Artist Info
Simpsons
The Robert Simpson Company Limited, better known as Simpons (or Simpson's until 1972) was a Canadian department store.
Robert Simpson immigrated from Inverness, Scotland in 1856. His first store was opened in 1872, after having a 50-50 joint venture with Sears called Simpsons-Sears Limited. The orginial store was in Newmarket, Ontario. After the store was destoryed in a fire in 1870, a new store was open in Toronto two years later. In 1894, Simpson built a six-storey department store, designed by Edmund Burke (1857-1919), which was destroyed by fire shortly after occupancy. A new building by the same architect opened in January 1896, and was the first "fireproofed" store in Canada.
Robert Simpson died suddenly in 1897, and his wife and daughter sold the business to three business men: Harris Henry Fudger, Joseph Flavelle and Alfred Ernest Ames.
Charles Luther Burton became assistant general manager in 1912, and by 1929 was the president of the company. He became a chairman of the board in 1948, when his son, Edgar, took the presidency.
The store in downtown Toronto contained one of the cities most exclusive restaurants, the Arcadian Court. It opened in 1929 and today is operated by the Hudson's Bay Company as an event space.
The store was know as Simpson's until 1972, when is dropped the apostrophe due to French language issues.
In 1978, The Hudson's Bay Company purchased the Simpsons-branded store and coverted them all to The Bay by the early 1990s.
