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79-651: The facility first opened in 1929, when the store was part of the Simpson's chain. The Arcadian Court was intended to compete with the Royal York Hotel 's Imperial Room , the Georgian Room at the main Eaton's store, and the Eaton's Seventh Floor on College Street (now called The Carlu ) for downtown lunch business. The Court was two stories in height, the main floor and a mezzanine (called "The Men's Grill" from 1968–1969), which

158-463: A Loyalist from Vermont , who in 1801 had travelled along Yonge Street and found the area appealing, and so applied for and received a grant for land totalling 40 farms, each of 200 acres (0.8 km ). Other defunct communities once located within the modern boundaries of Newmarket include Garbut's Hill, Paddytown, Petchville, Pleasantville, and White Rose. Newmarket's geographical coordinates are 44.05°N, 79.46°W, and its elevation above sea level

237-522: A bedroom town since the 1980s. The province's Official Plan includes growth in the business services and knowledge industries, as well as in the administrative, manufacturing and retail sectors. Landmarks include Upper Canada Mall , Southlake Regional Health Centre , the Main Street Heritage Conservation District, and Wesley Brooks Conservation Area (locally called "Fairy Lake Park" or "Fairy Lake"). Newmarket's location on

316-529: A weir . Newmarket also lies south of and above the Algonquin Shoreline , where elevations suddenly drop off from the gently rolling hills that characterize much of Newmarket to the much flatter, lower land down below in the Holland Marsh . The land is characterized mainly by glacial deposits from the last ice age , known as "Newmarket Till". The town is underlain mainly by sand and gravel, ground by

395-511: A buyer for the Simpsons store in St-Bruno. The Bay store in St-Bruno eventually relocated to Simpsons' vacated location that same year. The downtown store closed on January 28, 1989, but reopened in mid-February for its final sale. After its clearance concluded on April 8, 1989, it was converted the following week (on April 15) as a Simpsons-branded liquidation centre, using 50 of the 900 employees of

474-589: A deconstructed take on the original Lalique crystal chandeliers and an opened-up mezzanine. The "Arcadian Court" name has been carried on as a brand name for other restaurants operated in Bay stores, though none are as opulent or exclusive as the Toronto original was. The Arcadian Court also figures prominently in Margaret Atwood 's novel The Blind Assassin , as the center of Toronto's high society to which Iris Chase Griffen

553-585: A distillery, one tannery, a foundry, a carding machine, and a cloth factory. In June 1853, the first train pulled into Newmarket on the Toronto, Simcoe & Lake Huron Union Railroad , the first railway in Upper Canada . It was later called the Northern Railway of Canada , and carried passengers, agricultural products and manufactured goods. The line eventually linked Toronto to Collingwood on Georgian Bay ,

632-504: A major shipbuilding centre. Today, this line is the "Newmarket Subdivision" of the Canadian National Railway system, running north out of Newmarket towards Bradford , and south towards Toronto. Newmarket was incorporated as a village in 1857 with a population of 700, with Donald Sutherland as the first reeve. In 1858, Robert Simpson co-opened "Simpson & Trent Groceries, Boots, Shoes and Dry Goods" in downtown Newmarket,

711-470: A retail store within 25 miles of Simpson's existing stores in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Regina and London. In return, Simpson's promised not to build any stores outside of those five cities. Simpsons-Sears mail-order business, however, was free to operate anywhere in Canada, and so was the new Simpsons-Sears Acceptance Company, the credit arm of the operation. The business operations of Simpsons-Sears began when

790-532: A store in the city of Mississauga , approximately 30 km (19 mi) west of Toronto, the company decided to use the Sears name alone in order to prevent confusion with Simpsons stores operating in Toronto. In 1978, the Hudson's Bay Company acquired Simpsons and federal competition law required the partnership to terminate, thus Simpsons and Simpsons-Sears could no longer share facilities. Sears stores continued to carry

869-537: Is 252 m. It has an area of 38.33 km . The town is bounded on the south by Aurora , on the west by King , on the north by East Gwillimbury and on the east by Whitchurch–Stouffville . The main river in Newmarket is the East Holland River (known locally simply as "The Holland River "), and all other streams in the town are tributaries thereto. These include Bogart Creek, a brook that weaves its way into

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948-646: Is a town and regional seat of the Regional Municipality of York in the Canadian province of Ontario . It is part of Greater Toronto in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario . The name stems from the fact that the settlement was a "New Market", in contrast to York as the Old Market . The town was formed as one of many farming communities in the area, but also developed an industrial centre on

