The Hudson's Bay Company is now American...

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Not 100% sure yet but the Board of HBC has recommended they accept the offer:

TORONTO -- Retailer Hudson's Bay Co., Canada's oldest company, has reached a takeover deal with U.S. businessman Jerry Zucker, its largest shareholder.

Zucker's Maple Leaf Heritage Investments Acquisition Corp. has boosted the U.S.-based firm's previous all-cash takeover offer to $15.25 a share, or more than $1.06 billion, plus assumed debt.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...c1c41b&k=51128

It's a sad day for Canadian Retailing, although I'm sure there are financial factors that make sense. First Woodwards, then Eatons, and now HBC.

It'll be interesting to see if Zucker keeps and improves it as a whole or carves it up piecemeal.

[Winsor_Pilates]

That's pretty sad. HBC is a significant part of Canadian history and it should stay Canadian.
What major retailors are actually still are Canadian? Canadian Tire?

[troutman]

All part of the Bush-Harper blue-print for North America.

[FireFly]

That is sad. HBC is a long standing part of Canadian history.

[Resolute 14]

HBC was British originally, so meh.

I've shopped there maybe once in the past five years. Not all that worried about what happens to the Bay.

[Flame On]

I am my wife works there.
And unless you're native everything was british or french at one time if you want to put it that way.

[Igottago]

At least Wal-Mart didn't buy it.

[Daradon]

First Timmies now this?

[Calgary Flames]

Originally Posted by Snakeeye

HBC was British originally, so meh.

I've shopped there maybe once in the past five years. Not all that worried about what happens to the Bay.

Ditto.

I hate to say it, but American's know how to "Git 'er Done" when it comes to consumer sales.

I guess it's sad because of the history but whatever happened to looking to the future??

[Reaper]

Honestly, I'm not that upset by HBC being bought by an American company. I can still remember its place in history regardless of who owns it. As a consumer I hope that the new ownership manages to revamp HBC so that it can be appealing to the Canadian marketplace. Over the past few years it was starting to become very "Eaton's-like" and unappealing. The only thing I've bought from the Bay in the last ten years were some discounted flatware as everything they sell is typically overpriced, there are rarely enough salespeople working cash registers and the demographic focus seems to be my parents' generation.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

That's pretty sad. HBC is a significant part of Canadian history and it should stay Canadian.
What major retailors are actually still are Canadian? Canadian Tire?

Oh, you didn't know? It is being renamed American Tire. This will occur by the end of 2007.

I was going to say that Zellers is still Canadian, but nope, it is under the HBC umbrella.

[Calgary Flames]

I think I remember hearing that Zellers was going to be bought by Target. Which i'd be fine with as I love Target stores and hate Zellers.

[pope04]

Originally Posted by Igottago

At least Wal-Mart didn't buy it.

Who's to say they don't purchase the Zellers end of the equation?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

If you want to see how bad a takeout could be, look no further than any Sears. How pathetic are their stores right now? Ancient fixtures, bad merchandise. How do these guys even make rent?

HBC is quite good for certain things IMHO. They still carry a lot of brand name clothes and have great sales so that I still do shop frequently there.

So fine, from a actually shopping point of view it may not make that much of a difference but the impact I think is more symbolic. An institution of Canada has been sold to foreign investors. Imagine if the RCMP outsourced it's Musical Ride to the Conklin Midway? Or if CN & CP Rail were sold to Union Pacific and renamed that.

Just another hit against the Canadian identity.

Zellers was always crap and I would expect that to be sold by Zucker - competition by Walmart is killing that division. I've never understood the hype around Target - they seem to look just like Zellers! Do they sell better brands or something?

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

If you want to see how bad a takeout could be, look no further than any Sears. How pathetic are their stores right now? Ancient fixtures, bad merchandise. How do these guys even make rent?

Kenmore + Craftsman.

I've never understood the hype around Target - they seem to look just like Zellers! Do they sell better brands or something?

Oh yeah. Target is heads and shoulders above Zellers. Think mid-end department store, except that everything they sell actually lasts. There stores are also always very tidy, very clean and they have tons of checkouts with people actually at them. They have their own brand that is very, very nice and isn't expensive.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

If you want to see how bad a takeout could be, look no further than any Sears. How pathetic are their stores right now? Ancient fixtures, bad merchandise. How do these guys even make rent?

Higher markups than many other places. I have found many of their products to be $10-50 more than a competitor has on the exact same item. Yet people still shop and buy those products from Sears.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Another one bites the dust:

TORONTO (Reuters) - Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Colony Capital will pay $3.9 billion to buy Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc , the hotelier said on Monday, trumping an offer by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who put the company in play with a partial bid last year.
The joint offer by Prince Alwaleed's Kingdom Hotels International and investment group Colony would combine the Fairmont name with the Raffles hotel group.

So, that last bastion of Canadian hotels, Fairmont, will now be assimilated by foreign interest. Banff Springs, Chateau Lake Louise, Royal York - now under Saudi control and name.

It's also the next in the old CP empire to be sold, leaving Fording and Encana.... how much longer before ECA hits the auction block?

Is there anything left that's distinctly Canadian that hasn't been sold yet?

[Shazam]

The Wicked Wedge.

And our banks, I suppose.