-bay-to-shutter-last-2-zellers-stores-in-toronto-ottawa/ |title=Hudson's Bay to shutter last 2 Zellers stores in Toronto, Ottawa |work=Global News |last=Sagan |first=Aleksandra |date=6 September 2019 |access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref> It operated in a [[store-within-a-store]] format across Canada.

=== Home Outfitters (1999–2019) ===
{{main|Home Outfitters}}

[[File:HomeOutfittersFirstMarkhamPlace.jpg|thumb|Home Outfitters at First Markham Place (now closed) in Markham, Ontario]]

[[Home Outfitters]] originally launched in 1998 as Bed, Bath & More, before being revamped and relaunched under the new name in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/history/ventures/home-outfitters|title=HBC Heritage — Home Outfitters|work=www.hbcheritage.ca|accessdate=23 May 2018|archive-date=24 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524080922/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/history/ventures/home-outfitters|url-status=dead}}</ref> The chain peaked at 69 locations in October 2014.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bourré|first1=Tiffany|title=Bonjour, Quebec! Hudson's Bay Opens First Outlet Store in Province|url=https://www3.hbc.com/press-release-container/bonjour-quebec-hudsons-bay-opens-first-outlet-store-in-province/|website=HBC|accessdate=November 2, 2017|date=October 29, 2014|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107023723/https://www3.hbc.com/press-release-container/bonjour-quebec-hudsons-bay-opens-first-outlet-store-in-province/|url-status=dead}}</ref> It sold [[bedding]], [[towel]]s, [[houseware]]s, and other home accessories.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tencer |first=Daniel |date=23 July 2014 |title=Home Outfitters Closing In Mississauga, Abbotsford, HBC Announces |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/07/23/home-outfitters-store-closings_n_5613595.html |accessdate=23 May 2018 |website=[[HuffPost|Huffington Post]] |publisher=}}</ref> In July 2014, HBC announced that it would begin integrating Home Outfitters into its [[Hudson's Bay (department store)|Hudson's Bay]] retail division (including increased availability of its product line through Hudson's Bay locations and its website), along with the closure of 2 stores.<ref>{{cite web |date=23 July 2014 |title=HBC closes two Home Outfitters stores, one at Square One Mississauga |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/2014/07/23/hbc_closes_two_home_outfitters_stores_one_at_square_one_mississauga.html |url-access=subscription |accessdate=23 May 2018 |work=[[Toronto Star]] |publisher=}}</ref> In 2016, HBC rebranded three Home Outfitters locations in Winnipeg under the banner '''Hudson's Bay Home''' as a pilot.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-04-01 |title=Hudson's Bay opens 3 'Home' concept stores in Winnipeg |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/hudsons-bay-home-stores-winnipeg-1.3517102 |access-date=2018-06-25 |work=[[CBC News]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The stores closed a few years later, along with Home Outfitters. In February 2019, HBC announced all 37 locations of Home Outfitters would be phased out.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/hbc-announces-closure-home-outfitters-stores-canada-2019|title=HBC announces closure of all Home Outfitters stores in Canada|date=21 February 2019|work=[[Daily Hive]]|access-date=21 February 2019}}</ref>

== International stores ==
=== United States ===
==== Lord & Taylor (2012–2019) ====
[[File:Lord & Taylor (16442634756).jpg|thumb|A [[Lord & Taylor]] store in 2015]]

On 24 January 2012, the ''[[Financial Post]]'' reported that Richard Baker (owner of NDRC and governor of Hudson's Bay Company) had dissolved [[Hudson's Bay Trading Company]] and that the HBC would now also operate the [[Lord & Taylor]] chain. At the time, the company was run by president [[Bonnie Brooks]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=America's Lord & Taylor gets some family help |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/americas-lord-taylor-gets-some-family-help/article2311540/}}{{dead link|date=October 2015}}</ref> Baker remained governor and CEO of the business, and Donald Watros stayed on as chief operating officer.<ref name="Hudson's Bay Trading Company dissolved">{{Cite news |last=Shaw |first=Hollie |date=23 January 2012 |title=Hudson's Bay Co. completes purchase of Lord & Taylor: report |work=Financial Post |url=http://business.financialpost.com/2012/01/23/hudsons-bay-co-completes-purchase-of-lord-taylor-report/ |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 2018, HBC in a joint venture sold the building that housed its flagship [[Lord & Taylor]] store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to [[WeWork]] Property Advisors for $850 million. WeWork was set to occupy the uppermost floors of the building, with the rest of the building remaining a flagship space for Lord & Taylor.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=HBC and WeWork Enter into Global, Multi-Faceted Strategic Relationship |date=2017-10-24 |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |location=Toronto & New York |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171024005878/en/HBC-WeWork-Enter-Global-Multi-Faceted-Strategic-Relationship |via=[[Business Wire]] |access-date=2025-03-28 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129005915/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171024005878/en/HBC-WeWork-Enter-Global-Multi-Faceted-Strategic-Relationship |archive-date=2018-01-29}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Hodges |first=David |date=2017-11-01 |title=HBC should accept unsolicited $4.5B offer for German real estate: investor |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/article/hbc-should-accept-unsolicited-45b-offer-for-german-real-estate-investor/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=[[CTV News]]}}</ref> The deal also included the use of floors of certain HBC-owned department stores in New York, Toronto, Vancouver and Germany as WeWork's shared office workspaces.<ref name="financialpost.com" /><ref>{{Cite press release |title=Hudson's Bay Company Responds to Land & Buildings Press Release |date=2 November 2017 |publisher=[[Business Wire]] |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171102005748/en/Hudson%E2%80%99s-Bay-Company-Responds-Land-Buildings-Press |access-date=10 January 2018 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108022729/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171102005748/en/Hudson%E2%80%99s-Bay-Company-Responds-Land-Buildings-Press |archive-date=2017-11-08}}</ref>

In August 2019, HBC announced that it would sell their Lord & Taylor business to [[Le Tote]] Inc., which was to pay {{CAD|99.5 million}} in cash when the deal closes (probably before year end 2019) and an additional {{CAD|33.2 million}} two years later. HBC was to get a 25 per cent equity stake in Le Tote.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=DiNapoli |first1=Jessica |last2=Dowsett |first2=Sonya |date=2019-08-28 |title=Hudson's Bay to sell Lord + Taylor for $100 million |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/business/hudsons-bay-to-sell-lord-taylor-for-100-million-idUSKCN1VI1LV/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831133144/https://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCAKCN1VI1LV-OCABS |archive-date=2019-08-31 |access-date=2025-03-27 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> The buyer would retain the stores' inventory, with an estimated value of {{CAD|284.2 million}}. The deal, expected to close before year end, required HBC to pay the stores' rent for at least three years, leading one news report to describe it as "Not a clean exit". The liability to HBC for the rents was estimated at {{CAD|77 million}} cash per year.<ref>{{cite press release |title=HBC and Le Tote Enter Into Agreement for Acquisition of Lord + Taylor |date=28 August 2019 |publisher=[[Business Wire]] |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190828005408/en/HBC-Le-Tote-Enter-Agreement-Acquisition-Lord |via= |access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://business.financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/not-a-clean-exit-hudsons-bay-sells-lord-taylor-for-133-million |title=Not a 'clean exit': Hudson's Bay sells historic Lord & Taylor for $133 million |work=Financial Post |last=Edmiston |first=Jake |date=28 August 2019 |access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref>

