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Robert Simpson, merchant (born 16 September 1834 in Morayshire, Scotland; died 14 December 1897 in Toronto, ON). In the late 19th century, Simpson founded the Robert Simpson Company Limited (see Simpsons Limited).
Business Career
After his apprenticeship in Scotland, Robert Simpson arrived in Canada in 1854 and found employment as a clerk in a store in Newmarket, Ontario. (See also Scottish Canadians.) The following year he opened his own dry-goods store there.
In 1872, seeking greater opportunities, Robert Simpson opened a small store in Toronto and by 1894 had erected a new six-storey building which became a longtime competitor of T. Eaton Company Ltd. across Queen Street. Though a fire completely destroyed the new building in March 1895, Simpson set up in temporary quarters and in early 1896 opened another building utilizing every new fire-prevention measure. It had nearly 500 employees and 35 departments.
Robert Simpson's sudden death in 1898 resulted in the sale of the store for $135 000 to a syndicate of three Toronto businessmen, Alfred Ernest Ames, J.W. Flavelle and Harris Henry Fudger. Simpsons stores, which had merged with Sears to become Simpsons-Sears as of 1952, were purchased by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1978 and eventually integrated into the chain (see Sears Canada Inc).
