Businessman. He is remembered as the founder of Simpson's, a department store chain in Canada. The son of a mercantile store owner, he learned the drapery trade before emigrating to Canada in 1855 to work at his uncle's dry goods business in Newmarket, Ontario. In 1858 he went into partnership with William Trent and started the Simpson and Trent Groceries, Boots, Shoes, and Dry Goods store and in 1870 it was renamed the Robert Simpson Company. After moving to Toronto, Ontario in 1871, he opened a new department store that expanded into a nationwide chain called Simpson's. Following his sudden death at the age of 63, the business was sold to a Toronto business syndicate and it was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1978 and it finally went out of business in 1991.
Businessman. He is remembered as the founder of Simpson's, a department store chain in Canada. The son of a mercantile store owner, he learned the drapery trade before emigrating to Canada in 1855 to work at his uncle's dry goods business in Newmarket, Ontario. In 1858 he went into partnership with William Trent and started the Simpson and Trent Groceries, Boots, Shoes, and Dry Goods store and in 1870 it was renamed the Robert Simpson Company. After moving to Toronto, Ontario in 1871, he opened a new department store that expanded into a nationwide chain called Simpson's. Following his sudden death at the age of 63, the business was sold to a Toronto business syndicate and it was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1978 and it finally went out of business in 1991.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Simpson memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
