junctionist
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It sounds like they're messing around with something basic and culturally accepted in Canada that's better left alone.
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Skeezix
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They rebranded the store as "The Bay" as recently as 1964, and that didn't cause national problems. How does switching from "The Bay" to "Hudson's Bay" for a retail banner constitute messing around with something basic and culturally accepted in Canada?
DavidJamesTO
Active Member
If anything, this should be more acceptable; it's their traditional name. They already have it above the door at every store.
junctionist
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Actually, it's fine if the "Hudson's Bay Company" name is preserved in their merchandise, stores, and corporate identity, while keeping the shorter version for just the contemporary name of the retail establishment. That seems to be the more recent practice with the use of "The Bay" as a name. At first I thought that they were phasing out "Hudson's Bay Company" universally, which would indeed be messing around with a culturally significant institution; it goes back to 1670.
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deerparker
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The coffee bar inside the lower Queen entrance is now a Starbucks.
Skeezix
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The Bay department store chain gets ready to rebrand itself as Hudson’s Bay
Marc Weisblott
Published: October 31, 2012, 1:30 pm
Canada.com
The chain formerly known as the Bay has set its makeover in motion — even if it will be hard not to remember the current golden design.
Hudson’s Bay, the new identity for the department store chain, will likely roll out in tandem with the company offering shares to the public in the coming weeks.
The Bay department store chain gets ready to rebrand itself as Hudsons BayRetired will be the bright yellow logo with the big “B” bow — which always seemed a bit cryptic at first glance. But who exactly deserves credit or blame for that now-iconic design remains a bit unclear.
The largest letter apparently owed its inspiration to the “M” used by the Montreal-based Morgan’s department store chain, which the Western Canada-based Hudson’s Bay acquired in 1960 as part of its eastward expansion and turned into locations of la Baie across Quebec by 1972.
A posting from 2007 on the Canadian Design Resource website attempted to find the answer. Conflicting claims were made that it was a commission from the U.S. consulting firm Anspach Grossman Portugal, created for free by advertising artist Dennis Panquiw in exchange for royalties — but was paid a lump sum later — and by a designer at the Toronto firm Savage Sloan, which also did the original branding for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Representatives of Hudson’s Bay have not yet responded to an inquiry that could help set the record straight.
Hudson’s Bay Company has attempted to upgrade the image of its flagship stores ever since it hired Bonnie Brooks as president in August 2008. Discontinuing the Zellers discount chain — whose leases were sold to Target for $1.8 billion last year — was just one step in that evolution.
Distinguishing its approach to the department store format from the beleaguered Sears might be the least of Hudson’s Bay’s challenges as new rivals emerge. Holt Renfrew announced this week that it would launch a mid-priced spin-off called hr2. Meanwhile, the U.S. fashion retailer Nordstrom has confirmed its first four locations across Canada.
The 342-year-old company’s iconic point blankets — originally traded in exchange for beaver pelts — are unlikely to disappear, though. Frontiers North Adventures, which runs tours around the colder side of the country, has just outfitted all the beds in its Tundra Buggy Lodge with the stripes.
Marc Weisblott
Published: October 31, 2012, 1:30 pm
Canada.com
The chain formerly known as the Bay has set its makeover in motion — even if it will be hard not to remember the current golden design.
Hudson’s Bay, the new identity for the department store chain, will likely roll out in tandem with the company offering shares to the public in the coming weeks.
The Bay department store chain gets ready to rebrand itself as Hudsons BayRetired will be the bright yellow logo with the big “B” bow — which always seemed a bit cryptic at first glance. But who exactly deserves credit or blame for that now-iconic design remains a bit unclear.
The largest letter apparently owed its inspiration to the “M” used by the Montreal-based Morgan’s department store chain, which the Western Canada-based Hudson’s Bay acquired in 1960 as part of its eastward expansion and turned into locations of la Baie across Quebec by 1972.
A posting from 2007 on the Canadian Design Resource website attempted to find the answer. Conflicting claims were made that it was a commission from the U.S. consulting firm Anspach Grossman Portugal, created for free by advertising artist Dennis Panquiw in exchange for royalties — but was paid a lump sum later — and by a designer at the Toronto firm Savage Sloan, which also did the original branding for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Representatives of Hudson’s Bay have not yet responded to an inquiry that could help set the record straight.
Hudson’s Bay Company has attempted to upgrade the image of its flagship stores ever since it hired Bonnie Brooks as president in August 2008. Discontinuing the Zellers discount chain — whose leases were sold to Target for $1.8 billion last year — was just one step in that evolution.
Distinguishing its approach to the department store format from the beleaguered Sears might be the least of Hudson’s Bay’s challenges as new rivals emerge. Holt Renfrew announced this week that it would launch a mid-priced spin-off called hr2. Meanwhile, the U.S. fashion retailer Nordstrom has confirmed its first four locations across Canada.
The 342-year-old company’s iconic point blankets — originally traded in exchange for beaver pelts — are unlikely to disappear, though. Frontiers North Adventures, which runs tours around the colder side of the country, has just outfitted all the beds in its Tundra Buggy Lodge with the stripes.
FAC33
Active Member
I hadn't really noticed how dated that old logo had become--the big B is still cool, but the typeface with it, not so much.
The new typeface is just kinda blah. I guess blah has less chance of looking dated, though.
The new typeface is just kinda blah. I guess blah has less chance of looking dated, though.
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snyberTO
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hmm. look familiar?
Skeezix
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Good catch!
DTowner
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Skeezix
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Almost an entire post in this thread by DTowner without a complaint. Almost.
DTowner
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It was tough, but that was the best I could do. Hudson's Bay Company or The Bay: it's still the same sub-par shopping experience.
The Bay Yorkdale is looking pretty great on the ground floor as more of it re-opens. Love the vaulted ceilings.
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junctionist
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It's also great that with so many renovations to the exterior and interior of Yorkdale, the original facade of Simpson's/The Bay is still intact and aging quite gracefully. It's starting to give a historic look to the otherwise contemporary flashiness of the mall, which is fantastic.
deerparker
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The main floor menswear department at Yonge & Bloor is undergoing some sort of renovation. Would be great if they could raise the ceilings.