The North West Company (NWC) was the main rival in the fur trade. The competition led to the small Pemmican War in 1816. The Battle of Seven Oaks on 19 June 1816 was the climax of the long dispute. In 1821, the North West Company of Montreal and Hudson's Bay Company were forcibly merged by intervention of the British government to put an end to often-violent competition. 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. 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.
North West Company: violent competition and merger
Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company | North West Company: violent competition and merger
Yes, with North West Company Yes, with the "North West Company". In 1821, the North West Company of Montreal and Hudson's Bay Company were forcibly merged by intervention of the British government to put an end to often-violent competition. In 1821, the North West Company of Montreal and Hudson's Bay Company were forcibly merged by intervention of the British government to put an end to often-violent competition.
where is the headwaters of the willamette river
user
Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest region of North America
assistant
who were the first people to inhabit the area along the above-mentioned river?
user
Native American community
assistant
what was the major trade done on this river?
user
Fur trade
assistant
who traded this, to whom?
user
French-Canadians working for the Hudson's Bay Company
assistant
who owns this company?
user
American business man, Jerry Zucker
assistant
are there any modern stores associated with this company?
user
Yes, department stores
assistant
any stores in particular?
user
Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
assistant
did they merger with any other major company?
user
They also operated a store in what were then known as the Sandwich Islands (Hawai'i), engaging in merchant shipping to the islands between 1828 and 1859.
Hudson's Bay Company | North West Company: violent competition and merger
The North West Company (NWC) was the main rival in the fur trade. The competition led to the small Pemmican War in 1816. The Battle of Seven Oaks on 19 June 1816 was the climax of the long dispute. In 1821, the North West Company of Montreal and Hudson's Bay Company were forcibly merged by intervention of the British government to put an end to often-violent competition. 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. 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.
Hudson's Bay Company | North West Company: violent competition and merger
By this the North West Company name disappeared after more than 40 years of operations. At the time of the merger, the amalgamated company consisted of 97 trading posts that had belonged to the North West Company and 76 that belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company. When the competition between both companies came to an end, new board of directors wanted two field governors to oversee the newly defined territory, and George Simpson was appointed to the Northern Department. George Simpson (1787–1860), the Hudson's Bay Company Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land, who became the Canadian head of the northern division of the greatly enlarged business, made his headquarters in the Montreal suburb of Lachine.
North West Company | Forced merger
The NWC's regional headquarters at Fort George (Fort Astoria) was relocated to Fort Vancouver on the north bank of the Columbia River; it became the HBC base of operations on the Pacific Slope. Before the merger, the employees of the HBC, unlike those of the North West Company, did not participate in its profits. After the merger, with all operations under the management of 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 , and it had 1,500 contract employees.
Hudson's Bay Company | North West Company: violent competition and merger
Hostilities between the North West and Hudson’s Bay companies came to a swift end when the two merged the following year in 1821. The merger was the result of declining profits on both sides and pressure from the British government to settle their differences. In fact, with the merger, many of the combatants of the Pemmican War worked side-by-side, seemingly forgetting their past aggressions.
Pemmican War | Merger of the two companies
The form of nepotism within the company too had changed, from the strict values of Simon McTavish to something that was harming the business in both its costs and morale of others. By 1820, the company was issuing coinage, each copper token representing the value of one beaver pelt. But the continued operations of the North West Company were in great doubt, and shareholders had no choice but to agree to a merger with their hated rival after Henry Bathurst, the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, ordered the companies to cease hostilities. In July 1821, under more pressure from the British government, which passed new regulations governing the fur trade in British North America, a merger agreement was signed with the Hudson's Bay Company.
North West Company | Forced merger
All these events intensified competition between the companies. When Thomas Douglas convinced his fellow shareholders in the Hudson's Bay Company to grant him the Selkirk Concession, it marked another in a series of events that would lead to the demise of the North West Company. The Pemmican Proclamation, the ensuing Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816, and its violence, resulted in Lord Selkirk arresting William McGillivray and several North West Company proprietors. He ordered the seizure of their outpost property in Fort William and charged them in the deaths of 21 people at Seven Oaks. Although this matter was resolved by the authorities in Montreal, over the next few years some of the wealthiest and most capable partners began to leave the North West Company, fearful of its future viability.
North West Company | Forced merger
In the 1821 merger with the North West Company, the Hudson's Bay Company gained control of North West Company trading posts west of the Rocky Mountains. They established headquarters at Fort George (formerly Astoria). George Simpson, Governor of Hudson's Bay Company, visited the Columbia District in 1824–25, journeying from York Factory. He investigated a quicker route than previously used, following the Saskatchewan River and crossing the mountains at Athabasca Pass. This route was thereafter followed by the York Factory Express brigades.
John McLoughlin | Hudson's Bay Company
By 1810, another crisis hit the fur industry, brought on by the over-harvesting of animals, the beaver in particular. The destruction of the North West Company post at Sault Ste. Marie by the Americans during the War of 1812 was a serious blow during an already difficult time. In addition, the company was hurt by the refusal after the war of the United States to let Canadian traders freely cross its northern border. This reduced much of the border trade, which had previously been profitable for them, and artificially divided traders' relations with those several Native American tribes whose territories spanned the border.
North West Company | Forced merger
The Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816 threatened a further escalation of violence between North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company servants. Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the battle, the NWC lost several of its investors who were wary of the company's continued existence. In a move brokered to end hostilities between the companies, shareholders in the NWC agreed to merge with the Hudson's Bay Company, signing an agreement in 1821 that saw its name dissolved and its employees & properties absorbed under the HBC name. The agreement named several persons as chief factors and chief traders at this time; with Fort Augustus consequently being absorbed by Fort Edmonton, John Rowand was made a chief trader at Edmonton.