==== Saks Fifth Avenue (2013–2024) ====
[[File:Saks Fifth Avenue flagship Mar 2021 60.jpg|thumb|[[Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store]]. [[Saks Fifth Avenue]] is a chain owned by HBC since 2013.]]
On 29 July 2013, Hudson's Bay Company announced that it would buy [[Saks, Inc.]], operator of the American [[Saks Fifth Avenue]] brand, for [[United States dollar|US$]]2.9&nbsp;billion, or $16 per share.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 July 2013 |title=Saks snapped up by Canada's Hudson's Bay in $2.9bn deal |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23491574 |access-date=29 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Pete |date=29 July 2013 |title=Hudson's Bay to bring Saks to Canada in $2.9B takeover |publisher=[[CBC News]] |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hudson-s-bay-to-bring-saks-to-canada-in-2-9b-takeover-1.1408868 |access-date=6 October 2015}}</ref> The merger was completed on 3 November 2013.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 November 2013 |title=Hudson's Bay completes acquisition of Saks |work=Yahoo Finance |agency=Associated Press |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hudsons-bay-completes-acquisition-saks-193823259.html |access-date=5 October 2015}}</ref> The company also stated that as a result of the purchase, Canadian consumers would see Saks stores arriving in their country soon.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 July 2013 |title=Hudson's Bay to buy Saks, bring stores to Canada |work=Financial Post |agency=Reuters |url=http://business.financialpost.com/2013/07/29/hudsons-bay-to-buy-saks-bring-stores-to-canada/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=7 October 2015}}</ref> After the purchase was finalized, HBC had a net loss of $124.2&nbsp;million in the 2013 3Q due to the cost of the purchase and promotions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moin |first=David |date=11 December 2013 |title=HBC's Net loss Grows to $124.2M |url=http://www.wwd.com/business-news/financial/hbcs-net-loss-grows-to-1242m-7307704?src=n/newsAlert/20131211-2 |url-access=subscription |access-date=11 December 2013 |work=[[Women's Wear Daily]] |publisher=Fairchild Publishing}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Shoulberg |first=Warren |date=22 February 2019 |title=Hudson's Bay Company Teardown Continues With Closing of Home Outfitters, 20 Saks Off Fifth Stores |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenshoulberg/2019/02/22/hbc-closing-home-outfitters-20-saks-off-fifth-stores-as-its-teardown-continues/#45f1a68366c0 |access-date=22 March 2022 |work=[[Forbes]]}}</ref>

[[Saks Global]] purchased the American [[Neiman Marcus Group]] (NMG).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Latham |first1=Tori |date=26 December 2024 |title=Saks Officially Acquires Neiman Marcus for $2.7 Billion |url=https://robbreport.com/lifestyle/news/saks-acquires-neiman-marcus-1236136393/ |website=Robb Report}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Singh |first1=Prachi |date=24 December 2024 |title=Saks Global completes the acquisition of Neiman Marcus |url=https://fashionunited.com/news/business/saks-global-completes-the-acquisition-of-neiman-marcus/2024122363662 |url-access=registration |website=Fashion United |publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Moin |first=David |date=2024-12-11 |title=Saks Owner HBC Secures $2 Billion Bond to Buy Neiman's |url=https://wwd.com/business-news/retail/saks-owner-hbc-secures-2-billion-bond-to-close-deal-to-buy-neiman-marcus-group-1236760588/ |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=[[Women's Wear Daily]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The acquisition was finalized in December 2024 and the purchase cost $2.7 billion.<ref name="SN">{{Cite web |last=Schulz |first=Madeleine |date=2024-12-24 |title=The Saks-Neiman merger is on |url=https://www.voguebusiness.com/story/companies/the-saks-neiman-merger-is-on |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=[[Vogue Business]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The acquisition brought together Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th.<ref name="HBC Heritage-3">{{Cite web |last=Pequeño IV |first=Antonio |date=2024-12-23 |title=Saks Global Inks $2.7 Billion Acquisition Of Neiman Marcus In Amazon-Backed Deal |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/12/23/saks-global-inks-27-billion-acquisition-of-neiman-marcus-in-amazon-backed-deal/ |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=[[Forbes]] |language=en}}</ref> The purchase was supported with financing from [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] (who will work with the group to “to innovate on behalf of customers and brand partners”),<ref name="HBC Heritage-3" /> [[Authentic Brands Group]], [[G-III Apparel Group]] and [[Salesforce]].<ref name="H-2">{{Cite web |last=Moin |first=David |date=2024-12-23 |title=Saks Finalizes $2.7 Billion Deal to Buy the Neiman Marcus Group |url=https://wwd.com/business-news/retail/saks-2-7-billion-deal-neiman-marcus-group-finalized-1236777177/ |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=[[Women's Wear Daily|WWD]] |language=en-US}}</ref> There is also the possibility of store closures across Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.<ref name="H-2" /> In an interview with Vogue Business, Metrick (CEO of Saks Global Operating Group) said that this was only the beginning of the group's ambitions and that they were thinking of what the entity might look like internationally.<ref name="SN" /> On 4 July 2024, Hudson's Bay Company announced it would acquire [[Neiman Marcus Group]] for $2.65 billion, concluding years of negotiations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Peiser |first=Jaclyn |date=2024-07-04 |title=Saks parent company will acquire Neiman Marcus in $2.65 billion deal |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/07/04/saks-neiman-marcus-merger/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-07-05 |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

=== Europe ===
[[File:Galeria Kaufhof Köln (4022-24).jpg|thumb|A [[Galeria Kaufhof]] in [[Köln]]. The chain was owned by HBC from 2015 to 2019.]]
HBC had acquired the German department store chain Galeria Kaufhof and its Belgian subsidiary, [[Galeria Inno]], from [[Metro Group]] in September 2015 for {{USD|3.2 billion}}.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Hudson's Bay Company to Acquire Galeria Holding, Parent of Kaufhof, #1 Department Store in Germany |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |url=http://investor.hbc.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=917844 |access-date=5 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927153037/http://investor.hbc.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=917844 |archive-date=27 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=30 September 2015 |title=Hudson's Bay Company Completes Acquisition of GALERIA Holding |url=http://investor.hbc.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=934427 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625171818/http://investor.hbc.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=934427 |archive-date=25 June 2016 |access-date=4 June 2016 |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company}}</ref>

On 1 November 2017, HBC received an unsolicited offer from Austrian firm [[Signa Holding]] for Kaufhof and other real estate.<ref name=":1" /> An unnamed source told [[CNBC]] that the value of the offer was approximately {{Euro|3 billion}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hirsch |first=Lauren |date=1 November 2017 |title=Saks Fifth Avenue owner continues to face pressure, amid a bid for its European department store |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/01/saks-fifth-avenue-owner-under-pressure-amid-galeria-kaufhof-bid-talk.html |access-date=10 January 2018 |website=[[CNBC]] |publisher=}}</ref> This information on the offer was also reiterated in a press release by activist shareholder Land & Buildings Investment Management, which urged HBC to accept the offer; the company replied that the offer was incomplete and did not provide indication of financing for the deal.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kopun |first=Francine |date=1 November 2017 |title=Hudson's Bay urged to accept bid for German assets |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/11/01/competitor-offers-to-buy-hudsons-bays-german-assets.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=10 January 2018 |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]]}}</ref> In late 2018, Galeria Kaufhof and [[Karstadt]] merged as part of a spin off.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Hummel |first1=Tassilo |last2=Copley |first2=Caroline |last3=Saminather |first3=Nicola |date=2018-09-11 |title=Hudson's Bay, Signa form European retail, real estate joint venture |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hudson-s-bay-m-a-signa-merger/hudsons-bay-signa-form-european-retail-real-estate-joint-venture-idUSKCN1LR0P3/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref>

HBC announced its intent to sell the last 49.99 per cent of Galeria Kaufhof and Galeria Inno shares it held to Austrian firm [[Signa Holding]] in June 2019. The sale of the real estate in Germany had gained {{USD|1.5 billion}} ({{Euro|1 billion}}) for HBC.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hudson-s-bay-divestiture/hudsons-bay-to-sell-lord-taylor-for-100-million-idUSKCN1VI1LV Reuters] Hudson's Bay to sell Lord + Taylor for $100&nbsp;million</ref> At that time, HBC still had a retail operation in the Netherlands, using the Vroom & Dreesmann locations it had purchased in 2017. On 31 August 2019, the company announced that all 15 of those stores would be sold by year end.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2019/06/10/hudsons-bay-sells-european-stake-plans-to-go-private/#36664e3e1dc0 |title=Hudson's Bay Sells European Stake, Might Go Private |last=Loeb |first=Walter |work=Forbes |date=10 June 2019 |access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-31/hudson-s-bay-to-close-dutch-unit-dismiss-1-400-workers-fd-says |title=Hudson's Bay to Close Dutch Unit and Dismiss 1,400 Workers: Report |work=Bloomberg |last=Munsterman |first=Ruben |date=31 August 2019 |access-date=22 March 2022 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== List of retail operations ==
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of retail operations owned by HBC
! Name
! Year<br />founded
! Year<br />acquired
! Year<br />divested
! Year<br />defunct
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| [[Designer Depot]]
| 2004
| {{N/A}}
| 2008
| {{N/A}}
| Sold to INC Group of Companies
|-
| [[Fields (department store)|Fields]]
| 1950
| 1978
| 2012
| {{N/A}}
| Sold to FHC Holdings
|-
| [[Freimans]]
| 1918
| 1972
| {{N/A}}
| 1973
| Converted to the Bay
|-
| [[Galeria Kaufhof]]
| 1879
| 2015
| 2019
| 2019
| 
|-
| [[Gilt Groupe]]
| 2007
| 2016
| 2018
| {{N/A}}
| Sold to Rue La La
|-
| [[Home Outfitters]]
| 1999
| {{N/A}}
| {{N/A}}
| 2019
| 
|-
| [[Hudson's Bay (department store)|Hudson's Bay]]
| 1881
| {{N/A}}
| {{N/A}}
| 2025
| Previously named and still colloquially "the Bay"
|-
| [[I. G. Baker Company]]
| 1866
| 1891
| {{N/A}}
| 1891
| 
|-
| [[Kmart|Kmart Canada]]
| 1963
| 1998
| {{N/A}}
| 1998
| Converted to Zellers
|-
| [[Lord & Taylor]]
| 1826
| 2012
| 2019
| 2021
| Sold to [[Le Tote]]
|-
| [[Morgan's]]
| 1845
| 1960
| {{N/A}}
| 1973
| Converted to the Bay
|-
| [[Saks Fifth Avenue]]
| 1867
| 2013
| 2024
| {{N/A}}
| Spun-off into Saks Global
|-
| [[Saks Off 5th]]
| 1990
| 2013
| 2024
| {{N/A}}
| Spun-off into Saks Global
|-
| [[Shop-Rite (Canada)|Shop-Rite]]
| 1970
| 1972
| {{N/A}}
| 1982
| 
|-
| [[Simpsons (department store)|Simpsons]]
| 1872
| 1978
| {{N/A}}
| 1991
| Converted to the Bay
|-
| [[Towers Department Stores]]
| 1960
| 1990
| {{N/A}}
| 1991
| Converted to Zellers
|-
| [[Woodward's]]
| 1892
| 1993
| {{N/A}}
| 1993
| Converted to the Bay and Zellers
|-
| [[Zellers]]
| 1931
| 1978
| {{N/A}}
| 2013
| Store-within-a-store concept tested within Hudson's Bay from 2023 until 2025
|}

