Hudson's Bay Downtown Vancouver Store Celebrates 100 Years!

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Cyro

^^ It is a shame about Winnipeg's downtown Bay Store, amazing structure, but the future of this building as you mentioned, is grim at this point.



Source

I'm really worried about this store. Department stores went into a downward spiral in Canada around 1985, but they're on their way back up. They're increasingly viewed as prestige big city status symbols.... just like they were in the past.

If Winnipeg's downtown Bay store can get through the next 5 years, they'll likely be fine. It all boils down to how this company views Winnipeg: a city with great potential, or not worth the bother. Considering the Bay's history it would be a huge blow for Winnipeg.

Once you lose your big downtown department store, it's hard to get it back. Winnipeg should fight for this store. If the downtown has a future as a vibrant busy place where people want to live and/or visit, a big department store is a must imo. They act as an anchor.

[esquire]

^ Walking through The Bay downtown, you get the impression that HBC is just keeping the lights on until they can get rid of the building. Pretty well every year some department gets reduced or eliminated. Only 3 of the 7 levels are still operating. There is so little left that it isn't much of a destination anymore.

Someone in Toronto has clearly run the numbers and decided that the huge old downtown store just isn't worth keeping around... the decline in The Bay over the past 15 years (which was when Eaton's closed and sent downtown retail into a death spiral) is really quite amazing. At this point I'm just happy that they haven't closed the thing down completely... the only way I can see the store remain is if a buyer steps up and makes a small 2-level store a condition of the sale.

[Echoes]

The HBC store in Saskatoon, built in 1960, replaced a 1913 building housing the company at that location. In 2000, HBC vacated the building to take over the former Eaton's space in Midtown Plaza. The future of the building was in limbo until 2004, when it was purchased by a developer who converted it into loft-style condominiums. The ground floor was retained as retail/office space, windows were punched through the windowless facade, and a 5th floor was added. The mural on the corner is original to the building.


IMG_2950 by echoes320, on Flickr

And yes, that's a Fiat dealership on the corner.

[freeweed]

Calgary and Vancouver have ridiculously nice Bay stores, each for their own reasons. Calgary's arcade is beyond unique out here. No indication they're going anywhere, which is awesome. These are some of the most iconic structures in Western Canada. Winnipeg's... is even better. It will be a fucking tragedy if that building is demolished or the exterior is modified in any significant way. The Eaton's in downtown Winnipeg was a decrepit piece of shit that had no historical value beyond age and deserved to be torn down, but the Bay building is a thing of sheer beauty. Considering some of the .. shall we say less important and aesthetically ugly things that have been preserved in that city, I really hope the Bay store is retained whole.

I'm not sure what to say about Ottawa's other than ick, or Saskatoon's other than - I guess when you build in 1960 there's not much worth preserving.

[Chadillaccc]

Gorgeous pic. I believe Calgary's Bay is the oldest of the original 6, correct?

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Guess I'll toss in a pic of Calgary's


calgaryherald.com


resized from:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/darrellinyvr/8348601954/

The arcade or whatever


http://clairephotoflash-blog.com/?p=2865


http://www.flickriver.com/photos/dar...7632439937266/

The main other differences I see is Vancouver's has a railing on the roof, more interesting windows, and they have the fancy awnings (Calgary's have been replaced with boring ones)

Looks like Calgary's not only had the railing originally, they had fancy light posts on them as well

http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2012/...ened-downtown/

Looks like Calgary's always had the less fancy windows though.

[Morningrise]

Originally Posted by Echoes

The HBC store in Saskatoon, built in 1960, replaced a 1913 building housing the company at that location. In 2000, HBC vacated the building to take over the former Eaton's space in Midtown Plaza. The future of the building was in limbo until 2004, when it was purchased by a developer who converted it into loft-style condominiums. The ground floor was retained as retail/office space, windows were punched through the windowless facade, and a 5th floor was added. The mural on the corner is original to the building.

If I remember correctly it used to be home to Saskatoon's only Skyway/+15/whatever you call those things. I believe the building it used to be connected to is now a parking lot.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Winnipeg's... is even better. It will be a fucking tragedy if that building is demolished or the exterior is modified in any significant way. The Eaton's in downtown Winnipeg was a decrepit piece of shit that had no historical value beyond age and deserved to be torn down, but the Bay building is a thing of sheer beauty.

I don't think that the Eaton's Building was decrepit, just outdated... mainly because it was neglected by its owner for at least a good 20 years before it was ultimately demolished, much the same way that The Bay has more or less been allowed to go to seed for about the last decade or so.

The redevelopment of that site paved the way for the MTS Centre and ultimately the return of the Jets, but I wonder if we couldn't have had both things: a redeveloped Eaton's and the Jets.

They don't build'em like this anymore:


EATON'S WINNIPEG DownTown 1905 - 1999 (Demolished 2003) Truly A Store Like No Other by skinlovr, on Flickr

On the covered arcades, Winnipeg's downtown HBC used to have one too along Portage Avenue, but it was removed in the store's early days.

[SignalHillHiker]

Congrats, Vancouver!

Calgary's Bay is gorgeous. I love the soft colour.

We never had a Bay, obviously - but I wish we had back when they were building that type of department store.

The dominant one here was The Royal Stores. Their building was split up into London, Paris, and New York sections with merchandise from each.

The Royal Stores, Water Street, St. John's:


It lasted until at least the late 1970s, though by that time it had become the equivalent of a Zellers.