1027-663: Is introduced. On November 18, 2022, Trinity College at the University of Toronto hosted its 85th annual Saints Ball at the Arcadian Court, a prestigious philanthropic event that supports a different charitable cause every year. 43°39′07″N 79°22′50″W  /  43.65194°N 79.38056°W  / 43.65194; -79.38056 Simpson%27s The Robert Simpson Company Limited , commonly known as Simpson's until 1972, then as Simpsons , and in Quebec sometimes as Simpson ,

1106-763: Is located outside the hall. This gallery space was closed in 2004, and the Thomson collection was transferred to the Art Gallery of Ontario and now displayed as the Thomson Collection. Reopened in May 2012, the Arcadian Court is now a part of a larger event complex (which now includes the neighboring Arcadian Loft) called "Arcadian", which is operated by Oliver & Bonacini Events. The renovations were carried out by architecture firm DeSignum Design. The renovations have stripped back layers of walls and flooring that have been added over

1185-663: Is managed by the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority ), a favourite recreational area in the centre of town, is a former mill pond on the East Holland River; and Bogart Pond, also a former mill pond, is fed and drained by Bogart Creek in Bogarttown. Furthermore, the water level in the reach of the East Holland north of Davis Drive is controlled from an unfinished Newmarket Canal lock, now used as

1264-792: The Holland River enabled travel between Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe . A portage route, the Toronto Carrying-Place Trail , ran one of its two routes up the Holland River through the Newmarket area, and over the Oak Ridges Moraine to the Rouge River and into Lake Ontario. A more widely used route ran up the western branch of the Holland River, over the moraine, and down the Humber River . In 1793, John Graves Simcoe travelled

1343-491: The Northern Railway of Canada 's mainline, which was built in 1853 through what would become the downtown area. It also became a thriving market town with the arrival of the Metropolitan Street Railway in 1899. Over time, the town developed into a primarily residential area, and the expansion of Ontario Highway 400 to the west and the construction of Ontario Highway 404 to the east increasingly turned it into

1422-747: The Scarborough Town Centre and Yorkdale shopping malls. On the other hand, the Sears store at the Burlington Mall was sold to The Bay. The stores that went to The Bay were all rebranded on August 14, 1991. The locations that Sears acquired were closed in July 1991, renovated and progressively reopened at various dates in August and September 1991 with the former Simpsons/The Bay employees. The Sears store at Mapleview Mall in particular opened on August 14, 1991,

1501-525: The Thirteen Colonies moved to the area to avoid violence they were expected to take part in during the American Revolution . In June 1800, Timothy Rogers, a Quaker from Vermont , explored the area around the Holland River to find a suitable location for a new Quaker settlement. He, Samuel Lundy and their group of Religious Society of Friends received the grant of 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) around

1580-557: The icesheets that covered the area until about 10,000 years ago. No outcrops are to be found anywhere in Newmarket, so deep are the glacial deposits. Newmarket is identified as one of the Golden Horseshoe's 25 Urban Growth Centres in Ontario's Places to Grow Growth Plan. Four areas of Newmarket have been selected to absorb the majority of planned population growth and accommodate mixed usages on sites well served by transit. These are

1659-466: The Aurora/Newmarket border. Glenway Country Club was a private club with a course within Newmarket's boundaries, but it was closed before the 2012 season and is being redeveloped for housing. There are also several courses in the surrounding communities and countryside. Three public swimming places exist throughout Newmarket: Ray Twinney Complex , Gorman Pool, which is open only in the summer, and

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1738-462: The Holland River. In 1801, Rogers returned along with several Quaker families who had left their homes in Vermont and Pennsylvania , and settled here between 1801 and 1803. Joseph Hill constructed a mill on the river, damming it to produce a mill pond today known as Fairy Lake. The settlement of "Upper Yonge Street" developed around the mill and the Holland River. Hill also built a tannery north of

1817-498: The Northern Railway line. In addition to the train, stagecoaches were available to nearby communities. By the time of the 1871 census, the population was 1,760 and by 1881, it had increased to 2,006; an elementary school and a high school were already in operation by then. The Toronto and York Radial Railway arrived in Newmarket in 1899. This service operated along Yonge Street south of Newmarket, but turned east to run through