== Brand identity ==
Following the 2012 IPO, HBC had also introduced a new corporate logo of its own (reviving a [[wordmark]] from the original [[Flag of the Hudson's Bay Company|HBC flag]]), but the new logo was not intended to be a consumer-facing brand.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Krashinsky |first=Susan |date=11 March 2013 |title=New logo, old name: The Bay returns to its roots |work=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/new-logo-old-name-the-bay-returns-to-its-roots/article9356220/ |access-date=12 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite press release |title=Hudson's Bay Celebrates Its Past, Present and Future with Modern New Logo |date=2013-03-06 |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |url=http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/hudsons-bay-celebrates-its-past-present-and-future-with-modern-new-logo-tsx-hbc-1765078.htm |access-date=6 March 2013}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Shaw |first=Hollie |date=6 March 2013 |title=The Bay gets a new logo for first time in almost 50 years |work=[[Financial Post]] |url=http://business.financialpost.com/2013/03/06/the-bay-gets-a-new-logo-for-first-time-in-almost-50-years/ |access-date=20 August 2013}}</ref>

=== Olympic outfitter ===
[[File:Alexandre Bilodeau with gold medal (11).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Alexandre Bilodeau]], a winter Olympian for Canada, wearing HBC apparel made officially for the Canadian Olympic team]]

The HBC was the official outfitter of clothing for members of the Canadian Olympic team in 1936, 1960, 1964, 1968, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016. The sponsorship was renewed through 2020. Beginning in the late 2000s, HBC used its status as the official Canadian Olympics team outfitter to gain global exposure, as part of a turnaround plan that included shedding under-performing brands and luring new high-end brands.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Strauss |first=Marina |date=28 November 2013 |title=Meet the man trying to shake up luxury retail in Canada |work=The Globe and Mail |location=Toronto |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/saks-appeal-hbc-head-richard-baker-bets-canadians-are-dying-to-go-deluxe/article15633445/?page=all |access-date=6 October 2015}}</ref>

On 2 March 2005, the company was announced as the new clothing outfitter for the Canadian Olympic team, in a $100&nbsp;million deal, providing apparel for the 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012 games, having outbid the existing Canadian Olympic wear-supplier, [[Roots Canada]], which had supplied Canada's Olympic teams from 1998 to 2004.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McQuigge |first=Michelle |date=7 April 2008 |title=Roots no longer outfitting Olympic teams, co-founder says |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2008/04/07/roots_no_longer_outfitting_olympic_teams_cofounder_says.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=6 October 2015 |work=Toronto Star}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Canadian Olympic Gear, courtesy of The Bay & Zellers |url=http://www.stylish.ca/canadian-olympic-gear-courtesy-of-the-bay-zellers-020854.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409231429/http://www.stylish.ca/canadian-olympic-gear-courtesy-of-the-bay-zellers-020854.php |archive-date=9 April 2016 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=Stylish.ca}}</ref> The Canadian Olympic collection was sold through Hudson's Bay (and Zellers until 2013 when the Zellers leases were sold to [[Target Canada]]).

HBC's [[2006 Winter Olympics]] and [[2008 Summer Olympics]] uniforms and toques received a mixed reception for their multicoloured stripes (green, red, yellow, blue) which seemed to be not-so-subtle advertising for HBC rather than representing the Canadian Olympic team's traditional colours of red and white (with black as a secondary), in contrast to well-received Root's 1998 collection with its trendy red [[letter jacket]]s and Poor Boy caps. HBC produced 80 per cent to 90 per cent of their Olympic clothes in China which was criticized, as Roots ensured that the Olympic clothes were made in Canada using Canadian material.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Canadian Olympic gear made in China, MPs cry foul |work=CTV News |publisher=Bell Media Television |url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/canadian-olympic-gear-made-in-china-mps-cry-foul-1.293170 |access-date=2 May 2008 |archive-date=22 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022171019/http://www.ctvnews.ca/canadian-olympic-gear-made-in-china-mps-cry-foul-1.293170 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

HBC's apparel for the [[2010 Winter Olympics]] held in Vancouver proved to be extremely successful, in part because Canada was the host country and their athletes had a record medal haul. The red-and-white mittens featuring a large maple leaf that were sold for $10, with one-third of the proceeds going to the [[Canadian Olympic Committee]], proved very popular, as were the "Canada" hoodies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dheensaw |first=Cleve |date=21 February 2010 |title=Amid glitches, Canadians making these Games a winner |work=Times Colonist |location=Victoria, British Columbia}}</ref>

The HBC's [[2010 Winter Olympics]] apparel was also controversial due to a knitted, machine-made sweater that looked like a [[Cowichan sweater]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 October 2009 |title=First Nation alleges Olympic ripoff |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/first-nation-alleges-olympic-ripoff-1.829857 |access-date=11 December 2015 |publisher=[[CBC News]]}}</ref> After a meeting between HBC representatives and [[Cowichan Tribes]], a compromise was made between the parties; knitters could sell their sweaters at the downtown Vancouver HBC store, alongside the HBC imitations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 October 2009 |title=Cowichan Tribes reach Olympic sweater deal |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cowichan-tribes-reach-olympic-sweater-deal-1.830116 |access-date=11 December 2015 |publisher=[[CBC News]]}}</ref>
[[File:Vancouver 2010 red mittens HBC.JPG|thumb|left|Red mittens sold by HBC for the [[2010 Winter Olympics]] in Vancouver]]
Lord [[Sebastian Coe]], chairman of the [[London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games|2012 London Olympic Games Organizing Committee]], who attended the [[2010 Winter Olympics|Vancouver Olympics]], noted that Canadians were passionate in embracing the games with their "Canada" hoodies and their red mittens (of which 2.6&nbsp;million pairs sold that year).<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 February 2010 |title=Sebastian Coe defends Vancouver Winter Olympics from critics |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/feb/18/sebastian-coe-winter-olympics |access-date=6 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Coe |first=Sebastian |author-link=Sebastian Coe |date=23 February 2010 |title=Winter Olympics 2010: Vancouver so passionate to embrace Games, says Seb Coe |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/winter-olympics/7293583/Winter-Olympics-2010-Vancouver-so-passionate-to-embrace-Games-says-Seb-Coe.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/winter-olympics/7293583/Winter-Olympics-2010-Vancouver-so-passionate-to-embrace-Games-says-Seb-Coe.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=6 October 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> HBC has continued to produce these red mittens for subsequent Olympic Games.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Putin in Canada House: 'Good luck, except in hockey' |work=CTV News |publisher=Bell Media Television |url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/sochi/putin-in-canada-house-good-luck-except-in-hockey-1.1686560 |url-status=dead |access-date=6 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015232302/http://www.ctvnews.ca/sochi/putin-in-canada-house-good-luck-except-in-hockey-1.1686560 |archive-date=15 October 2015}}</ref>