John Rowand | Joining the Hudson's Bay Company
Competition caused spurs of violence in the region over the control of economic resources, escalating with the arrival of Hudson's Bay Company. The late beginnings of Hudson's Bay Company in the North-Western Territory was due to a shortage of available voyageurs and the domination of the North West Company. It was not until 1791 a post was established and was operational year-round in 1799. The North West Company continued to rise to power up until the point of their merger with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821.
Île-à-la-Crosse | Early trading
The diversification of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) became necessary with the decline of fur trade in the latter half of the 19th century, and the Deed of Surrender in which ownership of the North-Western Territory and Rupert's Land was transferred from HBC to the newly established country of Canada in 1870. The first Hudson's Bay Company store opened in 1881 in Winnipeg, Manitoba with an inventory consisting of dry goods, groceries, and hardware. HBC reorganized into fur trade, lands sales, and retail divisions in 1910; with the guidance of a director from the British department store Harrods, they began construction of full-line department stores in 1913.
Hudson's Bay (department store) | Early history
The other department stores that followed were in Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg. The 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. Today, the 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.
Hudson's Bay Company | Department stores and diversification
In 1987, the northern trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company were sold to an employee consortium that revived the name The North West Company in 1990. The new company is a grocery and merchandise store chain based in Winnipeg, with stores in Northern Canada, Alaska, US Pacific territories and the Caribbean. Its headquarters are across the street from the Forts Rouge, Garry, and Gibraltar National Historic Site of Canada, the site of an old North West Company fort.
North West Company | Revival
In 1972, the company acquired the four-store Shop-Rite chain of catalogue stores. The chain was quickly expanded to 65 stores in Ontario, but closed in 1982 due to declining sales. 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.
Hudson's Bay Company | Retail expansion
In 1928, the Hudson's Bay Company purchased a majority of the company's shares but these were re-acquired by Jobs fifteen years later. In 1945, Northatlantic Fisheries purchased sixty percent of Jobs' shares. Other Jobs plants were sold in the next two decades. The remaining Jobs plant in St. John's closed operations in 1967.
Job Brothers &amp; Co., Limited | Later years
From 1760 to 1821, the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company competed for furs. Both companies used The Forks to store and ship supplies and furs. By 1821, competing fur companies were amalgamated into the Hudson's Bay Company.
The Forks, Winnipeg | 1738–1880
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great wealth at stake, tensions between the companies increased to the point where several minor armed skirmishes broke out, and the two companies were forced by the British government to merge.
North West Company | Introduction
The store closed in 1960 when all HBC operations were centralized to the downtown location. Thereafter, the building was used only as a warehouse for HBC retail operations. The Bay retail stores were rebranded as Northern Stores Inc in 1987 and the warehouse was sold to Les Rocher who has owned it ever since. The Hudson's Bay Company warehouse was designated a City of Yellowknife Heritage Site in 1993.
Hudson's Bay Warehouse | Introduction
This "modernization program" resulted the "original six" department stores in Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta; Vancouver and Victoria in British Columbia; Winnipeg in Manitoba; and Saskatoon in Saskatchewan. Hudson's Bay Company entered the provinces of Ontario and Quebec with its acquisition of the Montreal-based Morgan's department store chain in 1960; that year, only the Morgan's stores in Ontario were converted to Hudson's Bay Company stores.
Hudson's Bay (department store) | Early history
Most histories of M&A begin in the late 19th century United States. However, mergers coincide historically with the existence of companies. In 1708, for example, the East India Company merged with an erstwhile competitor to restore its monopoly over the Indian trade. In 1784, the Italian Monte dei Paschi and Monte Pio banks were united as the Monti Reuniti. In 1821, the Hudson's Bay Company merged with the rival North West Company.
Mergers and acquisitions | History
McLoughlin was instrumental in the negotiations leading to the North West Company's 1821 merger with the Hudson's Bay Company. He was promoted to head the Lac la Pluie district temporarily shortly after the merger.
John McLoughlin | North West Company
In 1821, the Northwest Company and the Hudson's Bay Company merged under the name of the latter. By 1825, Sir George Simpson advanced from the junior governor in charge of the company's Northern Department to be the head of this new company. Simpson traveled throughout the Northwest. For forty years he led the company. For most of that time, he made at least one major journey by canoe every year.
History of the Northwest Territories | Merger of the trading companies
In 1960, the company acquired Morgan's allowing it to expand into Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, and Ottawa. In 1965, HBC rebranded its department stores as The Bay. The Morgan's logo was changed to match the new visual identity. By 1972 the last of the former Morgan's stores had been rebranded to Bay stores. 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, 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.
Hudson's Bay Company | Retail expansion
In early 2017, the Hudson's Bay Company made an overture to Macy's for a potential takeover of the struggling department store. Later, HBC also considered a purchase of the struggling Neiman Marcus Group Inc. It did not proceed with either deal.
Hudson's Bay Company | Considered purchases
But as Loblaws regained market share, profitability south of the border, at National Tea Co., deteriorated. A similar program of rationalization saw hundreds of National stores closed and warehouses consolidated, while other outlets underwent renovation and rebranding. By 1974, of 1,100 retail food outlets across North America, 367 stores were closed, while 81 new stores had been built. Unprofitable divisions, namely Chicago, Syracuse and California, were sold. Although some supermarket assets were later acquired, eventually the company would divest itself of all retail and wholesale holdings in the United States.