1896-499: The Robert Simpson Company of Toronto, proposing a partnership between their two companies in order to serve the Canadian market. The deal to create Simpsons-Sears Limited , a Canadian catalogue and department store chain separate from the Simpsons chain, was signed on September 18, 1952, and the terms were 50-50. Each company put up $ 20 million and had equal representation on the new company's board of directors. The new company

1975-521: The Simpsons chain ceased to exist in 1991, the Hudson's Bay Company continued to accept Simpsons credit cards in its The Bay and Zellers stores until the company launched the HBC credit card in 2001. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office database reports that the trademark to the name "Simpsons" was owned by Sears Canada from 2001 to 2008. It was purchased from the Hudson's Bay Company in 2001, ten years after

2054-747: The Simpsons-Sears name on signage and the name remained in use both informally and as its business name well into the 1980s. Simpsons-Sears officially changed its name to Sears Canada in 1984. Simpsons closed on June 27, 1981, the store in Regina, Saskatchewan it had operated since 1916 after four consecutive years of financial losses with that location. It also closed its only store in Ottawa on January 29, 1983. The 83,000 square feet multi-level store had never been profitable ever since Simpsons acquired it in June 1972 and

2133-566: The Simpsons-branded stores in 1978, but they were later converted to The Bay stores by the early 1990s. As part of the 1978 agreement, U.S.-based Sears acquired full ownership of Simpsons-Sears Limited. Robert Simpson's original store (Simpson & Bogart after 1861), was opened in 1858 in Newmarket, Ontario at what is now 226-228 Main Street South (original building since demolished). it

2212-495: The St. Regis Room offered some of the most exclusive fashion collections in Canada. Christian Dior , Oscar de la Renta , Yves Saint Laurent , Claude Montana , André Courrèges , and many others were featured in this luxury store. A Store of Memories, a memoir by G. Allan Burton, Charles Burton's son and in his turn Chairman and CEO of Simpsons, was published in 1986. Newmarket, Ontario Newmarket ( 2021 population : 87,942 )

2291-485: The West End Shop for men, are still in operation at the Bay's downtown Toronto Queen Street store. Designers in the St. Regis Room include Givenchy , Christian Lacroix , Valentino , Armani Collezioni , Louis Féraud , Karl Lagerfeld , Balmain , Andrew Gn, Lida Baday , Bellville Sassoon , David Hayes, and others. The West End shop designers include Hugo Boss , Strellson , and others. While operated by Simpsons,

2370-695: The Yonge-Davis intersection, Yonge Street (south of Green Lane), the Regional Healthcare Centre ( Southlake Regional Health Centre ) and Historic Downtown Centre (surrounding Main Street South). Further construction of big box retail stores in the Yonge Street corridor will not be permitted and the long-term objective of the town is redevelopment or the addition of new buildings to these areas through controlled intensification. The southwest portion of

2449-465: The age of 63. With no male heir, Simpson's death placed a heavy burden on his wife, Mary, and daughter, Margaret. They sold the business for $ 135,000 in March 1898 to a syndicate of three Toronto businessmen, Harris Henry Fudger (1852–1930), Joseph Flavelle , and Alfred Ernest Ames (1866–1934). In 1912, Charles Luther (C.L.) Burton became assistant general manager at the Robert Simpson Company, then under

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2528-471: The area around Upper Canada Mall, with additional strip malls developing directly across the Yonge Street/Davis Drive intersection to the south and southeast. A concerted effort to revitalize the historic Downtown area during the late 1980s was successful. More recently, a $ 2.3-million investment was made by the town in 2004 in streetscaping and infrastructure improvements to roads and sidewalks in

2607-469: The area between Yonge Street on the west and between Bayview and Leslie Street in the east, and running from just north of Davis on the north to the Fairy Lake area on the south. By the 1950s, Newmarket was experiencing a suburban building boom due to its proximity to Toronto. The population increased from 5,000 to 11,000 between 1950 and 1970. The Regional Municipality of York was formed in 1971, increasing

2686-402: The capital. A number of leaders from this area were attainted for high treason , convicted and hanged . By 1846, the population was about 600. Much of the settlement was built on the south side of the town, with farms surrounding it. There were six churches or chapels, a post office, five stores, three taverns, and tradesmen of various types. Industry included two grist-mills, two breweries,

2765-481: The chain with a presence only in the Toronto area. HBC acknowledged at the time that Simpsons wasn't doing great in Toronto but was still performing well enough to continue there and even planned to add three more locations to the existing 11 stores in the area. That year, the flagship Simpsons store in downtown Toronto completed a $ 30 million facelift with a relaunch known as the Miracle on Queen Street . Its cosmetics area

