News   Mar 27, 2024
 1.1K     1 
News   Mar 27, 2024
 1.1K     2 
News   Mar 27, 2024
 635     0 

Hudson's Bay Company

They're rebranding The Bay to Hudson's Bay, but I think the umbrella company will still be Hudson's Bay Company. I could be wrong though.

Their website still has "Hudson's Bay Company" and "HBC" all over the place, and no indication that this is changing.

http://www2.hbc.com/hbc/

Honestly, I can't see them changing that name, ever, at least for the parent company, especially given the emphasis on their history that's become a significant part of their brand. Aren't many companies around that have existed since 1670.
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente is correct. The parent company remains the same (Hudson's Bay Company), but "The Bay" retail banner is being replaced by "Hudson's Bay".

HBC launches IPO as new rivals loom (excerpt)
Marina Strauss
Published Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012

"The HBC filing reveals that the retailer – consisting of the Bay (which will be called Hudson’s Bay), Lord & Taylor and Home Outfitters – posted a profit of $57.3-million last year, a significant improvement over its $159.7-million loss two years earlier. "
 
Last edited:
Coruscanti Cognoscente is correct. The parent company remains the same (Hudson's Bay Company), but "The Bay" retail banner is being replaced by "Hudson's Bay".

Retail Insider also states the same: http://www.retail-insider.com/2012/10/the-hudsons-bay-company-drops-company_17.html

October 17 2012:

"We found out today that Canada's 342 year-old Hudson's Bay Company will drop the word 'Company' from its name, now to be known simply as 'Hudson's Bay'. The store will also deviate away from calling itself 'The Bay' as it has for an eternity.

The name change will coincide with a mid-November initial stock offering of Hudson's Bay.

The decision to amend the company's name responds to The Bay's somewhat unfashionable brand image. Recent store upgrades will continue to upscale the store to make it more competitive with Holt Renfrew and the entry of Nordstrom into Canada."
 
Retail Insider also states the same: http://www.retail-insider.com/2012/10/the-hudsons-bay-company-drops-company_17.html

October 17 2012:

"We found out today that Canada's 342 year-old Hudson's Bay Company will drop the word 'Company' from its name, now to be known simply as 'Hudson's Bay'. The store will also deviate away from calling itself 'The Bay' as it has for an eternity.

The name change will coincide with a mid-November initial stock offering of Hudson's Bay.

The decision to amend the company's name responds to The Bay's somewhat unfashionable brand image. Recent store upgrades will continue to upscale the store to make it more competitive with Holt Renfrew and the entry of Nordstrom into Canada."

That's likely nonsense (the part about Hudson's Bay Company dropping the word 'Company' from its name). Hudson's Bay is not a corporate name. All the other media outlets reported it as a change to the banner name. Time will tell, but the Retail Insider may have jumped to the wrong conclusion.

I note that the photo that accompanies the Retail Insider article makes clear this is about the retail banner.
 
Last edited:
I just glanced again at the preliminary prospectus that came out on Oct 17 (which I cannot seem to link to, but it is easy to find by going to the SEDAR website and searching Hudson's Bay Company -- some interesting facts and figures, BTW). While I cannot say I read every word, it seems fairly clear from the document that "Hudson's Bay" is the new name of the banner (replacing the Bay), not the company itself. This graphic seems to encapsulate the new state of affairs:

HBC.jpg


By the way, I think the new monicker and logo looks really smart on the Vancouver store (image from the retail insider blog):

hudsons+bay+vancouver+downtown+store+exterior+sign+new+october+2012.jpg


What we might expect is that HBC might bring some consistency to the chain's branding: while they now for the most part use the "The Bay" name, they also occasionally refer to the store as the Hudson's Bay Company (mostly for what used to be called the Signature Shop, and oddly last year's Christmas bags, etc.) and also use the HBC acronym (the credit cards, the points, etc., even though technically those uses are for all the retail banners in Canada). We might now see a more focused use of the one "Hudson's Bay" name in relation to the department stores in Canada.
 
Last edited:
The simplified coat of arms and "HUDSON'S BAY CO." in a blocky font and the stripes was what they used a lot during the Olympics. I guess even that logo isn't high end enough for them.

tumblr_m6yrvvNgZp1r6083to1_500.jpg

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/hudson-bay-blanket

People will still call it "The Bay" - in the same way as people call Holt Renfrew "Holt's".
 
Last edited:
That's likely nonsense (the part about Hudson's Bay Company dropping the word 'Company' from its name). Hudson's Bay is not a corporate name. All the other media outlets reported it as a change to the banner name. Time will tell, but the Retail Insider may have jumped to the wrong conclusion.

I note that the photo that accompanies the Retail Insider article makes clear this is about the retail banner.

We were referring to the 'actual' Hudson's Bay Company department stores' name. The blanket company (Hudson's Bay, Lord & Taylor and Home Outfitters) will continue to be called 'The Hudson's Bay Company' as per its prospectus. We should probably been more clear. Thank you.
 
The simplified coat of arms and "HUDSON'S BAY CO." in a blocky font and the stripes was what they used a lot during the Olympics. I guess even that logo isn't high end enough for them.

They should have left it unchanged from its 1990s experience instead of simplifying it. Now that logo was class!
 
I'm not sure why the would drop the 'company' part? Otherwise it just sounds like geography.
 
I'm not sure why the would drop the 'company' part? Otherwise it just sounds like geography.

Well, technically, it would have to be 'Hudson Bay', not 'Hudson's Bay.'

I agree though--Hudson's Bay Co. would make more sense. Why is the company name, Hudson's Bay Company though and not Hudson Bay Company? Why the possessive association?
 
Well, technically, it would have to be 'Hudson Bay', not 'Hudson's Bay.'

I agree though--Hudson's Bay Co. would make more sense. Why is the company name, Hudson's Bay Company though and not Hudson Bay Company? Why the possessive association?

Wikipedia says:

Hudson Bay (Inuktitut: Kangiqsualuk ilua,[1] French: baie d'Hudson), sometimes (usually historically) called Hudson's Bay

I gather Hudson's Bay is the historical name of Hudson Bay.
 

Back
Top