The Eaton's chain was a legendary Canadian retailer, it's famous catalogue an icon to generations of customers. A family firm, one of the reasons for its demise in the late 1990s, the Eaton's were staunch monarchists who celebrated every major event in the life of the Royal Family. Their prominent downtown locations were often festooned with Union Jacks and other paraphernalia of Anglo-Canadian patriotism. Below is a selection of photographs, taken from the Archive of the province of Ontario, of Eaton's stores through out the company 130 year history:
Would you elaborate how their loyalty caused their failure?
ReplyDeleteI think it was because they were a family firm that caused their demise.
ReplyDeleteThe problem was that they were a family firm and the best able were not in charge. I meet with people who worked fairly high up in the company and it was their considered opinion. I have no idea how you read that sentence so as to suggest their loyalty caused their decline and demise.
ReplyDeleteEatons had festooned their store in colourful royalist bunting and flags for Elizabeth II's coronation on June 2nd, 1953: now that was when the monarchy meant something to the overwhelming majority of British subjects throughout the British Commonwealth. No room or time for disloyal, anti-royalist, or republican sentiment then: not standing up for 'God Save the Queen' at a cinema or any other perceived act of disrespect to the Sovereign would have started a fight back then. Those were the days, eh? What a shame they no longer exist.
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