2844-515: The directorship of his old friend and mentor, H. H. Fudger. By 1929, Burton was president of Simpson's, becoming chairman of the board in 1948, when his son Edgar assumed the presidency. The store in downtown Toronto included one of the city's most exclusive restaurants, the Arcadian Court , which opened in 1929 and still operates today (as an event space) after the store's acquisition by Hudson's Bay Company in 1978. Throughout its history, Simpsons

2923-509: The downtown area along Main Street; it would later be extended north to Sutton . At the time, it brought significant numbers of day-trippers to Newmarket to shop at the market. Automobile traffic on Yonge Street, and the already existing mainline railway, had a significant effect on ridership, and the Radial was discontinued in the early 1930s. North of Davis Drive in Newmarket, the East Holland River

3002-561: The first Simpsons-Sears Spring/Summer Catalogue rolled off the presses of Photo-Engravers and Electrotypers, Ltd. and were delivered to 300,000 Canadian homes in early 1953. On Thursday, September 17, 1953, the first Simpsons-Sears retail store opened in Stratford, Ontario at 9:15 a.m. The second Simpsons-Sears store opened in Kamloops , B.C. , in December of that year. In the 1960s, Simpson's

3081-542: The first store in what would become the Simpsons department store chain. In 1880, Newmarket became a town with a population of 2,000. William Cane was elected as the first mayor. Some years later, his sash and door factory would become the first Canadian manufacturer of lead pencils, the Dixon Pencil Company. In 1869, the population was 1,500 and a gazetteer described Newmarket as one of the most flourishing villages on

3160-552: The governing Family Compact . Rebel leader William Lyon Mackenzie organized a series of meetings leading to the Rebellion; the first of which, on August 3, 1837, was delivered from the veranda of the North American Hotel in Newmarket. This speech contributed to the rebellion, as it was heard by about 600 farmers and others sympathetic to Mackenzie's cause, who later that year armed themselves and marched down Yonge Street to take

3239-458: The historic Downtown. The historic area of Downtown's Main Street is once again a major focal point of the town. The arrival of Highway 404 reversed the westward movement, pulling development eastward again, and surrounding the formerly separate hamlet of Bogarttown at the intersection of Mulock Drive and Leslie Street. Since then, Newmarket has grown considerably, filling out in all directions. The town limits now run from Bathurst Street in

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3318-530: The historic Main Street area. The following is a list of some of these sites; many of the below-listed buildings located along Main Street are within the Main Street Heritage Conservation District : Newmarket's coat of arms is actually taken from the town's old corporate seal. The town flag is a navy blue field with this same design in the middle. The beehive and bees are said to represent industry. There are nine bees, representing

3397-451: The median household income in Newmarket was $ 95,589, exceeding the provincial average for the same year of $ 75,287. According to the 2016 census , the town's population was 87,942. The York Region Planning Department projects a population of 98,000 by 2026. Newmarket's population density is just over 2000 inhabitants per square kilometre, ranking the census subdivision third in Ontario and 33rd in Canada. The top five ethnic origins of

3476-430: The mid-2010s which still maintains some activities in the building. In 1991, Sears Canada acquired several Simpsons locations in the Toronto market, primarily where HBC had both Bay and Simpsons stores operating within the same shopping centre. When Simpsons folded in 1991, eight of its stores were absorbed by The Bay. The other six Simpsons stores were sold to Sears. Sears also acquired two existing The Bay stores at

3555-523: The mid-priced suburban mall locations that were basically like The Bay. When the merger was announced in June 1991, it had been suggested that the downtown location continue operating as a Simpsons store but HBC turned down the idea under the explanation that it would be too expensive to implement such plan. Finally, the demise of Simpsons came at a time when the Hudson's Bay Company was seriously controlling its operating costs in anticipation of an eventual entrance to Canada by American giant Wal-Mart which

3634-578: The mill, the first general store and house, and additional mills. In 1802, Elisha Beman , who owned land in the area, established a mill, and then a distillery. Mordecai Millar also built mills, and Joseph Hill opened a tannery. During the War of 1812 a resident, William Roe, hid the settlement's gold treasury from invading American troops. The war helped the settlement prosper, as the British army purchased goods and food and hired locals to build structures. By 1814,

