I sometimes laugh at the random things I remember from my high school experience. As the years in school went by, there was always some element of repeated American and world history. I remember reading about the Sydney Opera House and being taken by a building so beautiful, literally on the other side of the world, as counted by both latitude and longitude, thinking I’d never actually see it in person as a random kid from the Southeastern US. Time is funny, and I’ve now been to Sydney five or so times with one stint of living there for which I am eternally grateful.

One of the other tidbits that stuck with me was the Hudson Bay Company. As a kid, I remember reading about fur trappers and traders coming to North America from Europe. The British and the French made their marks on new lands here in North America. I remember reading about the Hudson Bay Company as North America’s oldest company, incorporated in 1670. That memory sat on a colloquial shelf in my brain for 30 years.

My first time in Canada as an adult, the Hudson Bay company came rushing back. As I’ve spent more time in here, I’ve become reacquainted with Hudson’s Bay, colloquially known to the locals as “The Bay.” As an American, The Bay seems somewhere in the same neighborhood as a Macy’s or a Nordstrom’s—it’s a higher-end department store with large downtown anchor stores in Canada’s larger cities and satellite stores nationwide. I’m unfamiliar with retail store history, but I wonder why Hudson’s Bay never showed up south of the border.

Watching Canadian news over the years, it was clear that Hudson’s Bay was in financial trouble. Modern retail has radically changed, moving from a brick-and-mortar-centric model to a hybrid or fully online presence. This isn’t news to anyone. However, the Bay struggled to embrace online selling early enough, and its core customer base started splintering away to other retailers.

The local news announced that Hudson’s Bay was under creditor protection and would begin liquidation. If I was going to walk through and experience this Canadian icon – this was the weekend. The local news continued to report on the sad state of affairs of the Vancouver location. The escalators nor elevators worked in the building, and the company had no money to fix any infrastructure. Shoppers would have to walk up and down the six-story building to peruse the entire store thoroughly.

Like Point Roberts, my partner pushed me – “Why do you want to go to The Bay?” In my mind, “Because” seemed like enough. However, he wanted more. While it may be mundane and routine to your average Canadian, I remember Hudson’s Bay being called out as a specific element in my history education. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to learn the controversies, pain, pillaging, and fundamental inequities that came from the early settlers in the indigenous populations. I wanted to see the company for what it was, walk it’s floors, and connect the current-day Hudson’s Bay reality with what I learned as a high school student.

Walking into the downtown Vancouver flagship store instantly reminded me of shopping with my mother as a high school student. The large white tiles, furniture, walls, and ceilings reminded me of shopping in a Macy’s in the early 90s. I saw large logos of popular brands that have moved into their own botique storefronts. Walking the aisles, you could feel the employees’ frustration due to the executives’ mismanagement.

Talking with Canadians both in Canada and here in the States, you could feel their nostalgia for what The Bay was during their childhood and their sadness for the passing of this Canadian institution. Even in those few minutes walking around the shell of the department store that once was, it became clear their market had moved on, and they failed to capture the trajectory of the evolving retail market.

It’s just surprising to me that this market shift killed them, versus all of the different bumps, twists, and turns that have happened since 1670. Why was this one the final blow? For that I don’t know.

The brand may or may not go away and could resurface down the line into a different retail offering. But for now, the stripes of the Bay are fading into the history books.