In 2021, it was announced that beginning with the [[2022 Winter Olympics]], [[Lululemon]] would replace the HBC as Canada's Olympic outfitter.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/article/canadian-tuxedo-no-more-lululemon-replaces-hudsons-bay-as-canadas-olympic-clothier/ | title='Canadian tuxedo' no more: Lululemon replaces Hudson's Bay as Canada's Olympic clothier | work=CTVNews | date=23 September 2021 | access-date=28 December 2022 | archive-date=28 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228232943/https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/canadian-tuxedo-no-more-lululemon-replaces-hudson-s-bay-as-canada-s-olympic-clothier-1.5597313 | url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Charitable involvement ===
The HBC was involved in community and charity activities. The HBC Rewards Community Program raised funds for community causes. The HBC Foundation was a charity agency involved in social issues and service. The HBC used to sponsor the annual HBC Run for Canada, a series of public-participation runs and walks held across the country on Canada Day to raise funds for Canadian athletes. The company discontinued this event in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2008 |title=HBC Run for Canada |url=http://www.hbcrunforcanada.ca/2008/index.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421224554/http://www.hbcrunforcanada.ca/2008/index.php |archive-date=21 April 2008}}</ref>

== Corporate affairs ==
=== Historical hierarchy ===
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Hudson's Bay Company operated with a very rigid employee hierarchy. This hierarchy essentially broke down into two levels; the officers and the servants. The officers were the factors, masters and chief traders, clerks and surgeons. The servants were the tradesmen, boatmen, and labourers. The officers essentially ran the fur trading posts. They had many duties which included supervising the workers in their trade posts, valuing the furs, and keeping trade and post records. In 1821, when Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company merged, the hierarchy became even stricter and the lines between officers and servants became virtually impossible to cross. Officers in charge of individual trading posts had much responsibility because they were directly in charge of enforcing the policies made by the governor and committee (the board) of the company. One of these policies was the price of particular furs and trade goods. These prices were called the Official and Comparative Standards. Made-Beaver, the quality measurement of the pelt, was the means of exchange used by Hudson's Bay Company to define the Official and Comparative Standards. Because the governor was stationed in London, England, they needed to have reliable officers managing the trade posts halfway around the world. Because the fur trade was a very dynamic market, HBC needed to have some form of flexibility when dealing with prices and traders. Price fluctuation was deferred to the officers in charge of the trade posts, and the head office recorded any difference between the company's standard and that set by the individual officers. Overplus, or any excess revenue gained by officers, was strictly documented to insure that it was not being pocketed and taken from the company. This strict yet flexible hierarchy exemplifies how Hudson's Bay Company was able to be so successful while still having its central management and trade posts located so far apart.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Carlos |first1=Ann M. |last2=Lewis |first2=Frank D. |date=September 1993 |title=Indians, the Beaver, and the Bay: The Economics of Depletion in the Lands of Hudson's Bay Company, 1700–1763 |journal=Journal of Economic History |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=465–494 |doi=10.1017/s0022050700013450 |jstor=2122402|s2cid=154869132}}</ref><ref name="Judd">{{Cite journal |last=Judd |first=Carol |date=November 1980 |title=Native labour and social stratification in Hudson's Bay Company's Northern Department, 1770–1870 |journal=Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=305–314 |doi=10.1111/j.1755-618X.1980.tb00707.x}}</ref>

;Hierarchical order pre-1821<ref name="Judd" />
{| class="wikitable"
! align="center" width="50" | #
! align="center" width="360" | Job Title
|-
|||''' ''OFFICERS'' '''
|-
| 1 || ''Chief Factor''
|-
| 2|| ''Second'' [Factor]
|-
| 3 || ''Master'' [of a trading station]
|-
| 4|| ''Sloopmaster'' <br /> ''Surgeon''
|-
| 5|| ''Writer''
|-
| 6|| ''Apprentice''
|-
|||''' ''SERVANTS'' '''
|-
|1|| ''Tradesman'' <br /> ''Steersman''
|-
|2|| ''Canoeman'' <br /> ''Bowsman''
|-
|3|| ''Middleman''
|-
|4|| ''Labourer''
|}

;Hierarchical order 1821–1871<ref name="Judd" /><ref>Taché, Alexandre Antonin & Cameron, Donald Roderick (1870). ''Sketch of the North-west of America''. Montreal: John Lovell, p. 72.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! align="center" width="50" | #
! align="center" width="260" | Job Title
! align="left" width="180" | Pay per year
|-
|||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;" |'''COMMISSIONED OFFICERS'''
|-
|1 || ''Governor of Rupert's Land'' || [[Performance-related pay|Performance Pay]]
|-
| 2 || ''Chief Factor'' || Two shares
|-
|3 || ''Chief Trader'' || One share
|-
| || colspan=2 style="text-align:center;" |  '''GENTLEMEN'''
|-
|4 || ''Clerk'' || £75–100
|-
| 5 ||''Apprenticed Clerk'' || £25–27
|-
| || colspan=2 style="text-align:center;" |  '''NON-GENTLEMEN'''
|-
| 6 || ''Postmaster'' ||  £40–75
|-
|7 || ''Guide'' <br /> ''Interpreter'' <br /> ''Sloopmaster''  ||£30–45
|-
| 8 || ''Apprentice postmaster'' ||
|-
| ||colspan=2 style="text-align:center;" |  '''SERVANTS'''
|-
| 9 || ''Tradesman'' <br /> ''Steersman'' <br />''Boatman'' <br /> ''Bowsman'' <br /> ''Middleman'' <br /> ''Labourer''|| £16–40
|}

==== Progression ====
In the 19th century, career progression for officers, together referred to as the Commissioned Gentlemen, was to enter the company as a fur trader. Typically, they were men who had the capital to invest in starting up their trading. They sought to be promoted to the rank of Chief Trader. A Chief Trader would be in charge of an individual post and was entitled to one share of the company's profits. Chief Factors sat in council with the Governors and were the heads of districts. They were entitled to two shares of the company's profits or losses. The average income of a Chief Trader was £360 and that of a Chief Factor was £720.<!-- convert to contemporary equivalents --><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Morton |first1=Arthur S. |title=A History of the Canadian West to 1870–71 |last2=Thomas |first2=Lewis G. |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1973 |isbn=978-0-8020-4033-6 |edition=2nd |location=Toronto, Ontario |page=690 |orig-year=1939}}</ref>

=== Modern-day executive board ===
[[File:HBC-coa.JPG|thumb|[[Coat of arms of the Hudson's Bay Company|Heraldic achievement of Hudson's Bay Company]]:<ref name="Coat of Arms">{{Cite web |title=HBC Heritage – Coat of Arms |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/history/company-stories/coat-of-arms |access-date=3 May 2020 |website=Hudson's Bay Company}}</ref> ''Argent, a cross gules between four [[beaver]]s passant [[Tincture (heraldry)|proper]]''. [[Crest (heraldry)|Crest]]: ''On a [[Cap of Maintenance|chapeau gules turned up ermine]] a fox sejant proper''. [[Supporter (heraldry)|Supporters]]: ''Two bucks proper''. Latin [[Motto]]: {{langx|la|pro pelle cutem|lit=skin for leather}}<ref>''Cassell's Latin Dictionary.'' The two different Latin words for skin or leather must be translated accordingly in English by the use of two different words of roughly the same meaning, denoting an exchange</ref> apparently a play on [[Book of Job|Job]], 2:4: {{lang|la|Pellem pro pelle}}<ref>{{lang|la|Nova Vulgata Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio|italic=yes}}, {{lang|it|Libreria Editrice Vaticana|italic=no}}, 1986 (Latin Vulgate Bible)</ref> "skin for skin".<ref>As translated in the King James Bible</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What does your motto 'Pro Pelle Cutem' mean? |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/faq/default#4 |access-date=5 October 2015 |publisher=Hudson's Bay Company |department=HBC Heritage FAQ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rich |first=E. E. |date=April 1961 |title=Manitoba Pageant: Pro Pelle Cutem, The Hudson's Bay Company Motto |url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/pageant/06/propellecutem.shtml |journal=Manitoba Pageant |volume=6 |issue=3 |access-date=5 October 2015}}</ref>]]

{{Multiple image
| direction = vertical
| image3 = Hudson's Bay Company Flag.svg
| caption3 = [[Flag of the Hudson's Bay Company]] from 1801 to 1965
| image2 = Hudson's Bay Company Flag (1707-1801).svg
| caption2 = The Company's flag from 1707 to 1801
| image1 = Hudson's Bay Company Flag (1682-1707).svg
| caption1 = The Company's flag from 1682 to 1707
}}