George Weston Limited | Consolidation
Although Simpsons was slightly higher end than The Bay, the distinction was hardly noticeable to the average shopper. The Hudson's Bay Company came to the conclusion that it would be better to rationalize its operations than to divide its customer base. Nick Gaitan, Vice-president of Sales for the Hudson's Bay Company, had previously remarked that except for downtown locations, that had certain differences, the merchandise was basically the same in the two chains. Finally, the demise of Simpsons came at a time when the Hudson's Bay Company was seriously controlling its operating costs in preparation of an eventual entrance to Canada by American giant Wal-Mart which was already conquering the retail landscape in its country and attracting Canadians living close to the border.
Simpsons (department store) | The End
After closure, Hudson's maintained its headquarters staff of about 1,100 in the downtown store. In May 1984, The J.L. Hudson Co. formally merged into The Department Store Division of the Dayton Hudson Corp., but Hudson's stores continued to carry the Hudson's name. All executive and buying positions transferred to Minneapolis, and other staff moved to space at the Northland store in Southfield. The last corporate department in the downtown Detroit building, credit operations, moved in October 1986. Dayton Hudson sold the building in December 1989, and it was imploded on October 24, 1998.
Hudson's | Decline
The North West Company was merged with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821. Operations west of the Rocky Mountains were reorganized and the fur districts of New Caledonia and Columbia were merged in 1827 under the name Columbia Department. The name New Caledonia continued to be used for the old northern district, and in time came to be used for areas such as the Fraser Canyon and the Lower Mainland. In 1824 the Hudson's Bay Company built Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River to serve as the headquarters of the entire Columbia Department, which was previously the role of Fort Astoria (renamed Fort George).
Columbia District | Hudson's Bay Company
The western fur trade collapsed during the British conquest of Canada but it was soon restored by English-speakers. These so-called "Pedlars" joined together to form the North West Company. The Hudson's Bay Company responded by building posts inland, starting with Cumberland House, Saskatchewan in 1774. Competition between the HBC and NWC led to a great expansion to trade and exploration until the merger of the two companies in 1821. Pedlars reached Lake Winnipeg by 1767 and Fort des Épinettes west of Lake Manitoba in 1768. By the 1770s they were on the lower Saskatchewan River. The NWC reached the Swan River in 1787 and in the 1790s many posts were built on the upper Assiniboine.
Assiniboine River fur trade | English Period
The conflict reached its peak in 1801 and witnessed both companies expending more resources on out-competing each other than were expended on the exploration of new fur grounds. Between 1803–1804, Hudson's Bay morale had plummeted in the face of fierce Northwest competition and forced the two companies into negotiations but neither side could come to terms. Negotiations broke down again in 1805 and despite employing more aggressive agents and the provision of incentive programs, the Hudson's Bay Company was ready to abandon the fur trade in 1809. The Nor'Westers ability to make region-wide plans based on first-hand knowledge in addition to their ability to react quickly to changing circumstances provided the North West Company with a decisive advantage prior to 1810.
Red River Colony | War between the companies
The North West Company is a multinational Canadian grocery and retail company which operates stores in Canada's western provinces and northern territories, as well as the US states of Alaska, Hawaii, and several other countries and US territories in Oceania and the Caribbean. The company traces its history back to the North West Company, a fur trading business headquartered in the city of Montreal in British North America from 1779 to 1821. It was merged into the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821. The enterprise continued as the Fur Trade Department, and then the Northern Stores Division of Hudson's Bay Company.
The North West Company | Introduction
The HBC is the only European trading company to have survived and outlived all its rivals.
Hudson's Bay Company | Rivals
While some Kmart locations were closed, many sites became full Zellers outlets. In 1996, Hudson's Bay Company closed its Zellers head office in Montreal, Quebec and merged it with the Hudson's Bay Company headquarters in downtown Toronto. By 1998, Hudson's Bay Company regained a Zellers head office after Zellers took over Kmart's Canadian head office in Brampton, Ontario.
Zellers | 1990s: Further acquisitions
In 1820, when William McGillivray realised that the collapse of the North West Company (NWC) was imminent unless an agreement could be made with their rivals, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), Simon took a leading role. Together with his friend Edward Ellice, they devised a plan to merge the two giant fur companies. During the discussions that followed, Colin Robertson remarked: "I like Simon much better than his friend the Member of Parliament (Ellice); there is a sort of highland pride and frankness about the little fellow that I don't dislike". The merger was completed by 1821, and having broken the news to the partners in Canada, Robertson again commented, "Simon McGillivray has carried everything without even the semblance of opposition.
Simon McGillivray | Merging the NWC with the HBC
The trading posts were soon reduced in number to avoid redundancy.
North West Company | Forced merger
After 1810, the combination of new management within the Hudson's Bay Company and the approval of a company-sponsored colony at Red River put the North West Company on the defensive. The establishment of a Hudson's Bay colony in the Red River region denied the Nor'Westers access to vital supplies and restricted the company's ability to expand westwards. Additionally, the establishment of an agricultural colony made the Hudson's Bay company nondependent on the profitable fur trade, a factor that the Nor'Westers simply could not compete with. Moreover, by establishing an agricultural colony, the Hudson's Bay Company gained a decisive advantage over the North West Company by virtue of a viable fallback economy as well as a readily available food source during economic slumps.
Red River Colony | War between the companies
On 29 July 2013, Hudson's Bay Company announced that it would buy Saks, Inc., operator of the U.S. Saks Fifth Avenue brand, for US$2.9 billion, or $16 per share. The merger was completed on 3 November 2013. The company also stated that as a result of the purchase, Canadian consumers would see Saks stores arriving in their country soon. After the purchase was finalized, HBC had a net loss of $124.2 million in the 2013 3Q due to the cost of the purchase and promotions. In late February 2019, HBC announced that it would close 20 of the 133 Saks stores and that all of the remaining locations would be "subject to review".
