A.J. Freiman Limited, or Freimans ( ), was a landmark

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

at 73

Rideau Street Rideau Street (french: Rue Rideau) is a major street in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and one of Ottawa's oldest and most famous streets running from Wellington Street in the west to Montreal Road in the east where it connects to the Vanier ...

in Ottawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada, founded in 1918 by Archibald J. Freiman.

Archibald Jacob Freiman Archibald Jacob "Archie" Freiman (June 6, 1880 – June 4, 1944) was a Lithuania-born Jewish Ottawa businessman and Zionist leader. According to Bernard Figler, Freiman was the most influential Canadian Jew of his generation. His wife was not ...

was born in Lithuania in 1880, and emigrated to

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

. Freimans rose to become the most successful department store in Ottawa because of its prominent location at Mosgrove and

s, its aggressive marketing and its low prices. The company also operated stores in Westgate and

St. Laurent Shopping Centre St. Laurent Centre (French: ''Centre St-Laurent'') is a shopping mall located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and operated by Morguard, Morguard REIT. The shopping mall is located just north of Highway 417 (Ontario), Highway 417 at the co ...

s, as well as discount stores called Freimart in

Shoppers City West College Square is a shopping centre in Nepean, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located at the intersection of Woodroffe Avenue and Baseline Road, and is north of Algonquin College. It has an area of and houses 35 stores and services acros ...

and Shoppers City East. Then owned by A.J. Freiman's son, Lawrence (who wrote a book about the store),

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

acquired the company in 1972 and rebranded to The Bay in 1973. The former Freimans store still operates as a retail store of The Bay, and an adjoining

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

linking Rideau Street to the Byward Market is named the

Freiman Mall Freiman Mall (French: ''Mall Freiman'') is an enclosed shopping arcade between Rideau and George Streets in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, east of Sussex Drive and west of William Street. The adjacent Hudson's Bay department store abuts the Freiman ...

in honour of the longtime Ottawa retailer. In addition, the laneway around the north side of the nearby

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one of a number of ...

which provides access to the box office has been named Lawrence Freiman Lane. Freimans was also the centre of an important battle against anti-semitism. In the 1930s, Ottawa police officer Jean Tissot, affiliated with

Adrien Arcand Adrien Arcand (October 3, 1899 – August 1, 1967) was a Canadian journalist who promoted a series of fascist political activities between 1929 and his death in 1967. During his political career, he proclaimed himself the Canadian Führer. He wa ...

's fascist movement, attempted to rally Christian Canadians to boycott Jewish businesses. Freimans, as the most prominent Jewish owned business in Ottawa was at the centre of his attacks. As a result, Freiman filed suit against Tissot, who was subsequently found guilty of criminal libel. The staunch condemnations of Tissot in the mainstream press and the utter failure of his movement to find support among the people led to a sound defeat for anti-semitism in Ottawa.

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External links

A.J. Freiman Limited fonds(R3487)
at Library and Archives Canada
Freiman family fonds (R6882))
at Library and Archives Canada {{coord, 45.426148, N, 75.692587, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Department stores of Canada Buildings and structures in Ottawa Companies based in Ottawa Defunct retail companies of Canada Shops in Ottawa Privately held companies of Canada Hudson's Bay Company 1918 establishments in Ontario

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External links