History
The T. Eaton Co. opened as a single dry goods store in Toronto, Ontario on December 8, 1869. Founded on two principles -cash sales and fixed prices- and, after 1870, the promise of "goods satisfactory or money refunded" the company expanded across Canada in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to become Canada's largest department store retailer. T. Eaton Co. introduced catalogue ordering in 1884 to support their mail order business. This broadened the company's scope and allowed customers across Canada to place orders. In the twentieth century, Eaton's expanded, opening stores across Canada in Winnipeg, Moncton, Montreal, Regina, Hamilton, Halifax, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, New Westminster, Charlottetown and Vancouver. The company also owned related companies and factories such as the Eaton Knitting Company, the Guelph Stove Company as well as Brampton Tire and Rubber. By 1987, the company employed over 35,000 staff and had 108 outlets. In the mid-twentieth century, Eaton's partnered with the Provincial Government in plans for urban renewal across the province, opening stores in downtown cores in an attempt to reinvigorate urban centres. In 1999, after store closures and implementing a company wide restructuring plan, the T. Eaton Co. declared bankruptcy. Eaton's corporate assets were later acquired by Sears Canada.