Hudson's Bay Company | Purchase of Saks, Inc
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 March 3, 2020, the company was delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange, with Richard A. Baker replacing Foulkes as CEO.
Hudson's Bay Company | Moving forward
From 1779 to 1821 two British fur trading companies, the Montreal-based North West Company (NWC) and the London-based Hudson's Bay Company, competed for control of the fur trade of what later became Western Canada. The struggle, which eventually reached the point of armed battles such as the 1816 Battle of Seven Oaks, was mostly over control of Rupert's Land, east of the Continental Divide. Around the turn of the 19th century the NWC expanded its operations westward, across the Rocky Mountains into the mostly unexplored Pacific Northwest. By the 1810s the NWC had established new fur trading operations west of the Rockies, in New Caledonia and the Columbia District.
Maritime fur trade | Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company, which operates Canadian department stores under The Bay and (formerly) Zellers names, acquired the small Shop-Rite catalogue chain in 1972 and quickly expanded it in an attempt to compete with Consumers Distributing. The chain never reached profitability, and ceased operations in 1982. American competition was mainly from the catalogue showroom retail store chains Best Products (also known simply as Best) and Service Merchandise. Both Best Products and Service Merchandise ultimately declared bankruptcy and ceased operations. Argos, which was modelled on the format of Consumers Distributing, continues to thrive in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Consumers Distributing | Competitors and similar retailers
The Hudson's Bay Company attempted to operate Simpsons as a more-upscale nameplate than its main brand, The Bay, but was unsuccessful. The chain's operations were merged with The Bay in 1989 in the Montreal area and 1991 in the rest of the country, and the Simpsons name was retired after a retail presence of almost 120 years. Reasons for the Hudson's Bay Company's decision were the recession and the fact that it rarely made profits with the Simpsons stores ever since the acquisition in the late 1970s. According to a financial analyst, Simpsons struggled to stand out from The Bay.
Simpsons (department store) | The End
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) merged with the North West Company in 1821 and assumed its various fur trading stations. The HBC held a license among British subjects to trade with the populous aboriginal peoples of the region, and its network of trading posts and routes extended southward from New Caledonia, another HBC fur-trade district, into the Columbia basin (most of New Caledonia lay south of 54–40). The HBC's headquarters for the entire region became established at Fort Vancouver (modern Vancouver, Washington) in 1824. During that year George Simpson while discussing the company's "uncertain tenure of the Columbia" with Governor Colville, discussed the possibility of closing operations along the river.
Oregon boundary dispute | Hudson's Bay Company
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. 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.
Hudson's Bay Company | End of monopoly
In the 18th and 19th Centuries, Hudson's Bay Company operated with a very rigid hierarchy when it came to its employees. This hierarchy essentially broke down into two levels; the officers and the servants.Comprising 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.
Hudson's Bay Company | Corporate hierarchy
Not only did the merger improve the financial position of the constituent firms, it also blocked entry into the Canadian market by U.S. firms. Eventually, the Canada Packers operations were consolidated, with the meat packing and abattoir functions relocating to Toronto's union stockyards in the west end of the city. The former William Davies Company facilities by the Don River were first converted into a cold storage facility and soap works, and were eventually sold. Canada Packers later merged in 1991 with Maple Leaf Mills, a producer of flour-based foods, forming Maple Leaf Foods.
William Davies Company | Establishment of Canada Packers
For 100 years the London-based Hudson’s Bay Company dominated the North American fur trade operating almost exclusively from their depots along the shores of Hudson Bay (though their charter, granted by Charles II in 1670 gave them exclusive rights to trade along the banks of any connected waterway), but competition from various Montréal merchants and later the North West Company in the 1770s changed this. The North West Company and others generally traded beyond the actual reach of the HBC, but generally still within their territory, easing the burden for natives of those regions to travel the long distance to Hudson Bay to trade.
Pemmican War | Background
F. Ahmanson & Co., the holding company for the largest thrift in the nation Home Savings of America, that would have involved $5.8 billion worth of stock. Since the two companies had large overlapping territories, many Great Western offices would have been closed by the victor if the takeover attempt had succeeded. The only way the combat a hostile takeover was to find another company, called a white knight that would allow a merger on much better terms. One such company was WaMu. In March, Great Western Financial announced that it had accepted WaMu's merger proposal for $6.6 billion in WaMu stock.
Washington Mutual | Expansion in California
The Canadian and U.S. holdings were transferred to NRDC Equity Partners' holding company, Hudson's Bay Trading Company, as of late 2008.
Hudson's Bay Company | 21st century
The Target Canada chain folded in 2015; the leases were subsequently returned to landlords or re-sold to other retailers. In early 2019, HBC announced that it would close all 37 of the Home Outfitters stores by year end.
Hudson's Bay Company | Other chains
In late summer 1995, Federated reached an agreement with Broadway Stores, Inc.'s controlling-shareholder, Chicago-based financier Sam Zell, to buy that company. Broadway Stores was the post-bankruptcy successor of Carter Hawley Hale Stores, a Los Angeles-headquartered company that at one time owned Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Wanamaker's. Through the 1970s and 1980s it was the leader in both sales volume and store count in California, but had struggled in the 1990s. The transaction was completing on October 11, 1995, and Federated subsequently announced plans to merge the organization's 83 Emporium, Weinstock's and The Broadway locations with Macy's West/Bullock's and rebrand them all with the Macy's moniker in early 1996.
