Hudsons Bay Company, a historical landmark, is closing down. Another victim of the endless march of globalizing and financializing.
HBC is the oldest company in North America by definition. At the start it WAS the British part of North America. Most of Canada and US except the east coast were controlled by HBC. It was deeply involved in this part of the US where Spanish and French and later English colonists didn’t land or explore. HBC furriers explored the Columbia watershed and the Cascades, looking for furs and trading with the local tribes.
In the 20th century HBC devolved into a chain of department stores, so its current incarnation is suffering the same fate as Sears and Penneys and Macys. Bezos wins, real business dies, no matter how historically resonant or important.
Polistra's Mill 