Personalităti canadiene : Timothy Eaton
Oare cine nu s-a plimbat prin magazinul Eaton? Oare cine nu a admirat sculptura găstelor canadiene? Oare cine nu s-a fotografiat în Eaton Centre cand a venit în Canada?
Iată povestea proprietarului acestui magazin.
Timothy Eaton ( 1834 , 1907)
A fost un om de afaceri canadian care a fondat renumitul magazin Eaton, unul dintre cele mai importante magazine din istoria canadiană.
Copilarie si familia
S-a născut în Ballymena, Judetul Antrim, Irlanda. Părinții lui erau scoțieni, protestanți, John Eaton si Margaret Craig. Timothy era înca un ucenic în ale magazinelor. El ia vaporul către Ontario, Canada la vărsta de 20 de ani. La 28 mai 1862, Eaton se căsătoreste cu Margaret Wilson Beattie. Ei au 5 baieți si 3 fete. Printre baieți este si John Craig Eaton si Edward Yourg Eaton. Una din fete, Josephine Smyth Eaton, supraviețuieste desi vasul RMS Lusitania se scufundă pe coasta irlandeză în anul 1915. Fiica sa Iris Burnside nu are aceeasi soartă.
T. Eaton Co. Limited
În 1865 cu ajutorul fraților săi Robert si James, Timothy pune pe picioare o brutărie în orasul Kirkton, Ontario, care nu supraviețuieste decat căteva luni. Fiind o fire care nu se lasă cu una cu doua el deschide un magazin de diverse în St. Mary, Ontario. În 1869 el cumpară o afacere asemanatoare cu a lui care era deja în business la 178 Yonge Street în Toronto. Ca să îsi facă reclamă el respectă urmatoarele: toate bunurile aveau un preț ( nu se făcea tărguială), nu se dădea credit si toată marfa venea cu deviza daca nu vă place o puteți returna sau după sloganul magazinului "Goods Satisfactory or Money Refunded").
Începănd cu 1884, Timothy introduce în Canada catalogul cu comandă prin postă care a fost un adevarat eveniment, în acest fel compania lua legatura cu mii de orase mici si cu comunitațile rurale. În afară de haine, mobilier si ustensile de bucătărie, catalogul oferea si lucruri practice ca masinile de muls vaca si tot felul de invenții. Si cănd era deja vechi fiind inlocuit cu un alt catalog era foarte bun pentru toaleta din grădină unde oricine se duce din cănd în cănd.
Timothy a născut un imperiu de magazine colosal care va fii extins de către copii sai de pe o coasta a Canadei la alta, avănd punctul de maximă înflorire în cel de-al doilea razboi mondial cănd T. Eaton Co. Limited avea 70,000 de angajați. Desi Timothy nu a inventat magazinele si nici nu era primul care avea un magazin în lume care oferea money back guarantee, lanțul de magazine pe care l-a fondat a popularizat cele doua concepte si a revoluționat felul în care se face comerț în Canada. De asemeni de pe timpul lui este si obiceiul paradei lui Mos Crăciun (Santa Clause Parade).
Sfarsitul său si despre urmasii lui
Timothy moare de pneumonie la 31 ianuarie 1907 si este înmormăntat în Mount Plesant Cemetery, în Toronto. Urmatorul sef al magazinului este John Craig Eaton.
Statuia de bronz a lui Timothy Eaton (fotografiată în 1919) se gaseste în Royal Ontario Museum în Toronto; replica ei este în MTS Centre din Winnipeg.
În anul 1919, două statui în mărime naturala ale lui sunt donate de angajații lui Eaton magazinelor din Toronto si Winnipeg la aniversarea a 50 de ani de la inființarea companiei. Ani de zile devenise o tradiție ca cumparatorii să frece pantoful statuii pentru noroc. Statuia din Toronto este acum în Royal Ontario Museum iar cea din Winnipeg se afla în noua arenă de la MTS Centre, pe locul unde a stat magazinul care a fost demolat.