Macy's West | Broadway Stores merger
The iconic department store today 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 Fort Victoria (1859), Winnipeg (1881), Calgary (1884), Vancouver (1887), Vernon (1887), Edmonton (1890), Yorkton (1898), and Nelson (1902). The first of the grand "original six" department stores was built in Calgary in 1913.
Hudson's Bay Company | Department stores and diversification
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. Baker remained governor and CEO of the business, and Donald Watros stayed on as chief operating officer. In 2018, HBC sold the building that housed its flagship Lord & Taylor store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to WeWork Property Advisors after pressure from Land & Buildings Investment Management. 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.
Hudson's Bay Company | Lord & Taylor stores
Charlton's western holdings gave F. W. Woolworth a nationwide reach in both the United States and Canada. He became a senior vice president, and earned $6,500,000 from the merger. With the consolidation of the six brands under the Woolworth name, F. W. Woolworth & Company operated five hundred and ninety-six stores, with its headquarters at the newly constructed Woolworth Building in New York. The company prospered for most of the twentieth century, before increased competition in the discount retail market caused it to focus on specialty brands. Woolworth's-branded stores were closed throughout the 1990s, while the company focused on athletic apparel, and particularly its Foot Locker brand.
E. P. Charlton &amp; Company | Consolidation with Woolworth
These shops were the first step towards the department stores the company owns today.
Hudson's Bay Company | Introduction
The company's namesake business division is Hudson's Bay, commonly referred to as The Bay ( in French). After incorporation by English royal charter in 1670, the company functioned as the "de facto" government in parts of North America for nearly 200 years until the HBC sold the land it owned (the entire Hudson Bay drainage basin, known as Rupert's Land) to Canada in 1869 as part of the Deed of Surrender, authorized by the Rupert's Land Act 1868. During its peak, the company controlled the fur trade throughout much of the English- and later British-controlled North America. By the mid-19th century, the company evolved into a mercantile business selling a wide variety of products from furs to fine homeware in a small number of sales shops (as opposed to trading posts) across Canada.
Hudson's Bay Company | Introduction
These so-called "pedlars" began to merge because competition cost them money and because of the high costs of outfitting canoes to the far west.
North West Company | Before the Company
Thomas McKay joined the North West Company after the failure of the Pacific Fur Company in 1813. Between 1815 and 1819 Thomas was in the Red River Colony and fought on the side of the North West Company and the Métis people against the Hudson's Bay Company. McKay fought at the 1816 Battle of Seven Oaks. By 1819 he was back on the Columbia. Within two years the entire North West Company was merged into the Hudson's Bay Company.
Thomas McKay (fur trader) | North West Company
Although a bid by Weston and George Weston Limited to acquire the Hudson's Bay Company and its chain of department stores failed in 1979, a second opportunity to acquire a major Canadian retailer presented itself several years later. In 1986, Wittington Investments, the Weston family holding company, announced the purchase of Holt Renfrew & Co. Limited. Press reports named a purchase price of $43 million for the fifteen store chain. Holt Renfrew subsequently underwent an extensive renovation program.
Galen Weston | Holt Renfrew
Through the 1830s, competition began to resurface. At the same time, the availability of furs in the Midwest declined. During this period, the Hudson's Bay Company began an effort to destroy the American fur companies from its Columbia District headquarters at Fort Vancouver. By depleting furs in the Snake River country and underselling the American Fur Company at the annual Rocky Mountain Rendezvous, the HBC effectively ruined American fur trading efforts in the Rocky Mountains. By the 1840s, silk was replacing fur for hats as the clothing fashion in Europe. The company was unable to cope with all these factors.
American Fur Company | Decline
Astor, concerned the British navy would seize their forts and supplies in the War of 1812, sold to the North West Company in 1812 their forts, supplies and furs on the Columbia and Snake River. The North West Company started establishing more forts and trading posts of its own. By 1821, when armed hostilities broke out with its Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) rivals, the North West Company was pressured by the British government to merge with the HBC. The HBC had nearly a complete monopoly on trading (and most governing issues) in the Columbia District, or Oregon Country as it was referred to by the Americans, and also in Rupert's Land.
Oregon Trail | The North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company stores were renamed The Bay (which was already a popular nickname) in 1965, while the Morgan's stores in Quebec were renamed La Baie in 1972. That same year, Hudson's Bay purchased Ottawa's Freimans department store and moved from the former Morgan's building on Sparks Street to the Freiman building on Rideau Street, closer to competing Ogilvy's and Caplan's. The Bay further expanded its presence between 1989 and 1991 in Eastern Canada by absorbing the Simpsons department store chain, and 1993 in Western Canada by taking over many former Woodward's outlets. The Toronto Queen Street flagship store was previously a Simpsons department store.
Hudson's Bay (department store) | Following renaming to The Bay
On February 28, 2006, Hudson's Bay Company was taken private by South Carolina businessman Jerry Zucker. In Hudson's Bay Company's last year as a publicly traded company, Zellers had 291 stores and lost $107 million on sales of $4.2 billion. Mark Foote, who had headed general merchandise at Loblaw Companies and was president of Canadian Tire Corp's retail division, was appointed President and CEO of Zellers in 2008 and he was credited with stabilizing the chain, though it still struggled against Walmart Canada. Following Zucker's death in 2008, Hudson's Bay Company and its subsidiaries including Zellers came under the ownership of a New York based company, NRDC Equity Partners, which was headed by Richard Baker.
