Where my grandma goes for some senior discount love...

image courtesy virginia johnson

The Bay has never been a fancy place to shop - at least not on the West Coast. And it never mattered to me anyway (probably because my loyalty lies with a long-gone department store) but on a business trip one year I learned that The Bay was a big deal on the East Coast. It was certainly fancier, more Holt's-like in the East.

That was 3 years ago though.

And The Bay seems to be learning that they have to change their game to well, stay in the game. They got some very lucky breaks so far. The Olympics quite easily made their year - almost everyone doned some sort of Bay produced Olympic gear. It wasn't all mass-produce goodness either. Someone was smart enough to ask Virginia Johnson to produce some whimsical Canadiana scarves - Doug Coupland would surely approve. Rachel Bilson was spotted around town (Vancouver) with her small-pox blanket jacket*, which made the hearts of bloggers and tabloid readers flutter. Although it could just be Rachel Bilson and not the coat...

And now Rachel Roy brings her THE RACHEL line to The Bay.

Maybe soon a Topshop? Hmm. You don't say.

*The jacket was actually a part of a collaboration with 10 Canadian designers to recreate jackets/coats with their (in)famous Point Blanket. That's actually pretty cool too. Just saying.