The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; French: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a prominent Canadian retail conglomerate, initially a fur trading enterprise, now a leading owner and operator of retail stores across Canada. Its flagship division, Hudson's Bay, often referred to as The Bay (La Baie in French), forms the core of its business. Established in 1670 through an English royal charter, HBC gained a commercial monopoly over Rupert's Land, the entire Hudson Bay drainage basin, effectively functioning as the governing body in the region for about two centuries. In 1869, under the Deed of Surrender authorized by the Rupert's Land Act 1868, HBC ceded control of the land to Canada. At its zenith, the company dominated the fur trade in much of English- and later British-controlled North America. Transitioning over time, it evolved into a diverse mercantile enterprise, expanding its product range from furs to upscale homeware across a limited number of sales shops, marking the early steps toward its present-day department stores. In 2006, American businessman Jerry Zucker purchased HBC for US$1.1 billion, followed by its acquisition in 2008 by NRDC Equity Partners, already owning the high-end American department store Lord & Taylor. Operated through NRDC's holding company, Hudson's Bay Trading Company, until early 2012, HBC has its Canadian headquarters in Toronto and U.S. headquarters in New York. The company divested most of its European operations by August 2019, selling off its remaining Netherlands stores by the year's end. Formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under "HBC.TO" until March 2020, Richard Baker and a consortium of shareholders took the company private. Currently, as of 2022, HBC holds majority stakes in eCommerce entities Saks and Saks Off 5th, established as separate entities in 2021. Additionally, it wholly owns SFA, managing Saks Fifth Avenue's physical locations, O5 for Saks Off 5th stores, The Bay as an eCommerce marketplace, and Hudson's Bay for its brick-and-mortar outlets. With a substantial real estate portfolio amounting to approximately 3.7 million square meters (40 million square feet) under its real estate and investment arm, HBC Properties and Investments established in October 2020, HBC continues to be a significant player in both retail and real estate sectors.

Hudson's Bay Company - Wikipedia