Canadians Walked Away From HUDSON’S BAY — and Then It Was Gone After 355 Years

For 355 years, Hudson's Bay was part of how Canada shopped, dressed and celebrated. It was older than the country itself. Then, in the spring of 2025, the stores went dark. What happened to the Bay, and why did so many Canadians quietly stop showing up long before it closed? In this video, we go inside the rise and fall of Canada's oldest company. From the 1670 royal charter and the golden era of Christmas windows, Zellers and striped blankets, to the American buyouts, billion-dollar real estate deals and acquisitions that pulled money away from the stores. We look at what changed on the sales floor, the Competition Bureau's regular-price case over mattresses, the online business that shrank by half in a year, and the final months of creditor protection, when millions of Canadians were left holding gift cards and rewards points. Watch until the end for the warning signs that a store is in trouble, and the one question to ask before you hand any retailer your money in advance. Chapters: 0:00 355 years, and then it was gone 0:40 The Hudson's Bay golden era 3:23 Then the money arrived 6:10 What changed inside the store 9:18 The regular price game 11:56 The service problem nobody could fix 13:35 Why Canadians walked away 16:34 What Hudson's Bay did about it 18:51 And then it was gone 21:04 What smart Canadians do instead 24:16 The bottom line Figures come from court filings, Competition Bureau records and published reporting as of 2025. Details from an internal company memo are as reported by Retail Insider. The 2019 mattress pricing case was settled without a court ruling on the allegations. This video is for information and entertainment only. Sources: Canadian Press, Hudson's Bay liquidation and creditor protection, March 2025 Retail Insider, Hudson's Bay sales before bankruptcy (leaked memo), April 2025 BNN Bloomberg, HBC timeline and $4.5M Competition Bureau settlement, 2019 CBC News, Canadian Tire to buy Hudson's Bay brand assets, May 2025 Court approval of the $18M sale of the 1670 royal charter, December 2025 Narration uses a synthetic voice. Research, script and fact-checking are done by people. Subscribe to Maple Margin for new investigations into the stores and brands Canadians grew up with.