Hudson's Bay Company, a 355-year-old Canadian institution, sold to Canadian Tire. The speaker calls it a real-estate deal disguised as a rescue, reducing a national heritage brand to throw pillows and slow-cookers rather than reviving actual retail.
Well, pour one out for Hudson's Bay, the company that once was Canada. It's been sold to Canadian Tire for the price of a fixer-upper in Etobicoke. Now let's not kid ourselves, this was not a heroic rescue mission. This was a deal for some stripes, a coat of arms, a few brand names to slap on throw pillows and slow cookers, because apparently that's all that's left of 355 years of history. A marketing opportunity, and a few lease agreements. And sure, it's nice to get the brand back in Canadian hands, but this is still a pretty pathetic end. Let us never, as a nation, let us never forget that it collapsed because the last owner, an American guy, was more interested in flipping real estate than fixing retail. He and his company turned one of Canada's most iconic companies into a downtown property holding company that also happened to sell towels. So now Canadian Tire gets a few stripes, the names, a few stores maybe. We get to see the Gluckenstein Linens next to the snowblowers. It's not terrible. It's not amazing. It's just— it's just sad. History's not dead, it's just on sale now. Aisle 12. While supplies last.
Ten times Canada helped the U.S. with its wildfires, instead of whining about the smoke. 