Cei care merg la muzeu în Toronto si iubitorii de hockey din Winnipeg continuă sa frece pantoful lui Timothy pentru noroc.
Biserica memoriala Timothy Eaton a fost ridicată în 1914, în Toronto.
Toronto Eaton Centre
Eaton si-a unit forțele cu Cardillac Fairview si TD bank ca să construiasca acest colos. Arhitect a fost Eberhard Zeidler si Bregman + Hamann Architects si încorpora o galerie de sticla pe mai multe nivele, după modelul Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II din Milan, Italia. La acea vreme era considerată foarte revoluționară si a influențat felul în care se construiesc magazinele universale din America de Nord.
Prima faza s-a deschis în 1977 iar a doua în 1979. În acelasi an s-a adaugat un multiplex, Cinepex la vremea aceea cel mai mare din lume avănd 18 ecrane.
Pauză de zbor
Una dintre cele mai importante parți ale magazinului este grupul de găste canadiene din fibră de sticlă care atărnă de tavan. Sculptura se numeste Flight Stop si este opera artistului Michael Snow. A fost subiectul unei hotărări importante judecătoresti legat de propretatea intelectuală. Conducerea magazinului a hotarăt să pună fundițe rosii la gătul găstelor, fără să îl consulte pe artist. Drept urmare Snow a dat în judecată magazinul spunănd că opera lui pare ridicolă cu aceste fundițe. A căstigat procesul dat fiind că judecatorul a hotarăt că desi magazinul are în proprietate sculptura, cu toate acestea artistul a fost atacat în drepturile sale morale. S-a dat ordin ca fundițele să dispară de la gătul gastelor.
Compania Eaton a dat faliment în anul1999.
The Robert Simpson Company, or Simpsons (Simpson's until 1972), was a Canadian department store chain, founded by Robert Simpson. The chain was eventually bought by the Hudson's Bay Company.
The dry goods store which would later become the Robert Simpson Company opened in 1858 in Newmarket, Ontario. The store was destroyed by a fire in 1870 and reopened two years later, in 1872, in Toronto. The company was renamed the Robert Simpson Company Limited in May 1896 shortly before Robert Simpson's death in 1897. His sudden death on 14 Dec. 1897, at the age of 63 with no son to inherit the business, placed a heavy burden on his wife and his daughter, Margaret. The business was therefore sold in March 1898 for $135,000 to a syndicate of three Toronto businessmen, Harris Henry Fudger, Joseph Flavelle, and Alfred Ernest Ames.
The store in downtown Toronto included one of Toronto's most exclusive restaurants, the Arcadian Court, which opened in 1929. The store was acquired by Hudson's Bay Company in 1978, and the restaurant is still in operation today. Throughout it was the traditional carriage trade department store in Toronto, competing with T. Eaton Co. 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.
Previous logo (changed in 1957 to the one above)
Until 1972, the operating name of the company was Simpson's. During a time of increased pressure and sensitivity towards French language issues in Quebec, the company dropped the apostrophe. Although not yet law, companies began dropping the English possessive 's from their names. Competitor Eaton's became "Eaton". However, company management did not want the company known as Simpson, so it dropped the apostrophe and changed the name to "Simpsons". After the Hudson's Bay Company acquired the company, it changed the name of the chain to Simpson for the stores in Quebec while retaining the Simpsons name in other provinces.
[edit] Simpsons-Sears
Simpsons-Sears logo
In 1952, Simpsons partnered with Sears, Roebuck and Company, a U.S. department store chain, to create Simpsons-Sears Limited, a Canadian catalogue and department store chain separate from the Simpsons chain. The terms of the partnership agreement stipulated that no Simpsons-Sears store could be built within a 25-mile radius of existing Simpsons stores in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Regina and London, Ontario. Simpsons agreed not to build any new stores outside those cities.
