The oldest business in North America was founded in 1670.

Science & Industry

H undreds of years before Amazon, Walmart, Alphabet, and other modern megacorporations existed, King Charles II of England invested in what is now the oldest continually operating company in North America: the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), a retail giant founded in 1670 and currently headquartered in New York and Toronto. HBC's origins can be traced to fur traders and brothers-in-law Médard Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson, the first Europeans to extensively explore the forests of northern Canada. The French explorers launched their first expedition in 1659, spurred on by rumors of vast untouched beaver preserves north of Lake Superior.

Beaver pelts were at the center of a European fashion craze in the late 17th century that created a surge in demand for beaver-fur felt hats. However, des Groseilliers and Radisson made their journey in secret, without obtaining a trading license. Upon their return to Quebec, the French authorities confiscated their furs, levied fines against them, and briefly jailed des Groseilliers. Angered by their treatment, the explorers offered their services to other nations, eventually finding a receptive ear in England.

On May 2, 1670, King Charles II granted a royal charter to the Hudson's Bay Company, named after Canada's Hudson Bay. The company was incorporated with three goals in mind: fur trade with Indigenous tribes, mineral exploration, and finding a passage to the West. HBC possessed exclusive commercial domain over a large territory around the Hudson Bay, giving the company a virtual monopoly on the fur trade. By the mid-19th century, the company's landholdings encompassed around 1.5 million square miles, making it the largest private landowner in history. HBC operated as a monopoly until 1869, when the land was effectively transferred to the newly formed nation of Canada. Today, HBC's historic connection to fashion lives on in luxury clothing stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue.

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By the Numbers

Year the Hudson Bay was explored by English navigator Henry Hudson

1610

Age (in years) of the world's oldest continuously operating company, Kongō Gumi

1,446

Employees of Hudson's Bay Company today

~22,000

Total retail sales of Hudson's Bay Company in 2018

$9.38 billion

Did you know?

The oldest restaurant in the world is in Spain.

According to Guinness World Records, the oldest restaurant in the world is Madrid's Casa Botín. Located minutes away from Plaza Mayor and the city center, Botín opened its doors to the public in 1725, and later became a hot spot for the literary scene, attracting writers from around the world. Botín has hosted such famed authors as Graham Greene, Benito Pérez Galdós, and Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway even mentioned the restaurant in his debut novel The Sun Also Rises (1926), and today, Botín patrons have the opportunity to dine at Hemingway's favorite table and sample the same meals he ate. As he wrote in his 1932 short story Death in the Afternoon,"But meantime I would rather dine on suckling pig at Botín's than sit and think of casualties my friends have suffered."

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