HUDSONS BAY COMPANY COLLECTION BOUTIQUE, 176 Yonge, 416-861-9111, thebay.com
Those gotta-get-’em red mittens are the hit of this year’s Olympic shopping haul. After selling out over the holidays, Toronto’s flagship Bay store has restocked the woolly hand warmers just in time for the Games’ February 12 opening and added more must-have buys, like CANUCK-printed T-shirts and buffalo check scarves, to its second-floor Vancouver 2010 shop.
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The cause of our recent Bay boosting is one floor below, though, in the Hudson’s Bay Company Collection boutique, where everything from archival-photo paperweights to canoes painted with traditional Point Blanket stripes spotlights the company’s 340-year heritage. The best examples are designer collaborations including flannel shirts by Klaxon Howl’s Matt Robinson and elk-print scarves by Virginia Johnson.
Hearty plaid bedding was an instant hit and creates a cozy Canadiana feeling at home with the help of candles in bonfire, currant and pine scents.
Hudson’s Bay Company Collection picks: Silver-plate flask engraved with the words “Keeping Canadians warm since 1670,” $95 Bay blankets ranging from $150 for a throw to $475 for king size hockey sweater inspired by a vintage Edmonton Beavers jersey, $85.
Look for: Ninutik’s maple sugar cubes packed in a beeswaxed wood box.
Hours: Monday to Friday 10 am to 9 pm, Saturday 9:30 am to 7 pm, Sunday 11 am to 6 pm.