3713-528: The moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Newmarket had a population of 87,942 living in 30,301 of its 31,239 total private dwellings, a change of 4.4% from its 2016 population of 84,224 . With a land area of 38.5 km (14.9 sq mi), it had a population density of 2,284.2/km (5,916.1/sq mi) in 2021. In 2015,

3792-456: The name had been retired. In 2008, Sears Canada transferred all of its trademarks (including the Simpsons trademark) to 1373639 Alberta Ltd., which appears to be a shell company of Sears Canada. The two most "exclusive" clothing departments in the former Simpsons downtown Toronto location, the St. Regis Room (now known as the Room and extensively renovated in late 2009 by Yabu Pushelberg) for women and

3871-525: The original store and only two of the floors. The building later sat vacant for many years in the heart of the city's shopping district until it was turned in 1999 into a mall named Carrefour Industrielle Alliance, anchored by La Maison Simons and Famous Players (today Scotiabank Theatre ). The Simpsons stores outside of the Greater Toronto and Greater Montreal areas were actually the first to be converted to The Bay on July 30, 1986. This included

3950-679: The population are English, Canadian, Scottish, Irish and Italian. Of the 2,290 immigrants who settled in Newmarket between 2011 and 2016, 505 (22 per cent) emigrated from China, 290 (13 per cent) from Iran, and 240 (10 per cent) from the Philippines. In 2021, Newmarket was 63.9% white/European, 34.9% visible minorities, and 1.2% Indigenous. The largest visible minority groups (over 1000 population) were Chinese (10.0%), West Asian (6.5%), South Asian (4.3%), Black (2.9%), Southeast Asian (2.5%), Filipino (2.4%), and Latin American (1.5%). English

4029-456: The population, up from 25.4% in 2011. 12.9% of the population belonged to other religions and spiritual tradition, up from 8.1% in 2011. The largest non-Christian religions were Islam (6.5%), Buddhism (2.2%), Judaism (2.0%) and Hinduism (1.3%). Newmarket features a diverse and growing economy based largely in the business services, healthcare and knowledge sectors, as well as manufacturing and retail industries. The following are some of

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4108-611: The same date The Bay replaced its Simpsons locations. None of Simpsons' locations in 1991 closed outright as they were all changed to either The Bay or Sears stores with limited job losses. Of the Simpsons stores in Quebec, three of them - Anjou , Pointe-Claire and Laval - switched to The Bay on January 29, 1989. The three locations were rebranded in March 1989 after a transition period as Simpsons stores operated by The Bay. The other two Simpsons locations, in downtown Montreal and St-Bruno , closed because there were existing The Bay stores near them. HBC unsuccessfully tried to find

4187-464: The settlement had two frame and several log buildings used as residences. The settlement continued to grow through the early 19th century, along with the formation of Aurora and Holland Landing . A post office opened in 1826, and until 1890 the name was spelled "New Market". Newmarket is noted for its role in the Rebellions of 1837–1838 , and was a centre of discontent against the manipulations of

4266-476: The size of Newmarket with land from the Township of East Gwillimbury, from the Township of King and from the Township of Whitchurch. The construction of Upper Canada Mall at the corner of Yonge Street and Davis Drive in 1974 started pulling the focal point of the town westward from the historic Downtown area along Main Street. By the early 1980s, the historic Downtown area suffered as most businesses had built up in

4345-537: The stores in the province of Nova Scotia as well as Ontario locations in London, Kitchener, Kingston and Windsor. Like the ones in the Toronto and Montreal, many of these The Bay stores are still standing including those at White Oaks Mall, Cataraqui Centre , Fairview Park Mall , Devonshire Mall , Mic Mac Mall and Mayflower Mall . The Bay in Halifax , closed in 2011, was among the Simpsons stores rebranded in 1986. After

4424-444: The town from the Oak Ridges Moraine by way of Bogarttown , emptying into the Holland River in north-central Newmarket; Western creek, another brook rising just west of the town, and reaching the Holland River in the town's north end; Tannery Creek, a stream that joins the Holland River in south Newmarket after flowing through Aurora ; and a number of other small watercourses. There are two reservoirs in Newmarket; Fairy Lake (which

4503-469: The town has no official record as to the purchase or redesign of the arms. Newmarket was previously home to the following teams: Junior Leagues Newmarket is also home to many rep and select teams. They go by the name of the Newmarket Renegades and range from divisions of Tyke to Midget. One golf course is located within Newmarket's town limits; St. Andrew's Valley (a public club), which straddles

