Shop 'til You Drop

1881

Canadian people like to shop in large stores where they can find everything in one place. These are called department stores. This story is about the Hudson's Bay Company which is the oldest department store in Canada.

For most First Nations in 1881, an important sign of wealth was a blanket. Their blankets were made from the hair of dogs or mountain goats. A blanket was thought to be worth far more than the price paid for it. It was valuable because it was easy to carry, it was warm, it could be used in more than one way, and it was easy to trade.

The two Frenchmen who started the Hudson's Bay Company understood this.Médard Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson were very successful at selling their blankets made of British sheep's wool. Their blankets quickly became famous because the wool could stay warm even when wet. Their blankets would not get hard when wet. A Hudson's Bay blanket was easier to sew than the skins of animals so it could be made into coats. It was white so it could hide people from animals in the winter. These blankets were both soft as well as strong.

A Hudson's Bay blanket became a sign of wealth to the First Nations. Special blankets with coloured stripes were made for the chiefs–head men of each group.Even today these blankets are popular. Show a Canadian a white blanket with a black,yellow, red and green line and they will tell you it is a Hudson's Bay blanket.

Long before the first Hudson's Bay department store was opened in Winnipeg,Manitoba, in 1881, the Hudson's Bay Company had been selling all kinds of things to Canadians. Almost 200 years earlier, Médard and Pierre-Esprit explored the northern areas of Canada. They saw that there were many animals living near the waters of Hudson Bay. They knew that Europeans wanted the fur from these animals to make hats.

Médard and Pierre-Esprit started to trade knives, kettles, beads, needles, and other things for the furs that the First Nations brought to them every year. They sold these animal skins to the Europeans and made a lot of money. They looked for a way to grow their business, but the French and Americans would not help them. Médard and Pierre-Esprit asked Prince Rupert of Germany for help. Prince Rupert helped them to sign an agreement with Britain.

This agreement gave the Hudson's Bay Company the right to trade on all the land near Hudson Bay. They called this area Rupert's Land. When newly-arrived immigrants came to Canada, they often bought some of this land to farm ( see 1872 ). Selling this land helped to make the Hudson's Bay Company the most successful business at the time.

With their agreement, Médard and Pierre-Esprit were the only white people who could trade with the First Nations in Northern and Western Canada and parts of the USA. They had the rights to trade in about 40% of what is Canada today. Soon, the Hudson's Bay Company was the largest fur trading company in North America. Their furs and other goods like oil and gas were sent to Europe, the USA, Russia, and South America by ship.

When wearing fur went out of fashion, it seemed that the Hudson's Bay Company would lose business. However, the company had good fortune. Just at that time, gold was discovered in Canada ( see 1896 ) and soon the gold prospectors wanted to buy all sorts of supplies. The Americans who came to Canada to look for gold, shopped with money, not animal skins. The Hudson's Bay Company turned their trading posts into stores and started selling many new things. They had alcohol, canned salmon, coffee,tea, and tobacco for sale. Again, they were very successful.

Hudson's Bay Company was British so it copied Harrods department store in London,England. The Hudson's Bay Company opened their first department store in Winnipeg,Manitoba in 1881. It was popular and soon there was a Hudson's Bay department store in Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Saskatoon as well.

The first store in Winnipeg was small compared to department stores today, but it had large numbers of all the things it sold. There were three levels. Two of them were used to keep extra goods, so there was always enough of each thing they sold, for everyone who wanted to buy one. When a new and bigger Hudson's Bay department store was built in Winnipeg in 1926, people waited all night in a long line to be the first ones to go inside. 50,000 people went through the store that day. 2,000 staff were there to help them shop. The first item sold was a silk tie for $1.25 to the mayor of Winnipeg.

The new department store had seven levels. It had a grocery store on the lowest level.Meat was 22 cents per pound. Sugar was 72 cents for a ten-pound bag. There was also a section for hardware and for sporting goods in the lower level. Upstairs, people could shop for clothes, but most thought the $15 dresses were too costly. On the second level,there was even a library.

The new department store had 12 elevators. It had flush toilets and air conditioning. It was protected from fire by water sprinklers in the ceilings. It was so tall at the time that a light was put on the top so airplanes could find the city at night. It was thought to be very modern. Shopping became one of the most popular things to do in Winnipeg.

THE HUDSON’S BAY

For many years, the Hudson's Bay Company owned all of the centre part of Winnipeg. In 1970, the store became a Canadian company and was no longer owned by the British. Today, the Hudson's Bay Company is Canada's oldest business and still one of its largest.