Operating primarily in Western Canada at first, the chain eventually achieved nationwide presence in the second half of the 20th century by opening new locations as well as successively acquiring and converting the department stores Morgan's, Freimans, Simpsons, and Woodward's.

The flagship stores are often multi-storey, historic buildings and are in Canada's largest cities (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, and Ottawa).

[10] The first Hudson's Bay Company store opened in 1881 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with an inventory consisting of dry goods, groceries, and hardware.

[13] This "modernization program" resulted the "original six" department stores in Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta; Vancouver and Victoria in British Columbia; Winnipeg in Manitoba; and Saskatoon in Saskatchewan.

[14] Hudson's Bay Company made inroads to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec with its acquisition of the Montreal-based Morgan's department store chain in November 1960.

On 16 July 2008, it was announced that Hudson's Bay Company had been purchased by the US firm NRDC Equity Partners, which owned Saks Fifth Avenue.

These moves included a major revamp of the chain's selection of labels, and a renovation and relaunch of The Room—a luxury women's department at the Queen Street location.

During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, a heritage-oriented campaign was used to promote The Bay and an accompanying line of Olympic-themed apparel, which was considered to be a significant success.

[31][32] On 31 August 2019, the company announced that all 15 of its Dutch locations would be sold by year end, the final chapter of HBC's European venture.

[39] Hudson's Bay Company sold the building to Cadillac Fairview, which owns the adjacent Toronto Eaton Centre, in 2014 and entered into a leaseback agreement through at least 2039.

Conversely, the Ottawa store on Rideau Street occupies 31,100 square metres (335,000 sq ft) and is the smallest flagship that remains in a landmark building; it was converted from Freimans in 1973.

[40] The Hudson's Bay Centre store shuttered on 13 May 2022,[41] with the site expected to be redeveloped in conjunction with a major overhaul of the Bloor-Yonge TTC station.

Recently in October 2020, due to changing shopping habits towards online purchasing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the parent of Hudson's Bay has considered downsizing some stores and redeveloping the surplus space for mixed-use.

[60] Its namesake at the Yonge & Queen location in Toronto was established in the 1930s as the St. Regis Room, dating back to its time as a Simpsons store.

It underwent a major renovation in 2009 by the design firm Yabu Pushelberg, with an increase to 2,000 square metres (21,500 sq ft) in floor space, and expanding its stock from around 12 brands to 70 (including more "moderately-priced" options).

The current collection contains labels such as Hugo Boss, Ermenegildo Zegna, Armani Collezioni, Ben Sherman, and Strellson.

HBC has also partnered with Canadian companies like Virginia Johnson, Pink Tartan, and Klaxon Howl to create exclusive, limited edition merchandise.

The four-point stripes have also been trademarked worldwide, and are planned to be sold through international retailers which including Lord & Taylor in the US, and Colette in France, in an attempt to market HBC as a brand.

[70] The Toronto Queen Street and Montreal Downtown store has opened ground floor boutiques for Burberry, Coach Leathergoods, and See by Chloé.