4582-474: The town is located in the Oak Ridges Moraine and is therefore subject to the Ontario Government's Greenbelt Legislation . Newmarket has a humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfb ), with four distinct seasons featuring cold, somewhat snowy winters and warm, humid summers. Precipitation is moderate and consistent in all seasons, although summers are a bit wetter than winter due to

4661-510: The town's major public sector employers: The following are some of the town's major private sector employers: As a result of this strong employment base both in Newmarket and York Region, 50% of Newmarket residents commute less than 30 minutes to work each day. For over 100 years, the town's downtown area, centred around Main Street, has acted as a hub of commerce and cultural activity. This area contains numerous early 19th century buildings worthy of preservation, and in October 2013, this area

4740-416: The town's nine most prominent businesses at the time that Newmarket was incorporated as a Village. The latest form of the seal was introduced in 1938 with the arms somewhat altered from – but very similar in concept to – one that was earlier used. The arms' origin is something of a mystery, however. It is unknown what artist created the current version – or indeed the earlier version – and

4819-415: The trail northward along the main route to the west, and south to York (now Toronto ) along the lesser used eastern route through Newmarket. Selecting the eastern route as the better of the two, Simcoe started construction of Yonge Street along the former trail in late 1795, starting in York in Toronto Bay , and ending at the newly named St. Albans ( Holland Landing ), north of Newmarket. Quakers from

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4898-415: The west to Highway 404 in the east, and from just south of Green Lane to just north of St. John's Sideroad, taking over the former hamlet of Armitage at Yonge Street south of Mulock Drive. The southern boundary of the town is contiguous with Aurora to the south. Armitage was the first settlement of King township, named in honour of its first settler Amos Armitage. He had been recruited by Timothy Rogers,

4977-423: The years, reclaiming approximately 5 feet (1.5 m) of the perimeter. The arches were also restored. Eight of the 16 grand arches in the mezzanine that were closed off in past renovations were reopened and the squared-off arches were restored. The renovations added 4 feet (1.2 m) in height to the remaining eight. The Court is now 8,086 square feet (751.2 m) with improved acoustics, new chandeliers that are

5056-498: Was a Canadian department store chain that had its earliest roots in a store opened in 1858 by Robert Simpson . In 1952 Simpson's started a 50-50 joint venture in Canada named Simpsons-Sears Limited (later Sears Canada ) with Sears, Roebuck , the American retailer. Simpsons-Sears stores remained distinct from the Simpson's stores and the parent companies' agreement included language to keep them from competing too directly with each other. The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) purchased

5135-410: Was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company , and subsequently became downtown Toronto's flagship Bay store in 1991. From 1988 to 1989, some of the mezzanine space was converted to gallery space, which displayed the Canadian art collection of Kenneth Thomson . Much of the second floor of the Arcadian Court was closed off or used for the storage of chairs. A small pictorial display and a cast-iron fountain

5214-439: Was almost complete by the summer of 1912, when it was cancelled by the incoming government of Robert Borden . Today, the locks are still visible and are known as the "Ghost Canal". The turning basin in downtown Newmarket was filled in and now forms the parking lot of The Old Davis Tannery Mall, on the site of the former Hill tannery. For much of the 20th century, Newmarket developed along the east-west Davis Drive axis, limited to

5293-413: Was already conquering the retail landscape in its country and attracting Canadians living close to the border. The Simpsons store on Queen Street West in Toronto continues to operate under the Hudson's Bay nameplate as the chain's, and Canada's, largest department store. The adjacent Simpson Tower , which used to house Simpsons offices, served as the main headquarters for the Hudson's Bay Company until

5372-485: Was among the first 10 Canadian companies to start using computers in all their locations, and programming was done in Toronto and Montreal by accounting clerks, many of whom were women. Enormous rooms with special ventilation were built to house IBM punch card mainframe machines in those two locations. In 1972, Simpsons and Simpsons-Sears agreed to end the 25-mile restriction and permit Simpsons and Simpsons-Sears stores anywhere. The following year, when Simpsons-Sears opened

5451-423: Was co-founded with William Trent as Simpson & Trent Groceries, Boots, Shoes and Dry Goods . A fire destroyed the store in 1870, and a new dry goods store was opened two years later in Toronto . Robert Simpson lived at 384 Botsford Street in Newmarket from 1861 to 1876. The company was renamed the Robert Simpson Company Limited in May 1896, not long before Robert Simpson's sudden death on 14 December 1897, at

