Canadian Retail Thread

[esquire]

Originally Posted by isaidso

In the UK, Burberry's 'tartan' is a symbol of 'chav' culture. It's worn by uneducated working class hooligans. It's a little odd to me how North Americans venerate it. Burberry is a luxury brand but that Burberry pattern couldn't get any tackier. HBC is a lower end brand but the stripes are a ton classier and have deep historical significance. 'Point blankets' were used during the fur trade: the more stripes the warmer. I wouldn't be caught dead in that Burberry 'tartan'. HBC cheapens the brand by putting those stripes on way too many things. That said, the HBC point blanket has a ton more cache and not just in Canada.

Canadians are famously self deprecating though. The view is that if it's from here it's crap and to be discarded. If it's from another country it must be superior and the coolest thing ever.


$550 HBC Point Blankets

https://www.wallswithstories.com/fur...h-america.html

Burberry is a luxury brand, it may be associated with chav culture but its main clientele is still people who buy high end clothing and accessories.

As for the stripes... I am well aware of the history of the HBC point blankets (I even own a couple myself, one blue and one grey)… it is classy and has historical significance. I appreciate it on those terms. Which is why I find it cringeworthy to see HBC trying to turn it into some kind of supposedly chic youth fashion thing as they have before with little success. It's just not going to happen.

[SpongeG]

this is a Pendelton blanket, how can they have the same? or is the order of the stripes slightly different?


spy.com

[esquire]

^ I don't know anything about Pendleton blankets but I have seen pictures of them before... I wondered what the relationship is with HBC point blankets. They are too similar for it to be a coincidence.

[kwoldtimer]

Aren't Pendleton blankets just lower quality copies of Hudsons Bay point blankets?

[ToxiK]

Originally Posted by esquire

Wow. I would not expect to hear something like that about HBC... that seems remarkably small-time for such a storied company. They must be in rough shape.

Originally Posted by Pavlov

Could be part of a broader dispute with the landlord.

They don't seem to be the only ones with problems with HBC (the article is in French):

https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/ent...er-la-baie.php

[svlt]

Originally Posted by esquire

Burberry is a luxury brand, it may be associated with chav culture but its main clientele is still people who buy high end clothing and accessories.

As for the stripes... I am well aware of the history of the HBC point blankets (I even own a couple myself, one blue and one grey)… it is classy and has historical significance. I appreciate it on those terms. Which is why I find it cringeworthy to see HBC trying to turn it into some kind of supposedly chic youth fashion thing as they have before with little success. It's just not going to happen.

Thing is no one really knows or cares about chavs this side of the pond, least of which probably Burberry’s most recent lucrative consumer target market, the Chinese.

[SpongeG]

Burberry has been featurung their plaid a lot less in recent times.

[FrAnKs]

Asbestos, Québec, will become : Val-Des-Sources

[Djeffery]

Le Chateau not surprisingly is going out of business. 123 stores closing, not sure of the timeline though

[whatnext]

Whole Foods has banned their employees from wearing poppies for Remembrance Day. Boo.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...pies-1.5791551

[Hawrylyshyn]

That's brutal. Hopefully people boycott them... a poppy is one of the last things people should find offensive or political. A poppy is simply a sign of respect for those lost in war, no matter what their political affiliation is

[casper]

Originally Posted by Hawrylyshyn

That's brutal. Hopefully people boycott them... a poppy is one of the last things people should find offensive or political. A poppy is simply a sign of respect for those lost in war, no matter what their political affiliation is

Already reversed. They were not expect the backlash they received in Canada. Looks to be a decision made at corporate in the US. Clearly out of touch with Canadian values.

[Taeolas]

I saw the article first thing Friday morning, and as a Canadian, I fully expected the backlash they were receiving. It's one of the few cases when "reading the comments" are almost universally going the same way.

I had expected the pressure (including universal political pressure from all parties and all levels of government) would get them to flip the decision by noon. I was off by a few hours, probably due to the companies being based out west I guess.

[SpongeG]

do other retailers wear poppies? I don't think I've seen any other store where employees wear them, I will pay attention at superstore today but the last two days I have not seen any employees wearing a poppy there.

Sounds like a disgruntled employee at whole foods leaked the rule to the media or something otherwise it would be a non-issue.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

do other retailers wear poppies? I don't think I've seen any other store where employees wear them, I will pay attention at superstore today but the last two days I have not seen any employees wearing a poppy there.

Sounds like a disgruntled employee at whole foods leaked the rule to the media or something otherwise it would be a non-issue.

If so, good on that employee.

[urbandreamer]

I always associated poppy wearing with public school brainwashing; us private school kids never wore them. Although my grandfather fought for Scotland in WWI, losing two of his siblings, I feel no attachment to the war. As a nonconformist, I never wore the poppy to work, which as a white Canadian is kind of rare?

[Loco101]

Nobody should feel pressured to wear one. Each person should be able to wear one if he/she wants to.

Poppy wearing should not be political nor should it be partisan. Many people don't wear them where I live and it does not bother me. I wear one.

[jamincan]

I wear one for the 5 minutes it takes for it to fall out.

Poppy wearing has become far less common in recent years, which makes sense to me. The two world wars are a much more distant memory and are far less prominent in the national psyche since 9-11.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Loco101

Nobody should feel pressured to wear one. Each person should be able to wear one if he/she wants to.

...

Exactly so, as Whole Foods now understands.

[SpongeG]

Judge orders The Bay to pay half its overdue rent but blocks landlord from evicting them

An Ontario judge has ordered Hudson's Bay Co. to pay half the rent owing at one of its department stores, while blocking a landlord's attempt to evict the iconic retailer.

The interim ruling comes after Oxford Properties Retail Holdings moved to evict HBC from the Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill, Ont., after seven months of unpaid rent.

HBC filed an injunction to stop the eviction, citing an earlier claim that Oxford — which has a portfolio of malls including the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, and the Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga, Ont. — has failed to operate and maintain "first class shopping centres."

Ontario Superior Court Justice Glenn Hainey responded by temporarily barring Oxford from ending HBC's lease at the Hillcrest Mall, which would have seen many retail workers out of a job as the second wave of the pandemic worsens.

But in return, he directed the retailer to pay $659,395, or 50 per cent of unpaid rent from April to October.

...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/hbc...rent-1.5799280