Hudson's Bay (department store)

Hudson's Bay, also known as The Bay, was a Canadian department store chain. It served as the flagship brand of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), the oldest and longest-surviving company in North America as well as one of the oldest and largest continuously operating companies in the world.

Founded on 2 May 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company opened its first department store in 1881 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The chain operated under the company name until 1965, when the stores were rebranded as The Bay. Operating primarily in Western Canada at first, the chain eventually achieved nationwide presence in the second half of the 20th century by opening new locations as well as successively acquiring and converting the department stores Morgan's, Freimans, Simpsons, and Woodward's. In 2013, the chain rebranded as Hudson's Bay.

By 2021, Hudson's Bay operated 86 locations in seven Canadian provinces. Its full-line department stores focused on high-end fashion apparel, accessories, and home goods; flagship stores carried a bigger range and selection of goods than typical locations. The flagship stores were often multi-storey, historic buildings and were in Canada's largest cities (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, and Ottawa). The largest of the flagship stores was the Toronto store on Queen Street, at about 79,000 square metres (850,000 sq ft). Amid the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada and other factors including the ongoing retail apocalypse, the chain had closed multiple flagship locations since 2020, including locations in Edmonton, Toronto, and Winnipeg.

In March 2025, the Hudson Bay Company filed for creditor protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, and following a judicial hearing, HBC began liquidating most Hudson's Bay stores with initial plans to keep six stores open in Quebec and Ontario. In April 2025, it was later announced that the six remaining stores would also be liquidated. The purchase of all of the chain's intellectual property was bought by Canadian Tire, and 28 store leases are to be acquired by Ruby Liu Commercial Investment Corp. and the company's stores officially ceased operations on 1 June 2025.