5530-481: Was men-only for many years. The restaurant's architecture featured wrought iron railings, arched windows, and huge chandeliers. Three skylights allow light to enter the whitewash hall interior. At its opening, it was the largest department store restaurant in the world, seating 1,300. The restaurant hosted many of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra 's first radio broadcasts, and in 1967, it hosted the first auction ever held outside Britain by Sotheby's . In 1978, Simpson's

5609-557: Was notorious for not having any escalators . In March 1983, The Bay store at Mayflower Mall in Sydney, Nova Scotia was rebranded to Simpsons. In July 1984, Simpsons terminated 1,631 employees, including more than a thousand in Toronto alone. Simpsons lost $ 53 million that year alone. The flagship store's acquisition of a large quantity of toy robots was a major plot point in the movie Short Circuit 2 in 1988. Simpsons vanished from Greater Montreal in 1989 with its five stores either converted to The Bay or simply closed, leaving

5688-490: Was recognized as a Provincial Heritage Conservation District . This status serves to protect and officially recognize many of the heritage sites and buildings along this historic thoroughfare and its many side streets. Recent investments have been made to improve the aesthetics and function of the historic area. These include: Numerous buildings and sites located in Newmarket possess a high degree of architectural and/or historical significance; most of these are concentrated in

5767-562: Was reputed to be the largest in the world and the basement featured a gourmet food hall similar to Macy's in Herald Square in New York City or Harrods in London . The St. Regis Room expanded and upscale shops such as Alfred Dunhill of London opened boutiques in the store. The Hudson's Bay Company attempted to operate Simpsons as a more-upscale nameplate than its main brand, The Bay, but

5846-575: Was slightly higher end than The Bay, the distinction was hardly noticeable to the average shopper. The Hudson's Bay Company came to the conclusion that it would be better to rationalize its operations than to divide its customer base. Much of the operations of Simpsons and The Bay, such as purchasing, advertising and credit cards, had already been consolidated by the time HBC decided to merge the two chains. The Simpsons chain also suffered from an identity crisis within itself, with an upscale flagship downtown store filled with high-end merchandise in contrast to

5925-501: Was straightened to prepare it for use as a commercial waterway to bypass the railway, whose prices were skyrocketing around the turn of the 20th century. Sir William Mulock , the local Member of Parliament , proposed a canal system running down the Holland River through Holland Landing and into Lake Simcoe. This would allow boats to connect from there to the Trent-Severn Waterway for eventual shipment south. The Newmarket Canal

6004-723: Was the mother tongue of 64.2% of Newmarket residents in 2021. The next most common first languages were Chinese languages (7.5% including 4.7% Mandarin and 2.6% Cantonese ), Persian (5.7%), Russian (2.7%), Italian (1.4%), Spanish (1.4%) Tagalog (1.1%), and French (1.0%). 3.2% of residents listed both English and a non-official language as mother tongues, while 0.4% listed both English and French. 50.6% of residents were Christian , down from 66.5% in 2011. 23.9% were Catholic , 12.2% were Protestant , 7.6% were Christian n.o.s, 4.2% were Christian Orthodox , and 2.7% belonged to other Christian denominations and Christian-related traditions. Non-religious or secular residents were 36.5% of

6083-457: Was the traditional carriage-trade department store in Toronto, competing with the T. Eaton Company . The motto "You'll enjoy shopping at Simpson's" was conceived by Robert Simpson and remained the company's slogan until its acquisition by the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1952, General Robert E. Wood , the Chairman of U.S. retailer Sears, Roebuck and Co. , sent a letter to Edgar G. Burton, President of

6162-402: Was to have two main objectives. The first was to expand Simpsons' existing mail-order business, which was sold to the new company. The second goal was to build a string of stores modelled on Sears, Roebuck's format right across the country. The agreement also contained a provision that would prove to be a major bone of contention in the coming years. Under its terms, Simpsons-Sears could not open

6241-479: Was unsuccessful. The chain's operations in Greater Toronto were merged with The Bay in 1991 and the Simpsons name was retired after a retail presence of almost 120 years. Reasons for the Hudson's Bay Company's decision were the recession and the fact that it rarely made profits with the Simpsons stores ever since the acquisition in the late 1970s. Simpsons struggled to stand out from The Bay. Although Simpsons

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