What is Hudson's Bay? Hudson's Bay Review, Features

Hudson's Bay (also known as "The Bay") is a Canadian department store retailer that sells apparel, shoes, bedding, jewelry, makeup, electronics, home furnishings, and more online.

About Hudson's Bay

Hudson's Bay is an old Canadian department store chain. Its parent company, Hudson's Bay Co, was founded in 1670 and is the oldest company in North America. Consumers usually refer to this department store as "The Bay".

Some people jokingly call the company's abbreviation "HBC" "Here Before Christ". HBC is the earliest commercial stock company established in North America and one of the earliest companies established in the world.

Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) is a Canadian department store retailer. The company is an operator and consolidator, as well as a real estate developer. The company's portfolio includes various formats of luxury department stores, premium department stores, and budget fashion shopping destinations. The company operates Hudson's Bay, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Saks OFF 5TH banners, among others. It sells apparel, accessories, cosmetics, and home goods to its customers. The company owns and operates department stores in Canada and the United States.

Hudson's Bay Brand

Hudson's Bay Company operates and manages department stores in Europe, the United States and Canada under the Hudson's Bay, Lord & Taylor, Saks fifth Avenue, Saks OFF 5TH banners, Find@Lord & Taylor, Gilt, Home Outfitters, Galeria Kaufhof, Galeria INNO and Sportarena brands (store names).

Development History

-On May 2, 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company was officially established in England, and Prince Rupert became the company's first director.

-On November 19, 1869, the newly formed Dominion of Canada paid the Hudson's Bay Company £300,000 in exchange for part of the territory and ruling power, and officially took over the land on July 15, 1870.

-After 1925, the Hudson's Bay Company split its operations into several divisions: fur trade, land, wholesale, retail stores, natural resources, and other businesses.

- On January 26, 2006, the board of directors of Hudson's Bay Company approved Jerry Zucker's bid of $15.25 per share (original price was $14.24 per share), ending the long-standing dispute between the company and the Southern California billionaire shareholder. In a press release on March 9, 2006, HBC announced that Jerry Zucker would replace George Heller as the new chairman and CEO, and he would become the US executive.

-In 2007, the records of the Hudson's Bay Company became part of the UNESCO World Memoirs.

- On July 16, 2008, Hudson's Bay Company was acquired by the American company NRDC Equity Partners, which owns Lord & Taylor and Fortunoff.

-In its October 2012 IPO, HBC announced it would rebrand its stores at The Bay under the "Hudson's Bay" name.

-In 2015, Hudson's Bay acquired Galeria Kaufhof department store for $3.9 billion, its first attempt to expand its business outside of North America.

-As of February 3, 2018, Hudson's Bay Company operates approximately 480 department stores and also operates e-commerce websites.

-In September 2018, Hudson's Bay of the Netherlands became the second largest department store group in Europe through its merger with Karstadt of Germany.