The fate of the Hudson's Bay Company is the most Canadian (derogatory) thing I've seen in a while, and I say that with no affection or nostalgia for the company itself:
* It was bought out by some USAmerican billionaire and then transferred to a USAmerican private equity firm, before going public again, then once again going private.
* Its decline went mostly unnoticed by the public until they filed for creditor protection.
* In being shut down, workers at the stores got varying levels of screwed over.
* The assets to be liquidated include a significant collection of Indigenous nations' belongings, which are currently being auctioned. (The Weston family, some of Canada's biggest grocery and retail monopolists, have bought one of the most historically significant ones, the HBC Charter… …to donate it to the Canadian Museum of History.)
#Canada #HBC #business