Morgan's
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Morgan's was a Montreal-based Canadian department store opened in 1845 by Scottish immigrant Henry Morgan. At its peak, the company had stores in Quebec and Ontario. It was purchased in 1960 by Hudson's Bay Company. In 1964, the ten Ontario stores were folded into Hudson's Bay Company stores, into The Bay in 1968, and the Quebec stores in 1972.
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[edit] History
 Morgan's in downtown Montreal, circa 1890 |
 Morgan's in downtown Montreal, circa 1894 |
 Morgan's in downtown Montreal, circa 1910 |
 Morgan's in downtown Montreal, now owned by The Hudson's Bay Company, 2003 |
In the fall of 1953, Morgan's opened a branch store in the Boulevard Shopping Centre in northeast Montreal. It was the largest shopping centre in Canada at the time and with its presence there, Morgan's expected to "usher in a new era of shopping convenience to thousands of new customers." Features of the new development included covered walks from bus stops to all stores, landscaped park areas and rest stations. Expansion into malls in other suburban areas quickly followed for Morgan's with locations such as the Dorval Shopping Centre, Lawrence Plaza in northwest Toronto and the Greater Hamilton Shopping Centre.
The history of the department store is one of innovation and influence. The modern department store denotes much more than simply a broadening of the range of goods offered for sale. It also marks a fundamental shift in management organization. In addition to goods being 'classified' according to type and presented to the public accordingly, the department store management model was increasingly decentralized. Individual department managers were responsible for purchasing, price setting, promotion and sales. They were expected to meet staff salaries as well as their assigned share of store overheads from the departmental budget. Morgan's was the first retail operation in Canada to adopt this type of organization, a transition that took place during the 1870s and 80s. Unlike its competitors, Morgan's did not have a formalized mail order division. Catalogues were occasionally produced however to advertise the types of goods available in store.
[edit] The Morgan Family
[edit] A Family Concern
In 1844 Henry Morgan left Glasgow to seek his fortune in Montreal. He was twenty-three years old and a veteran of the dry goods trade. Two years later he founded an enduring and successful family business, Henry Morgan & Co., that would last for four generations.
Henry Morgan never married, but his brother James had a son, James Morgan, Jr., who followed his father into the family business in 1863. He was joined by his cousin Colin, son of a third Morgan brother, in 1869. Throughout the 1850s and 60s the business prospered. In 1877, under some financial pressure, Henry Morgan finally gave the younger generation a firm stake in its future. James II and Colin were each offered 5% ownership, Henry and James I retaining 45% apiece.
When Henry and James I died nine months apart in 1894, the business passed into the control of James II and Colin. In turn the control of the company would pass to James II's youngest son Harold and Colin's middle son Henry W. Morgan, though other family members pursued careers with Henry Morgan & Company.
J. Bartlett Morgan (Mr. Bart) was the younger son of F. Cleveland Morgan. He took control of the Company in 1956 and was the last Morgan to run the family business. In 1960 Henry Morgan & Company Ltd. was sold to Hudson's Bay Company, which operated the Montreal-area stores under the Morgan name until 1972.
Source: Hudson's Bay Company
[edit] Locations
- Montreal: St. Catherine St., Boulevard Shopping Centre, Dorval Shopping Centre
- Toronto: Lawrence Plaza, Cloverdale Mall, Eglinton Square, Bloor and Yonge
- Hamilton: Greater Hamilton Shopping Centre
