• History of Two Nations

    The history of the fur trade is inseparable from the history of Canada and the United States. Explorers quickly recognized the economic advantages of the export of fur pelts to Europe and began the trade that would define the location of major cities in both countries, first as fur trading posts and much later as modern metropolises.

    The Hudson's Bay Company, the oldest incorporated company in North America, received its Charter in 1670 from King Charles II, although trading had actually begun decades earlier with the expeditions of Cartier and Hudson. In an effort to fill in the blank sections on their maps, the Hudson's Bay Company was constantly exploring and establishing local fur trading posts. They quickly became one of the biggest landowners in the world. The newly formed government of Canada was lucky to be able to buy back a big piece of the pie for 300,000 pounds in 1868. A great buy when you consider the state of Alaska was bought from the Russians for almost $7 million dollars only ten years later!

    After 1925, the Hudson's Bay Company began to segment its operations into departments: Fur Trade, Land, Wholesale Distribution, Retail Stores, Natural Resources and others. In the 1930's the Fur Trade department emphasized the rebuilding of trading posts in the North and expansion of transportation facilities - all in an effort to ease the movement of furs from the wilderness, to the auction room.

  • The Evolution of North American Fur Auctions

    By 1970, the Hudson's Bay Company Corporate Head Office continued to maintain auction houses in its traditional locations of London, England, Montreal and New York to service the traditional fur trade centers. Changes in corporate direction in the late 80's resulted in a number of decisions which saw HBC selling off many of its assets including: the distillery, mining, real estate and eventually the fur division.

    In February 1987, the existing Management Group together with Canada Mink Breeders Association and Canada Fox Breeders Association formed a partnership to purchase Hudson's Bay Toronto from Hudson's Bay Corporate. This newly formed company was called Hudson's Bay Fur Sales Canada Inc. Subsequently in 1999 Hudson' Bay New York was also purchased and merged into the company resulting in yet another name change from to North American Fur Producers Marketing Inc., operating under the trade name NORTH AMERICAN FUR AUCTIONS. Finally on May 2, 2000, exactly 330 years after the issuing of the charter of Incorporation for the original Hudson's Bay Company, the NAFA Wild Fur Shippers Council, representing the ownership interest of Canadian and American trappers, completed the circle with the purchase of shares in NAFA. Today North American Fur Auctions is the largest auction house in North America and the largest wild fur auction house in the world and is 100% producer-owned.

  • North American Fur Association

    In 1998 these producer owners established a new promotional organization to promote and market the product sold through North American Fur Auctions. Originally created to integrate the promotional efforts and existing brands of the producer groups that were owners in the North American Fur Auctions, North American Fur Association quickly developed a unified branding and marketing approach.

    Creating a single umbrella label was an essential step the successful penetration of the largest fur markets in the world: China and Russia. This unified marketing program allowed NAFA to explain and showcase the unique qualities of North American ranch mink, fox and wild fur to markets that had no experience with the products.

    Thus was born the NAFA generic brand with its own collection of product specific labels: NAFA Mink, NAFA Fox, NAFA Northern and most recently in 2003, Black NAFA. In the Mink and Fox categories, the product was divided into Gold and Silver qualities. With fewer than 5% of the entire world mink crop eligible for a NAFA Gold or Black NAFA label, it is easy to understand why NAFA garments are so sought after.

    Today the Association has an active network of representatives in every major market and conducts market research, promotion and education in order to continue to develop consumer appreciation for the world's most beautiful furs, NAFA. They are passionate in spreading the word about why Not All Furs Are Equal.