In 1972, Simpsons and Simpsons-Sears Limited agreed to end the 25-mile restriction, and permit Simpsons and Simpsons-Sears Limited stores anywhere. In 1973, when Simpsons-Sears opened a store in the city of Mississauga, just west of Toronto, the company decided to use the "Sears" name alone in order to prevent confusion with Simpsons stores operating in Toronto.
[edit] Acquisition by the Hudson's Bay Company
The Bay Queen Street facade of Simpsons flagship store in Toronto, now operated by the Bay.
In 1978, Simpsons was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company. Under federal competition law, the partnership had to be ended, and Simpsons and Simpsons-Sears Limited could no longer share facilities. Simpsons-Sears Limited became Sears Canada, although some Sears stores continued to carry the Simpsons-Sears name on signage, and the name remained in use informally well into the 1980s.
In the 1980s, the Hudson's Bay Company converted three Simpsons stores into Bay stores, and one Bay store was converted to a Simpsons store. The Simpsons flagship store in Ottawa was shut down in 1983.
In 1989 the flagship downtown Toronto Simpsons store completed a $30 million facelift with a relaunch known as the "Miracle on Queen Street", including a cosmetics area reputed to have been the largest in the world. The basement featured the addition of a gourmet food hall like that at Macy's in Herald Square in New York City or Harrods in London, and the St. Regis Room was expanded. Upscale shops such as Alfred Dunhill of London were included.
The Hudson's Bay Company attempted to run Simpsons as a more upscale brand than its main brand, the Bay, but was unsuccessful. The Simpsons operations were merged with the Bay in 1989 in the province of Quebec, and 1991 in the rest of the country. Since then, all of the stores have either been converted to the Bay or been closed, and the Simpsons name is no longer used.
Former Simpsons building, now Simons, in Montreal.
While the Simpsons chain ceased to exist in 1991, the Hudson's Bay Company continued to accept old Simpsons credit cards in its Bay and Zellers stores until the HBC credit card was launched in 2001.
The former Simpsons headquarters now serve as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company.
The Bay's largest and flagship store on Queen Street West in Toronto is a former Simpsons store. The high end restaurant at this location, the Arcadian Court, which opened under Simpsons is still in operation today. The former Simpsons downtown store in Toronto remains the largest of all department stores in Canada.
The Simpsons stores that didn't have Bay stores around them have survived under the banner "the Bay". All Simpsons stores that already had a Bay store next to them have been closed with either a new Sears store taking over the lease or the existing Bay store moving into the space.
In Quebec, there were five Simpson stores. Three of them - Anjou, Pointe-Claire and Laval - are now "la Baie" stores. The two others, in downtown Montreal and St-Bruno, were closed due to the presence of la Baie stores near them. La Baie in St-Bruno did however relocate to where Simpson was.
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office database reports that the trademark to the name "Simpsons" was owned by Sears Canada from 2001 to 2008. It was purchased from the Hudson's Bay Company in 2001, some ten years after the name was officially retired. In 2008, Sears Canada transferred all of its trademarks (including the Simpsons trademark) to 1373639 Alberta Ltd., which appears to be a shell company of Sears Canada.[1]
[edit] St. Regis Room and West End Shop
See also: The Room (store) and West End Shop
The two most "exclusive" clothing departments in the former Simpsons downtown Toronto location, the St. Regis Room (now known as the Room and extensively renovated in late 2009 by Yabu Pushelberg) for women and the West End Shop for men, are still in operation at the Bay's downtown Toronto Queen Street store. Designers in the St. Regis Room include Givenchy, Christian Lacroix, Valentino, Armani Collezioni, Louis Feraud, Karl Lagerfeld, Balmain, Andrew Gn, Lida Baday, Belville Sasoon, David Hayes, and others. The West End shop designers include Hugo Boss, Strellson, and others.
While operated by Simpsons, the St. Regis Room, offered some of the most exclusive fashion collections in Canada. Dior, Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent, Claude Montana, Courreges, and many others were featured in this luxury department.
A inventat de Craciun un display in vitrine cu papusi cu teme de Craciun.
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Dana Mateescu 12/10/2019 |
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