Morgan's
Henry Morgan Building, the flagship store in Downtown Montreal (1890s) | |
Industry | Retail |
---|---|
Founded | 1845Montreal, Quebec | in
Founder | Henry Morgan |
Defunct | June 19, 1972 |
Fate | Acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company |
Successor | The Bay |
Headquarters | 585 Saint Catherine Street West, Montreal, Quebec , Canada |
Number of locations | 11 (at peak) |
Area served | |
Owner | Hudson's Bay Company (1960–1972) |
Henry Morgan & Company (colloquially Morgan's) was a Canadian department store chain founded by Henry Morgan in 1845. The first store was located in Montreal, and expanded to include 11 stores in Ontario and Quebec before being bought by Hudson's Bay Company in 1960. The stores in Ontario were converted to Hudson's Bay Company stores that year and renamed The Bay in 1965; the remaining Morgan's stores in Quebec were renamed La Baie in 1972.
The flagship store was located in the
History
The first store was opened in Montreal in 1845 by
This store opened as businesses were moving away from the old city centre and helped to make Saint Catherine Street the principal street for shops in Montreal.The second store to operate under the Morgan's name opened in 1950 on
In 1960, Hudson's Bay Company purchased Morgan's.[3] In 1964, the stores in Ontario were converted to the new name – The Bay.[4] At that point, the Morgan's logo was replaced with a new one with a similar design to The Bay's for the Quebec stores still operating under the Morgan's name.[1] The Quebec stores were converted on June 19, 1972.[5]
1945 Commemorative Wedgwood Bowl
In 1945, Morgan's Department Store commissioned a Wedgwood bowl, designed by Keith Murray, to commemorate the store's 100th anniversary in Montreal. Black and white transfer prints on the front and back contrast Montreal as it was in 1845 and in 1945. Relief portraits on each side of Jean Baptiste and John Bull are surrounded by colourful maple leaves, shamrock, rose, thistle, and fleur-de-lis and celebrate the city's French and English heritage. The inside of the bowl is decorated with the coat of arms and motto Concordia Salus (Salvation Through Harmony), colourful maple leaves, and the following English and French inscriptions around the upper rim: "Discovered by Jacques Cartier in 1534, Founded by Maisonneuve in 1642, Decouvert par Jacques Cartier en 1534, and Fonde par Maisonneuve en 1642". The underside of the bowl has the Morgan's and Wedgwood logos and provides the population data for Montreal in 1845 (45,000) and 1945 (1,500,000). This footed bowl measures 12 1/4" in diameter, and is 6 3/4" high.
Legacy
Three former Morgan's stores are still in operation as The Bay: the flagship in
In Ontario, virtually all The Bay stores, that had previously been Morgan's locations, closed between the 1970s and 2000s decades.Locations
- Montreal
- St. Catherine St. (1845)
- Queen Mary Road (1950)
- Le Boulevard Shopping Centre(1953)
- Dorval Gardens(1954)
- Centre Rockland (1959)
- Toronto
- Bloor/Yonge (1950)
- Lawrence Plaza (1955)
- Cloverdale Mall (1960)
- Eglinton Square (1963)
- Hamilton
- Greater Hamilton Shopping Centre(1957)
- Ottawa
- Sparks Street (1951)
Gallery
-
Previous logo in 1960
-
Morgan's in 1939, preparing for a royal visit
-
Morgan's at Christmastime, 1944
See also
- Hudson's Bay Company
- List of Canadian department stores
- The Bay
References
- ^ a b c "Our History: Acquisitions". HBC Heritage. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
- ISBN 978-0-9696-6760-5.
- ^ "Héritage Montréal". www.memorablemontreal.com.
- ^ "Hudsons Bay Company". Encyclopedia.com.
- Montreal Gazette. June 16, 1972. p. 5.
- ^ Wilkins, Robert N. "Montreal Diary: The story behind Montreal's Hudson's Bay building". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on 2014-10-12.
- ^ a b "Hudson's Bay Closes 2nd-Oldest Suburban Store". Retail Insider. 16 September 2018.
- ^ Patterson, Craig (February 23, 2018). "Cominar Announces Significant Rockland Centre Investment [Renderings]". Retail Insider.
- ^ "The Bay 'Rockland Store Closing Advertisement'". Montreal Gazette. January 5, 1983. p. C8.
- ^ "Hudson's Bay to Shutter Suburban Montreal Store at Jardins Dorval". Retail Insider. December 2020.
External links
- Morgan's history at Hudson's Bay Company website