{{As of|2018|1}}, the members of the board of directors of Hudson's Bay Company are:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Board of Directors |url=http://investor.hbc.com/directors.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120094814/http://investor.hbc.com/directors.cfm |archive-date=20 January 2018 |access-date=7 January 2018 |website=Hudson's Bay Company}}</ref>
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Richard A. Baker (businessman)|Richard A. Baker]]
* Robert C. Baker
* Eric Gross
* Steven Langman
* David G. Leith
* William L. Mack
* Lee S. Neibart
* Denise Pickett
* Wayne Pommen
* Earl Rotman
* [[Matthew Rubel]]
* [[Andrea Wong]]
{{div col end}}

=== Governors ===
{{anchor|List of Governors}}
Chronological list of governors of the Hudson's Bay Company:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Governors |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/governors/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927115548/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/governors/ |archive-date=27 September 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref>
{{Div col|colwidth=27em}}
# 1670–82&nbsp; [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Governors: His Highness Prince Rupert of the Rhine |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/governors/princerupert.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928173106/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/governors/princerupert.asp |archive-date=28 September 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rupert, Prince |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/r/rupert_prince.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924114648/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/r/rupert_prince.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1683–85&nbsp; [[James II of England|James Stuart, Duke of York]] – resigned as governor to become King James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=John |url={{google books|w5bGqCEp5n8C|plainurl=yes|page=44}} |title=James II |date=2000 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-3000-8728-4 |edition=revised, 3rd |location=New Haven, Connecticut |page=44 |access-date=7 October 2015 |orig-year=1978}}</ref>
# 1685–92&nbsp; [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Governors: John, Lord Churchill (later 1st Duke of Marlborough) |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/governors/johnchurchill |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928171553/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/governors/johnchurchill |archive-date=28 September 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Churchill, John |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/c/churchill_john_malborough.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924113543/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/c/churchill_john_malborough.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1692–96&nbsp; Sir [[Stephen Evance]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Evance, Stephen (c.1655–1712), of the 'Black Boy', Lombard Street, London |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/evance-stephen-1655-1712 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=History of Parliament Online |archive-date=27 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927103346/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/evance-stephen-1655-1712 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
# 1696–1700&nbsp; Sir [[William Trumbull]]<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Trumbull, William (1639-1716) |last=Courtney |first=William Prideaux |volume=57 |pages=265–267}}</ref>
# 1700–12&nbsp; Sir Stephen Evance
# 1712–43&nbsp; Sir [[Bibye Lake]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lake, Bibye (Sir) |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/_docs/hbca/biographical/l/lake_bibye1712-1743.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304212125/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/l/lake_bibye1712-1743.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1744–46&nbsp; Benjamin Pitt<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pitt, Benjamin |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/p/pitt_benjamin.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923224722/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/p/pitt_benjamin.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1746–50&nbsp; Thomas Knapp<ref>{{Cite web |title=Knapp, Thomas |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/k/knapp_thomas.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305031420/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/k/knapp_thomas.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1750–60&nbsp; [[Lake baronets|Sir Atwell Lake]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lake, Atwell (Sir) |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/l/lake_atwell.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305031358/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/l/lake_atwell.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1760–70&nbsp; [[William Baker (British politician)|Sir William Baker]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Baker, William (Sir) |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/b/baker_william.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822175927/http://gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/b/baker_william.pdf |archive-date=22 August 2017 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1770–82&nbsp; Sir Bibye Lake Jr.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lake, Bibye |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/l/lake_bibye1770-1782.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822182735/http://gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/l/lake_bibye1770-1782.pdf |archive-date=22 August 2017 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1782–99&nbsp; Samuel Wegg<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wegg, Samuel |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/w/wegg_samuel.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822185433/http://gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/w/wegg_samuel.pdf |archive-date=22 August 2017 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1799–1807&nbsp; Sir James Winter Lake<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lake, James Winter (Sir) |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/l/lake_james-winter.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304210548/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/l/lake_james-winter.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1807–12&nbsp; William Mainwaring<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mainwaring, William |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/m/mainwaring_william.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822183104/http://gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/m/mainwaring_william.pdf |archive-date=22 August 2017 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref><!-- HBC Archives specifically state he is not [[William Mainwaring (English politician)]] -->
# 1812–22&nbsp; Joseph Berens<ref>{{Cite web |title=Berens, Joseph |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/b/berens_joseph.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010344/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/b/berens_joseph.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1822–52&nbsp; [[Sir John Pelly, 1st Baronet|Sir John Henry Pelly]] in 1826, Simpson becomes governor of the Canadian region.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Governors: Sir John Henry Pelly, Bart. |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/governors/johnhenrypelly |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage |archive-date=1 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001162059/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/governors/johnhenrypelly |url-status=dead }}</ref>
# 1852–56&nbsp; [[Andrew Wedderburn Colvile]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Colville, Andrew |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/c/colville_andrew.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518103527/https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/c/colville_andrew.pdf |archive-date=18 May 2015 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1856–58&nbsp; [[John Shepherd (governor and chairman)|John Shepherd]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shepherd, John |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/s/shepherd_john.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304203256/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/s/shepherd_john.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1858–63&nbsp; [[Henry Hulse Berens]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Berens, Henry Hulse |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/b/berens_henry.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822180132/http://gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/b/berens_henry.pdf |archive-date=22 August 2017 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1863–68&nbsp; Sir [[Sir Edmund Walker Head, 8th Baronet|Edmund Walker Head]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Head, Edmund Walker |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/h/head_edmund-walker.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924040430/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/h/head_edmund-walker.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1868–69&nbsp; [[John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley]]
# 1869–74&nbsp; Sir [[Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh|Stafford Henry Northcote]]<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Northcote, Stafford Henry |last=Sanders |first=Lloyd Charles |author-link=Lloyd Charles Sanders |volume=41 |pages=194–199}}</ref>
# 1874–80&nbsp; [[George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen|George Joachim Goschen]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Goschen, George Joachim |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/g/goschen_george-joachim.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923232231/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/g/goschen_george-joachim.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1880–89&nbsp; [[Eden Colvile]]<ref>{{cite DCB |title=Colvile, Eden |first=J.E. |last=Rea |volume=12 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/colvile_eden_12E.html |access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref>
# 1889–1914&nbsp; [[Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal|Donald Alexander Smith]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Governors: Donald A. Smith |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/governors/donaldsmith |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928171433/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/governors/donaldsmith |archive-date=28 September 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Smith, Donald Alexander |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/s/smith_donald-alexander.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923233939/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/s/smith_donald-alexander.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1914–15&nbsp; [[Sir Thomas Skinner, 1st Baronet|Sir Thomas Skinner]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Skinner, Thomas |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/s/skinner_thomas1914-1915.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923235629/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/biographical/s/skinner_thomas1914-1915.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}</ref>
# 1916–25&nbsp; [[Robert Kindersley, 1st Baron Kindersley|Sir Robert Molesworth Kindersley]]
# 1925–31&nbsp; Charles Vincent Sale
# 1931–52&nbsp; Sir [[Patrick Ashley Cooper]] – first governor to visit HBC operations in Canada.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Peter C. |url={{google books||plainurl=yes|page=591}} |title=Here Be Dragons: Telling Tales of People, Passion and Power |date=2004 |publisher=McClelland & Stewart |isbn=978-0-7710-6792-1 |location=Toronto |page=591 |access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref>
# 1952–65&nbsp; [[Tony Keswick|William "Tony" Keswick]]
# 1965–70&nbsp; [[Derick Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Viscount Amory|Derick Heathcoat-Amory]]
# 1970–82&nbsp; George T. Richardson
# 1982–94&nbsp; Donald S. McGiverin
# 1994–97&nbsp; David E. Mitchell
# 1997–2006&nbsp; [[Yves Fortier (lawyer)|L. Yves Fortier]]
# 2006–08&nbsp; [[Jerry Zucker (businessman)|Jerry Zucker]]
# 2008&nbsp; [[Anita Zucker]] – first female governor.
# 2008–present&nbsp; [[Richard A. Baker (businessman)|Richard Baker]]
{{div col end}}