Zellers | 2000s: Decline
Also, the changing structure of cities affected them. From its origins in the fur trade, the Hudson's Bay Company is the oldest corporation in North America and "was" the largest department store operator in Canada until the mid-1980s, with locations across the country. It also previously owned Zellers, another major Canadian department store which ceased to exist in March 2013 after selling its lease holdings to Target Canada. Other department stores in Canada are: Canadian Tire, Ogilvy, Les Ailes de la Mode, Giant Tiger, Co-op, Costco and Holt Renfrew. Grocery giant Superstores carry many non-grocery items akin to a department store.
Department stores by country | Canada
In 1978, Simpsons and Simpsons-Sears put forward a plan to merge their businesses. This plan had to have the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Agency, as Sears, Roebuck would become the prime shareholder. Before approval could be attained, the Hudson’s Bay Company made a counter bid and acquired Simpsons Limited. Simpsons’ shares in Simpsons-Sears taken over by The Bay were eventually sold back to Sears, Roebuck. The company was renamed Sears Canada Inc. in 1984 to reflect its independence. The paths of Hudson’s Bay and Sears crossed again in 1991. The Hudson's Bay Company merged its remaining Greater Toronto Simpsons stores into its The Bay division in 1991, and the Simpsons name disappeared from Canada's retail landscape.
Sears Canada | Divestiture by Simpsons
In October 2017, Canada's oldest retailer Hudson Bay Company agreed to sell its historic Lord & Taylor Building to Rhône Capital and WeWork in a transaction valued at $850 million. The flagship building has been a presence on Fifth Avenue for more than a century, the 10-story limestone structure opened in 1914, and was named a New York City designated landmark in 2007.
Rhône Group | Hudson Bay Company
Hudson's Bay (French: la Baie d'Hudson), formerly and still colloquially The Bay (French: la Baie), is a Canadian department store chain. It is the main brand of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), the oldest company in North America. Founded on May 2, 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company opened its first department store in 1881 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The chain operated under the company name before being rebranded to The Bay in 1965. It historically operated exclusively in Western Canada until the acquisitions and conversions of department stores Morgan's, Freimans, Simpsons, Woodward's, coupled with the opening of new locations, positioned its presence nationwide in the second half of the 20th century.
Hudson's Bay (department store) | Introduction
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. Additionally, the company also announced that it would re-brand The Bay department store chain as "Hudson's Bay".
Hudson's Bay Company | 2012 initial public offering
Renaming Fort Astoria as Fort George, the NWC developed an overland supply route from there to its inland depot at Fort William on Lake Superior. In the ensuing years, the NWC continued to expand its operations in the Pacific Northwest. Skirmishes with its major competitor, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), had already flared into the Pemmican War. The conflict ended in 1821 when the British Government pressured the NWC to merge with the HBC.
York Factory Express | NWC
Ogden was charged with murder, and the North West Company moved him further west to attempt to avoid any further confrontations with the HBC. He served at different posts in modern-day Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia for the next several years. As a way of ending the ongoing strife between the two companies, the HBC and the North West Company merged in 1821. Ogden's violent history placed the now larger HBC in a quandary. Some in the company management severely disliked and distrusted Ogden, but newly appointed governor George Simpson pushed for his reinstatement, arguing that he had done no more than many others during the "fur-trade wars".
Peter Skene Ogden | Professional life
Alexander Henry the younger was an XY winterer. They built a number of posts close to NWC and HBC posts. The murder of an HBC man by an XY man at Fort de l'Isle led to the Canada Jurisdiction Act which extended Quebec law to western Canada. In 1804 it merged with the NWC, having 25% interest in the combined company. The South West Company: was an 1811 attempted partnership between two North West Company firms (McTavish, McGillivrays & Co and Forsyth, Richardson & Co) and John Jacob Astor to import goods through New York and deal with the Great Lakes trade.
North West Company | Organizational history
The companies that merged were mass producers of homogeneous goods that could exploit the efficiencies of large volume production. In addition, many of these mergers were capital-intensive. Due to high fixed costs, when demand fell, these newly merged companies had an incentive to maintain output and reduce prices. However more often than not mergers were "quick mergers". These "quick mergers" involved mergers of companies with unrelated technology and different management. As a result, the efficiency gains associated with mergers were not present. The new and bigger company would actually face higher costs than competitors because of these technological and managerial differences.
Mergers and acquisitions | The Great Merger Movement: 1895–1905
By the early 1970s, Weston's North American retail operations were under considerable financial pressure and appeared headed for bankruptcy. With dwindling cash, considerable debt, and supermarket price wars that had cut the company's share of the crucial Ontario market in half, he asked his youngest son, Galen Weston, to take a look at Loblaws to see if it could be saved. In February 1972, he appointed Galen Weston as Chief Executive Officer of Loblaw Companies Limited. An extensive restructuring began, which resulted in hundreds of ageing, unprofitable outlets in Canada and the United States being closed. Those stores that remained were renovated and rebranded.
W. Garfield Weston | Consolidation
Hudson Co. in 1969 to form the Dayton–Hudson Corporation, but "The J.L. Hudson Co." continued to operate as a semiautonomous entity. Dayton–Hudson eventually acquired and sold several other department store chains.
Hudson's | Locations
In 1824, the Hudson's Bay Company appointed McLoughlin, already a Chief Factor, as Superintendent of the Columbia Department (roughly parallel to what Americans know as the Oregon Country), and Peter Skene Ogden was appointed to assist him. At the time, the region was under joint occupation of both the United States and Britain pursuant to the Treaty of 1818. Upon his arrival, McLoughlin determined that the headquarters of the company at Fort Astoria (now Astoria, Oregon), at the mouth of the Columbia River, was unfit. The York Factory Express trade route had evolved from an earlier express brigade used by the North West Company between Fort George, founded in 1811 by John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company) at the mouth of the Columbia River, to Fort William on Lake Superior.
