Welcome to America

Ok, so Target has now taken over Zellers, and judging from the busy parking lots, the fact that Target's inventory is essentially the same doesn't seem to dull the allure of newness.  In another story, my initial reaction to the announcement that Nordstrom would be opening in my city was absolute joy. During my trip to America when I was still beginning to learn about fashion, Nordstrom seemed like heaven to me. An entire floor devoted to accessories?!  It was there that my mom and I found the Fendi Doctor Bag we would both still be talking about years later. 

But now that I think about it, I am reminded of the day I found out Hudson's Bay was being bought over by NRDC Equity Partners, an American private equity firm. For some reason, that piece of news affected me greatly, so much that I remember wanting to write an essay on it (even back when my essay writing skills were pretty nonexistent).

I've always been fairly patriotic, and so seeing such an essential part of Canadian history being Americanized saddened me. Even though we were all forced to learn about Canadian history as kids, to be honest, I retained nothing but the fact that we used to trade fur. Maybe that's why I found myself so attached to this particular part of our history?

Canada has never really made an impact in the fashion scene, but in fact, neither is America home to the most respected of designers. Yet with American dominance in every other aspect of life, their presence in Canadian fashion can't help but be a bit of weight on my heart. Admittedly, there really hasn't been a perceptable change in the way Hudson's Bay operates, and if anything, Hudson's Bay has been improving these past few years (see: Hudson's Bay: A Sea of Potential).  But the fact remains: I feel robbed of a history that should be ours.

So in the end, how am I feeling about Nordstrom?  My excitement still overrides the blow to my Canadian pride, but I would be much worse off if we didn't have Holt Renfrew. Our Hudson's Bay stripes might be seeing American stars, but our Renfrew pink is here to stay.

Image Source: Nordstrom, Bay, Bay2, Bay3