Robert Simpson's original store (Simpson & Bogart after 1861), was opened in 1858 in
Newmarket, Ontario at what is now 226-228 Main Street South (original building since demolished). it was co-founded with William Trent as
Simpson & Trent Groceries, Boots, Shoes and Dry Goods. A fire destroyed the store in 1870, and a new
dry goods store was opened two years later in
Toronto. Throughout its history, Simpsons was the traditional
"carriage-trade" department store in Toronto, competing with the
T. Eaton Company. The motto "You'll enjoy shopping at Simpson's" was conceived by Robert Simpson and remained the company's slogan until its acquisition by the Hudson's Bay Company.
Simpsons-Sears In 1952, General
Robert E. Wood, the Chairman of U.S. retailer
Sears, Roebuck and Co., sent a letter to Edgar G. Burton, President of the Robert Simpson Company of Toronto, proposing a partnership between their two companies in order to serve the Canadian market. The deal to create
Simpsons-Sears Limited, a Canadian catalogue and department store chain separate from the Simpsons chain, was signed on September 18, 1952, and the terms were 50-50. Each company put up $20 million and had equal representation on the new company's board of directors. The new company was to have two main objectives. The first was to expand Simpsons' existing mail-order business, which was sold to the new company. The second goal was to build a string of stores modelled on Sears, Roebuck's format right across the country. The agreement also contained a provision that would prove to be a major bone of contention in the coming years. Under its terms, Simpsons-Sears could not open a retail store within 25 miles of Simpson's existing stores in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Regina and London. Simpsons closed on June 27, 1981, the store in
Regina, Saskatchewan it had operated since 1916 after four consecutive years of financial losses with that location. It also closed its only store in
Ottawa on January 29, 1983. The 83,000 square feet multi-level store had never been profitable ever since Simpsons acquired it in June 1972 and was notorious for not having any
escalators. In July 1984, Simpsons terminated 1,631 employees, including more than a thousand in Toronto alone. Simpsons lost $53 million that year alone. That year, the flagship Simpsons store in downtown Toronto completed a $30 million facelift with a relaunch known as the
Miracle on Queen Street. HBC acknowledged at the time that Simpsons wasn't doing great in Toronto but was still performing well enough to continue there and even planned to add three more locations to the existing 11 stores in the area. The aforementioned openings did materialized in 1989 and 1990 at the
Erin Mills,
Mapleview Mall and
Markville Shopping Centre.
The end The Hudson's Bay Company attempted to operate Simpsons as a more-upscale nameplate than its main brand, The Bay, but was unsuccessful. Simpsons struggled to stand out from The Bay. Although Simpsons was slightly higher end than The Bay, the distinction was hardly noticeable to the average shopper. The Hudson's Bay Company came to the conclusion that it would be better to rationalize its operations than to divide its customer base. Finally, the demise of Simpsons came at a time when the Hudson's Bay Company was seriously controlling its operating costs in anticipation of an eventual entrance to Canada by American giant
Wal-Mart which was already conquering the retail landscape in its country and attracting Canadians living close to the border. == Legacy==