Also reigning as the main downtown department store for a time were Ayre's (established in the late 1700s) and Bowring's. Bowring's, established in St. John's in 1811, still exists and has locations across Canada. It's no longer owned by that prominent St. John's family, but it still plays up its history on its website.

After Confederation, Woolco/Woolworth's (U.S. owned, with stores there as well as Canada and the United Kingdom) was dominant until it closed years ago.

[Denscity]

How come all of the original 6 cities to get a grand Bay are in Western Canada?

[Chadillaccc]

It was because of their aggressive trade expansion to the west, and the fact that they were the first major retailers in these cities so they decided to make an aggressive foothold in them. There first retail location was actually in Fort Langley BC I believe, that is a nice little town for sure.

[esquire]

^ The department store biz in North America was pretty regionalized up until relatively recently. Western Canada was the domain of HBC and Eaton's... HBC's roots are firmly planted in the west and the company itself was headquartered in Winnipeg during the 1970s after the head office moved to Canada from London.

To give you an idea of how dominant these stores were, it was widely said that up until the 1960s, half of every retail dollar spent in Winnipeg went through the cash registers at Eaton's. Throw The Bay in there, and you're talking two stores that accounted for a solid majority of all retail business in town! Other western cities weren't much different... these department stores were the malls/power centres of their time.

[ue]

At least Winnipeg's Downtown Bay Store is still in the original historic building, so the potential is there to bring it back to its former glory. Edmonton pulled a Saskatoon and now the original Bay store is an extension of the University of Alberta.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by ue

At least Winnipeg's Downtown Bay Store is still in the original historic building, so the potential is there to bring it back to its former glory. Edmonton pulled a Saskatoon and now the original Bay store is an extension of the University of Alberta.

At least they have been preserved... I'm not certain that the Winnipeg Bay will still be standing a decade from now.

I love what was done with the Saskatoon store... I'm glad they kept some of the 1960s detail.

[LeftCoaster]

Fun fact, the "Bay Store" in Toronto wasn't even built by the Hudson's Bay, but by Simpsons. The original Bay in Toronto is the Bunker on Bloor I believe.

[ue]

And the one in Montreal was a Morgans, I think.

[ue]

Originally Posted by esquire

At least they have been preserved... I'm not certain that the Winnipeg Bay will still be standing a decade from now.

I love what was done with the Saskatoon store... I'm glad they kept some of the 1960s detail.

Yeah, but now our Bay store, although decent (and sounding a lot healthier than Winnipeg's) is no longer the city flagship and looks very similar to what you'd find in any suburban Bay store. In the eyes of the Bay, the City Centre location comes third, after Southgate and West Ed.

The grass is always greener...

[Chadillaccc]

Enterprise Square (Edmonton's former Bay) is still awesome. Probably the best example of exterior art deco left in Alberta.

[scryer]

I might be the only one who thinks this but I think that there is still hope about Winnipeg's Hudson's Bay store.

There are a few developments (and I mean a few) in downtown such as the ALT hotel/condo and the upgrades to the convention centre that might help put people downtown. I think that more people need to live in the area and the demographics of the area need to change as well in order to attract all kinds of people back to the bay from other areas of the city. Like mentioned before, I guess we will see what the next 5 years bring. It would be a true shame if the city lets a real piece of history die. Hudson's Bay Trading Company is a part of national identity.

I definitely shop at the bay because it does have good deals. I bought a queen-sized bed (including frame and mattress) for $700 once and that included delivery and set up fees. I also buy plenty of my clothes there as well if I see something that catches my eye. So the retail in itself is good from my point of view.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by scryer

I might be the only one who thinks this but I think that there is still hope about Winnipeg's Hudson's Bay store.

There are a few developments (and I mean a few) in downtown such as the ALT hotel/condo and the upgrades to the convention centre that might help put people downtown. I think that more people need to live in the area and the demographics of the area need to change as well in order to attract all kinds of people back to the bay from other areas of the city. Like mentioned before, I guess we will see what the next 5 years bring. It would be a true shame if the city lets a real piece of history die. Hudson's Bay Trading Company is a part of national identity.

I definitely shop at the bay because it does have good deals. I bought a queen-sized bed (including frame and mattress) for $700 once and that included delivery and set up fees. I also buy plenty of my clothes there as well if I see something that catches my eye. So the retail in itself is good from my point of view.

Downtown Winnipeg is bouncing back, but large, mainstream retail is not really part of the equation. In a nutshell, downtown was hanging on until the late 90s, when a suburban power centre boom coincided with the closure of Eaton's and the subsequent decline of Portage Place and The Bay.

Even though I love The Bay downtown and have spent a lot of money there over the years, I don't think it really even registers on the radars of a lot of Winnipeggers anymore... the army of blue-haired grandmothers that kept Eaton's going has almost died off, and the boomer generation that followed seems completely uninterested in downtown and urbanity in general. I don't know that a younger, more urban-minded generation will materialize fast enough to save The Bay.

At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if The Bay kept the doors open for no other reason than to offset the costs of maintaining the building, and maybe to use as leverage in case the government gets involved in a redevelopment there.

So yes, I look on with envy at the thriving downtown Bay stores in Calgary and Vancouver.

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by freeweed

I'm not sure what to say about Ottawa's other than ick, or Saskatoon's other than - I guess when you build in 1960 there's not much worth preserving.

I would say that the 1960 building is worth preserving (which it has been).