The Company of Adventurers is gone, from Banff at least. .For more than 350 years the Hudson’s Bay Company plied the rivers and mountain passes of what is now Canada’s oldest national park. It’s survived wars and booms and busts along the way..But earlier this week the iconic store on Banff Ave. closed its doors for the last time, ending an era and closing a chapter of Canadian history..Although it was originally a trading post, the company had operated a Bay retail outlet since 1935, at Caribou Corner. In 1947, it moved to its present location, which was expanded in 1979..For decades it was the town’s only real department store, selling everything from housewares to sporting goods and tools..Canadians might not have known; that’s because the news was posted to Facebook which is blocked in the Great White North..In January, the company, which is owned by New York-based NRDC Equity Partners, announced plans to close stores across the country and lay off about two per cent of its total workforce citing weak retail sales following the pandemic..It wasn’t the most popular, or trendy store for locals. But it sold the iconic striped blankets and trinkets that have been strongly associated with the brand and indeed, Canada itself..Thus far there is no indication of what will occupy what is some of the most prime retail real estate in Canada.
