Eaton's

The T. Eaton Co. Limited was a Canadian department store retailer, and once Canada's largest. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, a Presbyterian Ulster Scot immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices around the globe, and a catalogue that was found in the homes of most Canadians. A changing economic and retail environment in the late 20th century and mismanagement culminated in the chain's bankruptcy in 1999.

Eaton's pioneered several retail innovations. In an era when haggling for goods was the norm, the chain proclaimed "We propose to sell our goods for CASH ONLY – In selling goods, to have only one price." In addition it had the long-standing slogan "Goods Satisfactory or Money Refunded."

Early years

In 1869 Timothy Eaton sold his interest in a small dry-goods store in the market town of St. Marys, Ontario and bought a dry-goods and haberdashery business at 178 Yonge Street in the city of Toronto.