Back in the year 1670, the English government issued a charter for a company called, “the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay,” granting it “sole trade and commerce” over what is now a giant part of Canada and a bit of the Midwestern U.S.

Stretching from modern-day northern Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana, to the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, along with parts of Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec, and the entire Canadian territory of Nunavut, it had an enormously lucrative opportunity.

Exclusive trading rights with the indigenous people living in those territories — and for many purposes, the right to literally act as the government — led to the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The company had so much value that even when it later consented to give up the rights to 95% of its territory to the newly formed government of Canada in 1870 at a massive discount, it still walked away with a fortune.

Fast-forward an era or so, and the company turned that 200-year head start into a retail juggernaut, including department stores that it ran for well over an additional century.

Last week, it all ended.

‘The Company of Adventurers’

I wonder how many Americans — meaning those of us who live in the U.S., as opposed to North America at large — actually knew anything about this company before it closed its doors for good this week. Maybe it came up in high school history class.

In Canada, it became iconic. It shortened its name to “Hudson’s Bay Company” (or “HBC” for short), built a network of stores known as “The Bay,” and eventually acquired other department store chains that enabled it to expand across the country.

(Personally, I think they left a golden opportunity on the table by not shortening the name to “The Company of Adventurers” instead, but nobody asked me.)

It had great success for a long time — but after several years of financial struggles, Hudson’s Bay filed for bankruptcy in March, owing more than $1 billion.

The company cited a declining customer base, ongoing troubles stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent trade war with the U.S.

Result: Everything had to go, to the point that before its deadline last week the company offered 90% off sales on its remaining merchandise, and also sold shelving, displays, and even the mannequins off its floors, before closing the doors to its stores — potentially for good.

’30-plus years’

There is some chance that the brands of HBC, if not the company itself, might live on.

Another big Canadian retailer, Canadian Tire, bought HBC’s intellectual property rights. And, a billionaire from British Columbia, Weihong Liu, bought the leases to some of the chain’s stores and reportedly says she has plans to reopen.

In the meantime, I keep thinking about something another icon of retail, Jeff Bezos, once said about how long good companies can expect to last:

Amazon’s 31st birthday will be this July 4.

The company I like to think of as “Amazon before Amazon existed,” Sears, lasted about 133 years. (It’s still technically alive, but when was the last time you thought of Sears?)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway just celebrated its 186th anniversary — at least to the extent that its earliest antecedent, the Valley Falls Company, started in 1839.

New York’s Con Edison is over 200 years old, and a Japanese construction firm, Kongo Gumi, traces its origins back much farther — nearly 1,500 years, to the year 578.

At least in North America, however, Hudson’s Bay held the record.

It’s reached the end of its run, but what a run it was. (INC)