John McLoughlin | Hudson's Bay Company
The North West Company was merged with the Hudson's Bay Company by the British government in 1821. The majority of the NWC employees, including Ross, continued laboring at their respective locations for the HBC. Ross served another four years as factor at Fort Nez Percés after the merger. While working for the HBC, Ross explored various territories of the Pacific Northwest. In 1824, while searching the mountain wilderness of what is present day Idaho, known to them as Columbia District, for beaver, Ross came up the Wood River and discovered Galena Summit on September 18. Leading a large brigade of Hudson's Bay Company trappers, he wondered if he could get through unknown mountains and rocky defiles that obstructed his passage back to his base of operations at present Challis.
Alexander Ross (fur trader) | Hudson's Bay Company
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. Another HBC chain, Fields, was sold to a private firm in 2012. 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. Zellers was still owned by HBC but had been reduced to a chain of two liquidation stores following the sale of its lease portfolio to Target Canada in 2011.
Hudson's Bay Company | Other chains
Astor, pressured by potential confiscation by the British navy of their forts and supplies in the War of 1812, sold to the North West Company in 1812 their forts, supplies and furs on the Columbia and Snake River. The North West Company started establishing more forts and trading posts of their own. By 1821, when armed hostilities broke out with their Hudson's Bay Company rivals, the North West Company was pressured by the British government to merge with the Hudson's Bay Company. The Hudson's Bay Company had nearly a complete monopoly on trading (and most governing issues) in the Columbia District, or Oregon Country as it was referred to by the Americans, and also in Rupert's Land (western Canada).
History of the Oregon Trail | The North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company
In 1821, the NWC was merged into its powerful competitor, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Douglas's contract was placed onto the HBC's payroll. He quickly moved up the strict system in which things or people are in separate levels of importance of the company. In 1825, he was put in charge of the founding of the Fort Vermilion trading post in what is now northern Alberta. He was next assigned at Fort St. James on Stuart Lake, headquarters of the Company's New Caledonia District, roughly located within modern British Columbia. In 1827, he established Fort Connolly on Bear Lake. The station was named after his manager, William Connolly, who was impressed by Douglas' skills and viewed him favourably.
James Douglas (governor) | Hudson's Bay Company
In 1991, Hudson's Bay Company stopped selling fur. In 1997 the company reopened its fur salons, including a wider assortment of high-end designer furs. Fur salons included many exclusive fur designers, including Louis Féraud, Givenchy, Black Diamond Mink, and Grosvenor. On 16 July 2008, it was announced that Hudson's Bay Company had been purchased by the US firm NRDC Equity Partners, which owned Lord & Taylor and Fortunoff.
Hudson's Bay (department store) | Following renaming to The Bay
In 1969 Hudson's merged with the Dayton's to create Dayton-Hudson Corporation headquartered in Minneapolis.
Department stores by country | Detroit
The two companies built trading posts far west of Lake Superior and Hudson Bay, but the Nor'Westers were more aggressive as they travelled north to the Arctic Ocean via the Mackenzie River and west to the Pacific. The fierce competition ended in 1821 with the amalgamation of the companies into a Hudson's Bay Company monopoly. The Company finally surrendered its northwestern empire when it sold its land to Canada in 1869 following the decrease in profits and demand for furs.
The Fur Trade in Canada | Fur trade history
The Royal Charter made the “Governor and Company ..., and their Successors, the true and absolute Lords and Proprietors, of the same Territory, Limits and Places aforesaid, and of all other the Premisses ["sic"]", and granted them the authority “to erect and build such Castles, Fortifications, Forts, Garrisons, Colonies or Plantations, Towns or Villages, in any Parts or Places within the Limits and Bounds granted before in these Presents, unto the said Governor and Company, as they in their Discretion shall think fit and requisite". Following merger with the North West Company in 1821, the Hudson’s Bay Company's monopoly privileges and licence were extended to trade over the North-Western Territory.
Rupert's Land | Hudson's Bay Company's claim of ownership
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 wasn't 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.
Hudson's Bay Company | Corporate hierarchy
After the North West Company was merged with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821 Thomas McKay became an HBC employee, despite having fought the company in the Red River Colony war. In 1824 Chief Factor John McLoughlin was appointed superintendent of the Columbia Department. He and his family moved that year to Fort George (Astoria) and then, once it was built, Fort Vancouver, the new headquarters of the HBC Columbia Department. In 1811 McLoughlin had married Marguerite Wadin, widow of Alexander MacKay and mother of Thomas McKay. Thus in 1824 Thomas's mother and stepfather moved across the continent to the very place Thomas was living.
Thomas McKay (fur trader) | Hudson's Bay Company
By 1901 it was necessary to expand again and two more buildings were purchased. Nine years later an annex was built to sell furniture. The store considered itself "the peer of all mercantile establishments on the Hudson River and the most complete store of its kind in any city in the U.S. the size of Poughkeepsie." Their advertisements claimed to have the equivalent of 30 stores under one roof, 175 sales clerks and 2 miles (3.2 km) of counter space.
Luckey, Platt &amp; Company Department Store | Company history
In 1990, Hudson's Bay Company acquired the 51 stores of the Towers/Bonimart chain from the Oshawa Group, and converted most of them to Zellers outlets, including its flagship location in Toronto. Zellers advertisements at the time featured both the Towers mascot, Sparky, and the Zellers mascot, Zeddy, walking arm in arm. During this period, Zellers used the slogan "the lowest price is the law." In 1993, Hudson's Bay Company purchased the assets of the bankrupt Woodward's chain, including 21 store locations. These were converted into Zellers and The Bay stores, and greatly expanded the company's presence in Western Canada. In 1998, Hudson's Bay Company acquired Kmart's Canadian division, and merged it with the Zellers division to create a larger combined chain under the Zellers name.