==Archives==
{{See also|Hudson's Bay Company Archives}}

The legacy of the HBC has been maintained in part by the detailed record-keeping and archiving of material by the company. Before 1974, the records of the HBC were kept in the London office headquarters. The HBC opened an archives department to researchers in 1931. In 1974, Hudson's Bay Company Archives (HBCA) were transferred from London and placed on deposit with the Manitoba archives in Winnipeg. The company granted public access to the collection the following year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About HBCA {{!}} Hudson's Bay Company Archives Archives of Manitoba |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/about/index.html |access-date=21 July 2020}}</ref>

On 27 January 1994, the company's archives were formally donated to the Archives of Manitoba.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HBCA History |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/about/hbca_history.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925004135/http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/about/hbca_history.html |archive-date=25 September 2015 |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company Archives |publisher=Government of Manitoba}}</ref>

At the time of the donation, the appraised value of the records was nearly $60&nbsp;million. A foundation, Hudson's Bay Company History Foundation funded through the tax savings resulting from the donation, was established to support the operations of the HBC Archive as a division of the Archives of Manitoba, along with other activities and programs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HBC History Foundation |url=http://www3.hbc.com/hbc/socialresponsibility/hbc-history-foundation/ |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=Hudson's Bay Company |archive-date=4 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004015400/http://www3.hbc.com/hbc/socialresponsibility/hbc-history-foundation/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> More than {{convert|2|km|spell=in}} of filed documents and hundreds of microfilm reels are now stored in a special climate-controlled vault in the Manitoba Archives Building.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

In 2007, Hudson's Bay Company Archives became part of the United Nations "[[Memory of the World Programme]]" project, under [[UNESCO]]. The records covered the HBC history from the founding of the company in 1670. The records contained business transactions, medical records, personal journals of officials, inventories, company reports, etc.<ref name="unesco">{{Cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company Archival records |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/hudsons-bay-company-archival-records/ |access-date=2025-05-13 |publisher=UNESCO Memory of the World Programme}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hudson's Bay Company Archives – UNESCO Designation |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/about/unesco-designation.html |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=Archives of Manitoba}}</ref>

==Miscellany==
===Rent obligation under charter===
Under the charter establishing Hudson's Bay Company, the company was required to give two [[elk]] skins and two black [[beaver]] pelts to the English king, then [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], or his heirs, whenever the monarch visited Rupert's Land. The exact text from the 1670 Charter reads:{{blockquote|...Yielding and paying yearly to us and our heirs and successors for the same two Elks and two Black beavers whensoever and as often as We, our heirs and successors shall happen to enter into the said Countries, Territories and Regions hereby granted.<ref name="charter" />}}

The ceremony was first conducted with the [[Prince of Wales]] (the future Edward VIII) in 1927, then with King [[George VI]] in 1939, and last with his daughter, Queen [[Elizabeth II]] in 1959 and 1970. On the last such visit, the pelts were given in the form of two live beavers, which the Queen donated to the [[Winnipeg Zoo]] in [[Assiniboine Park]]. However, when the company permanently moved its headquarters to Canada, the Charter was amended to remove the rent obligation. Each of the four "rent ceremonies" took place in or around Winnipeg.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: Business: Fur Trade: The Rent Ceremony |url=http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/business/fur/rentceremony |access-date=6 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage |archive-date=6 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006193440/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/business/fur/rentceremony |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===HBC explorers, builders, and associates===
* [[James Knight (explorer)|James Knight]] ({{Circa|1640|1721}}) was a director of Hudson's Bay Company and an explorer who died in an expedition to the Northwest Passage.<ref>{{cite DCB |title=Knight, James |first=Ernest S. |last=Dodge |volume=2 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/knight_james_2E.html |access-date=7 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Associates: James Knight |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/associates/knight |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage |archive-date=6 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006075119/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/associates/knight |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Knight, James |last=Laughton |first=John Knox |author-link=John Knox Laughton |volume=31 |page=254}}</ref>
* [[Henry Kelsey]] ({{Circa|1667}} – 1 November 1724), a.k.a. the Boy Kelsey, was an English fur trader, explorer, and sailor who played an important role in establishing Hudson's Bay Company in Canada. In 1690, Henry Kelsey embarked on a 2-year exploration journey that made him the first white man to see buffalo.<ref>{{cite DCB |title=Kelsey, Henry |volume=2 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/kelsey_henry_2E.html |access-date=7 October 2015}}</ref>
* [[Thanadelthur]] ({{Circa|1697}} – 5 February 1717) was a woman of the Chipewyan nation who was a guide and interpreter for Hudson's Bay Company.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Women: Thanadelthur |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/women/thanadelthur.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222105152/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/women/thanadelthur.asp |archive-date=22 December 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref>
* [[Samuel Hearne]] (1745–92) was an English explorer, fur-trader, author, and naturalist. In 1774, Hearne built Cumberland House for the Hudson's Bay Company, its first interior trading post and the first permanent settlement in present Saskatchewan.<ref name="DNB_Hearne" /><ref name="Hearne" />
* [[David Thompson (explorer)|David Thompson]] (30 April 1770 – 10 February 1857) was a British-Canadian fur trader that worked for both the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Trading Company. He is best known for his extensive explorations and map-making activities. He mapped almost half of North America between the 46th and 60th parallels, from the St Lawrence and Great Lakes all the way to the Pacific.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Explorers: David Thompson |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/explorers/david-thompson |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007053041/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/explorers/david-thompson |archive-date=7 October 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref>
* [[Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk|Thomas Douglas, Lord Selkirk]] (20 June 1771 – 8 April 1820) was a Scottish peer and philanthropist who, as HBC's majority shareholder, arranged to purchase land at Red River to establish a colony for dispossessed Scottish immigrants.<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Douglas, Thomas (1771-1820) |last=Christy |first=Miller |author-link=Miller Christy |volume=15 |pages=350–353}}</ref>
* [[Isobel Gunn]] or Isabella Gunn ({{Circa|1780}} – 7 November 1861), also known as John Fubbister or Mary Fubbister, was a Scottish labourer employed by Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), noted for having passed herself as a man, thereby becoming the first European woman to travel to Rupert's Land, now part of Western Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Women: Isobel Gunn |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/women/isobelgunn.asp |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage |archive-date=22 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222104409/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/women/isobelgunn.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[George Simpson (administrator)|George Simpson]] (1787 – 7 September 1860) was the Canadian governor of Hudson's Bay Company during the period of its greatest power, a period which began in 1821 following the company's merger with the North West Trading Company.<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Simpson, George |last=Harris |first=Charles Alexander |author-link=Charles Alexander Harris |volume=52 |pages=269–270}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Builders: Sir George Simpson |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/builders/simpson.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222114551/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/builders/simpson.asp |archive-date=22 December 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref>
* [[John McLean (explorer)|John McLean]] (c. 1799{{nbsp}}– 8 September 1890), a Scoto-Canadian trapper and trader who successfully crossed the entire [[Labrador Peninsula]], opening up an overland route between [[Fort Smith, Labrador|Fort Smith]] on [[Lake Melville]] and [[Fort Chimo]] on [[Ungava Bay]]; first European to discover [[Churchill Falls]] on the [[Churchill River (Atlantic)|Churchill River]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Wells |first=Garron |title=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |year=1982 |url=http://www.biographi.ca |volume=XI |contribution=John McLean |contribution-url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mclean_john_1890_11E.html |place=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto}}.</ref>
* [[Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal]] (6 August 1820 – 21 January 1914), at various times Chief Factor of the [[Labrador]] district, Commissioner of the Montreal district, and President of the Council of the Northern Department, who pacified [[Louis Riel]] during the [[Red River Rebellion]] of 1870, thus enabling the transfer of [[Rupert's Land]] from the HBC to the fledgling government of Canada. Later, he became Governor of the HBC.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Martin |first=Joseph E. |year=2017 |title=Titans |journal=Canada's History |volume=97 |issue=5 |pages=47–53 |issn=1920-9894}}</ref>
* [[John Rae (explorer)|Dr. John Rae]] (Inuktitut Aglooka ᐊᒡᓘᑲ English: "long strider") (30 September 1813 – 22 July 1893) was a Scottish doctor who explored Northern Canada, surveyed parts of the Northwest Passage and reported the fate of the [[Franklin's lost expedition|Franklin Expedition]].<ref>{{cite DNB |wstitle=Rae, John |last=Rix |first=Herbert |author-link=Herbert Rix |volume=47 |pages=151–153}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History: People: Explorers: Dr. John Rae |url=http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/explorers/johnrae.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009114937/http://hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/people/explorers/johnrae.asp |archive-date=9 October 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |website=HBC Heritage}}</ref>
* [[William Keswick]] (15 April 1834 – 9 March 1912) and grandson [[Keswick family#Sir William Johnstone "Tony" Keswick (1903–1990)|Sir William Johnstone Keswick]] (1903–90) served at HBC; the former as a director and later as governor from 1952 to 1965. The Keswick family are the Scottish business dynasty that controls [[Hong Kong]]-based [[Jardine Matheson]], one of the original British trading houses or Hongs in [[British Hong Kong]].

