Eaton's

Eaton's was once Canada's largest department store retailer. Founded in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant, in 1869, Eaton's first advertisement read "We propose to sell our goods for CASH ONLY – In selling goods, to have only one price." In an era where haggling for goods was commonplace, this was a revolutionary business practice.

Legacy

Many Canadians, particularly older Canadians, have fond memories of the Eaton?s stores and the catalogue. Few defunct companies evoke the same strong emotions among Canadians as does Eaton?s, with the demise of the store in the 1990?s causing an outpouring of nostalgic reminiscences in the Canadian media.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although the Eaton's chain is no more, several shopping centres in Canada continue to be called Eaton Centres, most notably the Toronto Eaton Centre and the Centre Eaton in downtown Montreal. In fact, the Toronto Eaton Centre is the number one tourist attraction in Toronto, with over one million visitors a week. Both the centre?s existence and its status as one of North America?s top shopping and tourist destinations are due, in large part, to Timothy Eaton?s original decision in the 19th century to establish his store at this location.

Related Topics:
Toronto Eaton Centre - Centre Eaton - 19th century

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Eaton?s also leaves an architectural legacy. The Eaton?s College Street store in Toronto, opened in 1929, is an art deco masterpiece, and is currently occupied by a number of retailers (including Winners, Dominion and DeBoers Furniture). The famous seventh floor, occupied by the Eaton Auditorium and the Round Room restaurant, was recently restored and now operates as ?The Carlu? event venue.

Related Topics:
College Street - 1929 - Winners - Dominion

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Similarly, the former Eaton?s store in Montreal, designed by Ross and Macdonald (the same architects responsible for Eaton?s College Street store in Toronto), remains a landmark on Saint Catherine Street, and is currently occupied by a large shopping mall. After being closed for several years following Eaton's bankruptcy, the famous 9th floor restaurant in the downtown Montreal store was recently restored by Fournier, Gersovitz, Moss et associés, a Montreal architectural firm. It is protected as a registered historical site, because of its rich Art deco design.

Related Topics:
9th floor restaurant - Art deco

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Not all of Eaton?s landmark stores remain, although many were lost at the hands of Eaton?s itself. Most notably, the Main Store on Yonge Street was demolished in the late 1970's to make way for the Toronto Eaton Centre. Other downtown stores were either demolished when Eaton?s moved to a new location (for example, the first Vancouver store on Hastings Street) or were torn down to make way for Eaton Centre-type shopping complexes (such as, for example, the Calgary store). Sadly, the new Eaton?s stores were largely architecturally inferior to their predecessors.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the demise of Eaton?s, the most controversial demolition involved the downtown Winnipeg store, which had once been the pride of Winnipegers. When the store was emptied in late 1999, various alternative uses for the building (including residential condominiums) were considered, and ultimately all rejected. After a highly emotional civic debate, which included a ?group hug? of the ?Big Store? by hundreds of people in 2001, the store was demolished in 2002 to make way for a hockey arena, the MTS Centre. In one concession to history, red bricks were incorporated into the design of the arena façade, evoking the memory of the Eaton?s store that had once graced Portage Avenue. An original store window and Tyndall stone surround is mounted in the arena concourse to house a collection of Eaton's memorabilia.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Happily, Timothy Eaton still watches over Winnipegers and Torontonians. In 1919, two life-sized statues of Timothy Eaton were donated by the Eaton's employees to the Toronto and Winnipeg stores in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the company. For years, these two statues greeted shoppers and it was tradition for customers in both Toronto and Winnipeg to rub the toe of the statue for good luck. The Toronto statue is now housed by the Royal Ontario Museum. The Winnipeg statue was housed in a suburban mall for a few years after Eaton's Portage Avenue store closed, until Hudson's Bay Company opened "The Bay" at that location and wanted the statue removed. After a tussle with the Eaton family, who wanted to move the statue to St Marys, Ontario, the Manitoba government declared it a provincial heritage object. It now sits in the city's new arena, the MTS Centre, in almost in the exact same spot where it stood in the old store. Museum-goers in Toronto and hockey fans in Winnipeg continue to rub Timothy?s toe for luck.

Related Topics:
1919 - Royal Ontario Museum - Hudson's Bay Company - Manitoba - MTS Centre

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~