Eaton, Timothy (1834-1907), was a noted Canadian merchant. He established T. Eaton & Company (later Eaton’s of Canada, Ltd.), which became Canada’s first large department store chain. The chain eventually became one of the greatest retailing empires in North America. Eaton helped pioneer a number of retailing strategies, including fixed prices on cash sales, money-back guarantees, and, in 1884, mail-order catalog sales.
Eaton was born near what is now Ballymena, Northern Ireland. He came to Canada in 1854. Eaton worked in a variety of establishments before purchasing a store in Toronto in 1869. The store became a success, and Eaton expanded the scope and scale of his operations rapidly. Eaton established branches that eventually developed into a chain of department stores. Eaton died on Jan. 31, 1907, but his company prospered for most of the 1900’s. The company was privately held by Eaton’s heirs until 1998, when shares were sold publicly. Sears Canada, Inc., acquired control of the company in 1999 and dropped the Eaton name in 2002.
