A department store rebuilt twice after fire before finally becoming Simpsons
The Robert Simpson Company
Robert Simpson's small dry goods store, founded in 1872, survived two major fires before growing into Simpsons, the department store chain that eventually merged into Eaton's chief rival before its own 1991 closure.
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Robert Simpson opened a small dry goods store in downtown Toronto in 1872, one of a wave of retailers experimenting with the fixed-price, cash-based model that Timothy Eaton was popularizing around the same time just blocks away. Simpson's store burned down entirely in 1895, was rebuilt, and then burned again in 1897, a remarkable run of bad luck for a business trying to establish itself as a serious retail competitor in the growing city.
Eaton's chief rival, then a closure
Despite those setbacks, the company grew steadily through the 20th century into Simpsons, a major department store chain that became Eaton's most direct rival for decades, with flagship stores and mail-order catalogue operations across the country. The Hudson's Bay Company acquired Simpsons in 1978, and the Simpsons brand was retired entirely in 1991 as Hudson's Bay converted the remaining stores to its own banner, ending nearly 120 years since Robert Simpson first opened his small, fire-prone dry goods shop.
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