Hudson’s Bay changes name after selling IP to Canadian Tire

The Hudson's Bay department store announced it was closing its historic store at the Bloor Street location in Toronto on Friday, February 25, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

TORONTO — The business running the defunct department store once known as Hudson’s Bay has changed its name.

The company and its subsidiaries now have various names beginning with Rupert Legacy.

The name is a reference to Prince Rupert, the Bay’s first governor, and Rupert’s Land, a vast swath of wilderness Hudson’s Bay was given control over in 1670, when it began as a fur trading business.

Hudson’s Bay had to make the change as a condition of an agreement it signed to sell Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. its name and trademarks.

The $30-million deal included the Bay’s iconic stripes motif, its coat of arms, its Distinctly Home housewares brand, its Hudson North apparel line, as well as catchphrases like “Bay Days” and the Zellers slogan “the lowest price is the law.”

The department store, which has liquidated and closed all of its stores, is still under creditor protection and is in the process of selling its leases and preparing to auction off its art and artifacts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2025.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press