Court docs offer peek at massive trove of Hudson’s Bay trademarks Canadian Tire wants

A women leaves the downtown Toronto flagship Hudson Bay Company store in Toronto on Monday, January 27, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

The Hudson’s Bay trademarks Canadian Tire hopes to acquire span well beyond the retailer’s name, coat of arms and iconic stripes, new court documents show.

If the companies get court approval for the $30 million deal they recently brokered, filings made late Monday show Canadian Tire will own some of the country’s oldest logos, its most memorable catchphrases and nods to parts of the Bay business that are now long gone.

Included in the 350-page trove of trademarks are rights to the retailer’s original name: the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson’s Bay.

When it operated under that name, it was given a coat of arms made up of four beavers, two elks and a fox along with the motto “pro pelle cutem,” a Latin phrase meaning roughly, “a pelt for a skin.”

As part of the proposed sale, Canadian Tire will get the rights to the coat along with some more modern vestiges of the 355-year-old brand.

For example, the trove includes the rights to “Bay Days” — the name of the retailer’s most famous sales period — along with trademarks for its household goods brands Distinctly Home and its apparel brand Hudson North.

Also in the mix are trademarks for now defunct household goods retailer Home Outfitters, the Bay’s famed luxury business The Room, its Toronto event facility Arcadian Court and private labels Nordic Fleece, Beaumark Appliances and Black Brown 1826.

Then, there are the taglines.

Canadian Tire will own the Zellers “Lowest price is the law” slogan, as well as “Shopping is good,” “More than you came for,” “Everything under the sun” and “Bring it home.”

There are also many trademarks like “Official store of Christmas,” “Christmas street” and “the official Christmas book of gift ideas,” which were likely used to markets its holiday window displays and catalogues.

Hearkening back to its days running department store photo studios are rights to phrases like “Canada’s cutest baby,” “the official photographer of growing up” and “the official photographer of winning smiles.”

Rounding out the group are trademarks like “1st Auto,” “Bay Optical,” “Bay Flowers,” and “Pharmamart,” which alludes to other lines of business that the Bay has largely decamped.

Court filings say Hudson’s Bay will ask a court to approve the sale of such trademarks on June 3 as part of the main transaction.

It is also expected to ask for a document describing why it chose Canadian Tire over 16 other bidders to be sealed because it contains commercially sensitive information.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press