Zellers | 1990s: Further acquisitions
The Hudson's Bay Company had a technical monopoly of the beaver trade within the drainage basin of Hudson Bay while the Compagnie d'Occident was given a monopoly of the beaver trade farther south. The English organized their trade on strictly hierarchical lines while the French used licenses to lease the use of their posts. This meant that the French incentivized the extension of trade, and French traders did indeed infiltrate much of the Great Lakes region. The French established posts on Lake Winnipeg, Lac des Praires and Lake Nipigon which represented a serious threat to flow of furs to the York Factory.
North American fur trade | Indigenous Peoples' response to French–English competition
In 1821, the escalating conflicts between the competing North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company resulted in a forced merger of the two. The Hudson's Bay Company took over all the North West Company's operations, and administered them as the Columbia District. Fort Nez Percés remained an important HBC fur trade post and base for beaver hunting expeditions, as well as an important stop on the twice annual York Factory Express trade route to London via Hudson Bay. The Fort, along with other HBC forts on the western end of the Oregon Trail route, including Fort Vancouver near its terminus in the Willamette Valley; all gave substantial and often desperately needed aid to the early American Oregon Trail pioneers.
Fort Nez Percés | Hudson's Bay Company
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 a buyer in the United States. In addition, Americans controlled the Maritime fur trade on the Northwest Coast until the 1830s. Throughout the 1820s and 1830s, the HBC controlled nearly all trading operations in the Pacific Northwest, based at the company headquarters at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River.Although claims to the region were by agreement in abeyance, commercial operating rights were nominally shared by the United States and Britain through the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, but company policy, enforced via Chief Factor John McLoughlin of the company's Columbia District, was to discourage U.S.
Hudson's Bay Company | Competition
The decision was taken within Simpsons and did not affect the HBC's other two chains, The Bay and Zellers, which both had increased sales.
Simpsons (department store) | Acquisition by the Hudson's Bay Company
York Factory served as the Hudson's Bay Company's headquarters. The HBC depended on the furs coming to York Factory. The North West Company competed with the HBC by traveling throughout the territory obtaining furs as they did so. Some of these trader explorers kept journals and had them published. Public interest developed as a result. As the Europeans increased their presence, they involved the First Nations as guides and suppliers of furs. The Chipewyan acted as middlemen. They brought to York Factory the furs of the western tribes. The Cree, Chipewyan, Beaver and Yellowknives obtained firearms. With this new advantage, they dominated their Athapaskan neighbors, i.e.
History of the Northwest Territories | Rivers North, 1700s
Due to this deal some of the company's brands are actually FMG store brands that are found in Macy's stores in the United States but are sold exclusively at HBC stores in Canada. All of these brands are only sold in the company's The Bay stores, except for Très You, which is sold at Zellers.
List of Hudson's Bay Company brands | Introduction
After the French landed in Quebec in 1608, spread out and built a fur trade empire in the St. Lawrence basin. The French competed with the Dutch (from 1614) and English (1664) in New York and the English in Hudson Bay (1670). Unlike the French who travelled into the northern interior and traded with First Nations in their camps and villages, the English made bases at trading posts on Hudson Bay, inviting the indigenous people to trade. After 1731, pushed trade west beyond Lake Winnipeg. After the British conquest of New France in 1763 (and the defeat of France in Europe), the management of the fur trading posts was taken over by English-speakers.
North West Company | Before the Company
Jay Gould's Great North Western Company merged with Dominion in 1881, clearly making the company its next target. Montreal yielded a 97-year lease of its lines to Great North Western in August 1881. After 1881, the company lost its dominant position, and was eventually integrated into Western Union.
Montreal Telegraph Company | Introduction
In a relatively large mercantile company, there could be a hierarchy, including several grades of factor. In the Hudson's Bay Company as it was restructured after merging with the North West Company in 1821, commissioned officers included the ranks of chief trader and chief factor. In the deed poll under which the HBC was governed, there were 25 chief factors and 28 chief traders. Chief factors usually held high administrative positions. The Dutch East India Company and British East India Company based factors all over Asia. In 18th- and early 19th-century China and Japan, trade was limited to small ghettoes: the Dutch Factory on Dejima, an island off Nagasaki, and the Thirteen Factories and Shamian Island areas of Canton.
Factor (agent) | Mercantile factors
As of November 2017, the company also had retail operations in Europe, including 20 Hudson's Bay stores in the Netherlands and five Saks Off Fifth stores in Germany, as well as the 135 stores of the Galeria Kaufhof department store chain in Germany. HBC had 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. HBC had acquired the German department store chain Galeria Kaufhof and its Belgian subsidiary from Metro Group in September 2015 for .
Hudson's Bay Company | European operations
This formed the basis of the company's Toronto-area network, and was soon joined by new east-west lines to compete with the CP.
Hamilton and North-Western Railway | Merger with Northern
One of these locations, a former Emporium in Cupertino was re-opened as a Macy's under anti-trust pressure from the California attorney general in fall 1998.
Macy's West | Broadway Stores merger
The French controlled much of what is now Canada in the early 1700s. As a result, their traders had a large fur trading network. After the conquest of New France by the British in 1763, French traders founded the North West Company and continued expanding their fur trade into the Canadian interior. The competition with the Hudson's Bay Company led to a massive environmental impact with numerous fur trade posts being built, the interior of Canada being explored, and the beaver population being exhausted. The fur trade created conflict which increased tensions between the British, French and the Aboriginals.
The North West Company | Brief history