===HBC sternwheelers and steamships===
{{main|Hudson's Bay Company vessels}}
{{col div}}
* ''[[Beaver (steamship)|Beaver]]'' (1835–74)
* ''Otter'' (1852–95)<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hacking |first1=Norman R. |last2=Lamb |first2=W. Kaye |title=The Princess Story: A Century and A Half of West Coast Shipping |publisher=Mitchell Press Ltd |year=1976 |location=Vancouver}}</ref>
* ''[[Anson Northup]]'' (1859–60)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Watson |first=Robert |title=The Anson Northup, First Steamboat on the Red River |date=March 1928 |publisher=The Beaver |pages=162, 163}}</ref>
* ''Caledonia'' (1891–98) – She ran aground on rocks at Port Simpson during a storm and her hull was destroyed. Her engines were put into the ''Caledonia 2''
* ''Caledonia (2)'' (1898–1909) – Her machinery was from the ''Caledonia 1''
* ''[[Mount Royal (sternwheeler)|Mount Royal]]'' (1902–07)
* ''[[Princess Louise (sidewheeler)|Princess Louise]]'' (1878–83)
* ''[[Strathcona (sternwheeler)|Strathcona]]'' (1900)
* ''Port Simpson'' (1907–12)
* ''[[Hazelton (sternwheeler)|Hazelton]]'' (1907–12)
* ''Distributor'' (1920–48)<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Beaver |date=June 1925 |page=121}}</ref>
{{col div end}}

===Rivals===
The HBC is the only European trading company to have survived. It outlived all its rivals.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Horner |first=Russ |date=23 June 2016 |title=HBC: Supply Chain Department at N.A.'s Oldest Firm is a Modern Day Leader |url=https://smbp.uwaterloo.ca/2016/06/hbc-supply-chain-department-at-n-a-s-oldest-firm-is-a-modern-day-leader/ |website=Social Media for Business Performance |publisher=University of Waterloo Centre for Extended Learning |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=23 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323032422/https://smbp.uwaterloo.ca/2016/06/hbc-supply-chain-department-at-n-a-s-oldest-firm-is-a-modern-day-leader/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Years !! Company !! Fate
|-
| 1551–1917 || [[Muscovy Company]] || Taken over by [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]] and now operates as charity.
|-
| 1581–1825 || [[Levant Company]] || Dissolved
|-
| 1600–1874 || {{nowrap|[[East India Company|Honourable East India Company]]}} || Dissolved
|-
| 1602–1800 || [[Dutch East India Company]] || Went bankrupt and assets taken over by Dutch government
|-
| 1621–1791 || [[Dutch West India Company]] || Bought by the Dutch government
|-
| 1672–1752 || [[Royal African Company]] || Replaced by the [[African Company of Merchants]], which folded in 1821.
|-
| {{nowrap|1711–1850s}} || [[South Sea Company]] || Abolished by bankruptcy and the [[Louisiana Purchase]]
|-
| 1779–1821 || [[North West Company]] || Merged with the HBC
|-
| 1799–1867 || [[Russian-American Company]] || Folded with the sale of [[Russian America]] to the US and commercial assets in North America sold to Hutchinson, Kohl & Company (now as the [[Alaska Commercial Company]])
|-
| 1808–1842 || [[American Fur Company]] || Folded
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Canada}}
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}<!-- Please respect alphabetical order -->
* [[Beaver hat]]
* [[British colonization of the Americas]]
* [[Frontier (2016 TV series)|''Frontier'' (2016 TV series)]]
* [[Home Outfitters]]
* [[Hudson's Bay Company vessels]]
* [[Hudson's Bay point blanket]]
* [[Hudson's Bay tokens]]
* [[James Douglas (governor)]]
* [[List of department stores by country#Canada|List of department stores by country § Canada]]
* [[List of Hudson's Bay Company trading posts]]
* [[List of trading companies]]
* [[New Caledonia (Canada)]]
* [[North-West Rebellion]]
* ''[[The Romance of the Far Fur Country]]''
* [[Coat of arms of the Hudson's Bay Company]]
*[[Flag of the Hudson's Bay Company]]
*{{lang|fr|[[Voyageurs]]}}
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book |last=Galbraith |first=John S. |url={{google books|fOscZfLNOQkC|plainurl=yes}} |title=Hudson's Bay Company As an Imperial Factor 1821–1869 |publisher=University of California Press |year=1957 |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles |author-link=John Semple Galbraith |oclc=1654182 |access-date=6 October 2015}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mackie |first=Richard Somerset |title=Trading beyond the mountains : the British fur trade on the Pacific; 1793–1843 |date=1998 |publisher=[[University of British Columbia Press|UBC Press]] |isbn=978-0-7748-0613-8 |edition=Repr |location=Vancouver}}
* {{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Peter C. |url=https://archive.org/details/companyofadventu0000newm_w0f1 |title=Company of Adventurers |volume=I |date=1985 |publisher=Viking, Penguin Books of Canada |isbn=978-0-6708-0379-8 |location=Markham, Ontario |author-link=Peter C. Newman |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Peter C. |title=Company of Adventurers |date=1986 |publisher=Penguin Books Canada |isbn=978-0140067200 |edition=New |location=Markham, Ont.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Peter C. |url=https://archive.org/details/caesarsofwildern00newm |title=Caesars of the Wilderness: Company of Adventurers|volume=II |date=1987 |publisher=Viking, Penguin Books of Canada |isbn=978-0-6708-0967-7 |location=Markham, Ontario}}
* {{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Peter C. |title=Caesars of the wilderness |date=1988 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0140086300 |location=Markham, Ont.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rich |first=E. E. |author-link=Edwin Rich (historian) |title=The History of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1670 – 1870 |date=1958 |publisher=Hudson's Bay Record Society |volume=I |location=London |oclc=367974}}
* {{Cite book |last=Voorhis |first=Ernest |title=Historic forts and trading posts of the French régime and of the English fur trading companies |publisher=[[Minister of the Interior (Canada)|Canadian Department of the Interior]] |year=1930 |location=Ottawa |doi=10.14288/1.0375744 |doi-access=free}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bryce |first=George |url={{google books|Imc5lXU3KrkC|plainurl=yes}} |title=The Remarkable History of Hudson's Bay Company |date=1968 |publisher=B. Franklin |location=New York |author-link=George Bryce}}
* {{Citation |last=Buss |first=Helen M |title=Undelivered Letters to Hudson's Bay Company Men on the Northwest Coast |url={{google books|N4QKXOOjv_cC|plainurl=yes}} |year=2003 |publisher=University of British Columbia Press |isbn=978-0-7748-0973-3}}
* {{Cite journal |year=1920 |title=The Beaver: Exploring Canada's History |journal=Periodical. An Illustrated Canadian History Magazine Published by the HBC 1920 – 1994. By CNHS Since 1994 |place=Winnipeg}}
* {{Cite book |last=Cowie |first=Isaac |url=https://archive.org/details/companyofadventu00cowiuoft |title=The Company of Adventurers: a Narrative of Seven Years in the Service of the Hudson's Bay Company during 1867–1874, on the Great Buffalo Plains |date=1913 |publisher=William Briggs |location=Toronto |author-link=Isaac Cowie}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dillon |first=Richard H. |title=Siskiyou Trail: Hudson's Bay Company Route to California |date=2012 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=978-1-6180-9063-8 |location=New York |orig-year=1975}}
* {{Citation |last=Elle |first=Andra-Warner |title=Hudson's Bay Company Adventures: The Rollicking Saga of Canada's Fur Traders |url={{google books|3iXIqHDnIs4C|plainurl=yes}} |year=2009 |publisher=Heritage House |isbn=978-1-894974-68-4}}
* {{Cite book |title="Opposition on the Coast": The Hudson's Bay Company, American Coasters, the Russian-American Company, and Native Traders on the Northwest Coast, 1825-1846 |date=2019 |publisher=The Champlain Society |isbn=978-0-7727-6441-6 |editor-last=Gibson |editor-first=James R. |language=en |doi=10.3138/9780772764430 |s2cid=231624945}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hearne |first=Samuel |url={{google books|V5NcAAAAcAAJ|plainurl=yes}} |title=A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay, to the Northern Ocean |date=1795 |publisher=A. Strahan and T. Cadell Publishers |location=London |author-link=Samuel Hearne}} – 2011 reprint: {{google books|sR2aHj3eJUwC|A Journey to the Northern Ocean: The Adventures of Samuel Hearne}}
* {{Cite book |last=Laut |first=Agnes C. |url=https://archive.org/details/conquestofgreatn01lautuoft |title=The Conquest of the Great Northwest |date=1908 |publisher=Outing Publishing |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=MacKay |first=Douglas |title=The Honourable Company: A History of the Hudson's Bay Company |date=1936 |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill |location=Indianapolis}}
* {{Cite book |last=Maurice |first=Edward Beauclerk |url={{google books|FIcGxHHfsAkC|plainurl=yes}} |title=The Last of the Gentleman Adventurers |date=2006 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Co |isbn=978-0-5477-5432-1 |location=Boston |orig-year=2004}}
* {{Cite book |last=Murray |first=Alexander Hunter |title=Expedition to Build a Hudson's Bay Company Post on the Yukon, 1847–48 |date=1848 |author-link=Alexander Hunter Murray}}
* {{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Peter C. |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofbayillus00pete |title=Empire of the Bay: An Illustrated History of the Hudson's Bay Company |date=1989 |publisher=Viking, Penguin Books of Canada |isbn=978-0-6708-2969-9 |location=Markham, Ontario}}
* {{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Peter C. |url=https://archive.org/details/merchantprinces00newm |title=Merchant Princes: Company of Adventurers |volume=III |date=1991 |publisher=Viking, Penguin Books of Canada |isbn=978-0-6708-4098-4 |location=Markham, Ontario}}
* {{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Peter C. |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofbayillus00pete |title=An Illustrated History of the Hudson's Bay Company (Previously published as Empire of the Bay) |date=2002 |publisher=Penguin Canada/Madison Press |isbn=978-0-6708-2969-9 |location=Toronto}}
* {{Cite book |last=Newman |first=Peter C. |title=Company of Adventurers: How the Hudson's Bay Empire Determined the Destiny of a Continent |date=2005 |publisher=Penguin Canada |isbn=978-0-1430-5147-3 |location=Toronto}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Opp |first=James |year=2015 |title=Branding 'the Bay/la Baie': Corporate Identity, the Hudson's Bay Company, and the Burden of History in the 1960s. |journal=Canadian Historical Review |volume=96 |issue=2 |pages=223–256 |doi=10.3138/chr.2675 |s2cid=160967383}}
* {{Cite book |last=Reed |first=Charles B. |url=https://archive.org/details/mastersofwilder00reed |title=Masters of the Wilderness |date=1914 |publisher=Chicago Historical Society, University of Chicago Press}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rich |first=Edwin Ernest |title=The History of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1670 – 1870 |date=1959 |publisher=Hudson's Bay Record Society |volume=II}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rich |first=Edwin Ernest |title=Montreal and the Fur Trade |date=1966 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-9431-9 |edition=reprint |series=Beatty Memorial Lectures |location=Montreal}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rich |first=Edwin Ernest |url=https://archive.org/details/furtradenorthwes0000rich |title=The Fur Trade and the Northwest to 1857 |date=1967 |publisher=McClelland & Stewart |location=Toronto |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Simmons |first=Deidre |url={{google books|y7pT8yTwbnsC|plainurl=yes}} |title=Keepers of the Record: The History of the Hudson's Bay Company Archives |date=2007 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-3291-5 |location=Montreal}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tichenor |first=Harold |title=The Blanket: An Illustrated History of the Hudson's Bay Point Blanket |date=2002 |publisher=Quantum Books for Hudson's Bay Company |isbn=978-1-8958-9220-8 |location=Toronto}}
* {{Cite book |last=Van Kirk |first=Sylvia |title=Many Tender Ties: Women in the Fur- Trade Society, 1670–1870 |date=1999 |publisher=Watson & Dwyer |isbn=978-1-8962-3951-4 |location=Winnipeg |orig-year=1980}} – 1983 edition: {{google books|JBAp4KhDrdUC|Many Tender Ties: Women in the Fur- Trade Society, 1670–1870}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Van Kirk |first=Sylvia |year=1984 |title=The Role of Native Women in the Fur Trade Society of Western Canada, 1670–1830 |journal=Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=9–13 |doi=10.2307/3346234 |jstor=3346234}}
* {{Cite book |last=Van Kirk |first=Sylvia |url=https://archive.org/details/rethinkingcanada00stro_0 |title=Rethinking Canada: The Promise of Women's History |date=1991 |publisher=Copp Clark Pitman |isbn=978-0-7730-5097-6 |editor-last=Strong-Boag |editor-first=Veronica |edition=2nd |location=Toronto |chapter=The Role of Native Women in the Fur Trade Society of Western Canada, 1670–1830 |editor-last2=Fellman |editor-first2=Anita Clair}}
* {{Cite journal |last=White |first=Bruce. M. |date=Winter 1999 |title=The Woman who Married a Beaver: Trade Patterns and Gender Roles in the Ojibwa Fur Trade |journal=Ethnohistory |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=109–147 |jstor=483430}}
* {{Cite book |last=Willson |first=Beckles |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42279/42279-h/42279-h.htm |title=The Great Company (1667–1871): A History of the Honourable Company of Merchants-adventurers Trading into Hudson's Bay |date=1900 |publisher=Smith, Elder and Company |location=London |author-link=Henry Beckles Willson}} – Also: {{google books|HwsqAAAAYAAJ|The Great Company, 1667–1871: Being a History of the Honourable Company of Merchants-Adventurers Trading into Hudson's Bay}}

{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{EB9 Poster}}
{{EB1911 poster|Hudson's Bay Company}}
* {{Official website}}
* [http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/home HBC Heritage website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507152714/http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/home |date=7 May 2017 }}
* [https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/index.html Hudson's Bay Company Archives – held by the Government of Manitoba]
* {{Gutenberg author |id=2095| name=Hudson's Bay Company}}
* {{Internet Archive author |search=("Hudson's Bay Company")}}
* [https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv27307 John Work Papers.] 1823–1862. 0.42 cubic feet (1 box). At the [http://lib.washington.edu/specialcollections/laws Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.] Contains records from Work's service as an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company at various company settlements, including Fort Vancouver, Fort Colvile, Spokane House, Fort Simpson, Fort Nisqually, and Fort Victoria.
* [http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv58833 Hudson's Bay Company papers at the University of Oregon]
* [http://www.nfb.ca/film/other_side_of_the_ledger/ ''The Other Side of the Ledger: An Indian View of the Hudson's Bay Company''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127015206/http://www.nfb.ca/film/other_side_of_the_ledger/ |date=27 November 2020 }}
* [http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/hudsons-bay-company The Canadian Encyclopedia, The Hudson's Bay Company] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016171225/http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/hudsons-bay-company |date=16 October 2013 }}
* [http://digitalcollections.library.ubc.ca/cdm/landingpage/collection/bullock H. Bullock-Webster fonds] – An artistic rendition of the Canadian fur trade, from the UBC Library Digital Collections, depicting social life, activities and customs in Hudson's Bay Company posts in the 19th century
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/1105 Elizabeth F. Washburn Journal on her experiences on board the Hudson's Bay Company's supply ship "Rupertsland"] at Dartmouth College Library
* {{PM20|FID=co/059846|TEXT=Documents and clippings about|NAME=}}

{{Hudson's Bay Trading_Company, L.P.}}
{{Chartered companies}}
{{Canadian history}}
{{History of North America}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hudson's Bay Company| ]]
[[Category:1670 establishments in England]]
[[Category:2008 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:2012 initial public offerings]]
[[Category:British colonization of the Americas]]
[[Category:Canadian brands]]
[[Category:Canadian folklore]]
[[Category:Canadian Tire]]
[[Category:Chartered companies]]
[[Category:Clothing retailers of Canada]]
[[Category:Companies based in Brampton]]
[[Category:Retail companies established in 1670]]
[[Category:Companies formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Canada]]
[[Category:Economic history of Canada]]
[[Category:English colonization of the Americas]]
[[Category:Fur trade]]
[[Category:History of Canada| ]]
[[Category:History of the Pacific Northwest]]
[[Category:History of the Rocky Mountains]]
[[Category:Multinational companies headquartered in Canada]]
[[Category:Oregon Country]]
[[Category:Private equity portfolio companies]]
[[Category:Trading companies of England]]
[[Category:Trading companies of Canada]]
[[Category:Trading companies established in the 17th century]]
[[Category:Pemmican War]]