First a Woolco, this massive store anchored the Eastown Plaza at Tecumseh and Lauzon Roads in Windsor’s far east end, along with local grocery store N&D.
While Woolco went under in the US in 1983, they hung around in Canada until 1994, when the Boys from Bentonville bought them out, and converted the stores to Wal-Marts.
The store stayed busy, until Sprawl-mart figured they needed a new store, and so they shuffled a few blocks west, and the old Woolco, as the anchor of the once mighty Eastown Plaza sits vacant.
Sad sad. Posted about this nearly two years ago on our blog, and it’s still the same:
http://www.psychogeography.ca/blog/archives/00000031.htm
The more things change… At least they picked up the “E”.
I wish I could have taken that E home. Sad E.
Who knows, this might make for another “Liquidation World” if the rent is cheap enough. They seem to be popping up all over the city in these empty stores.
It still feels weird to drive by Eastown and not see the old giant N&D sign on the plaza directory (even though we usually went to their westside location).
Strange that it is still vacant.
Woolco, K-Mart, Woolworths, Kresge, etc…. not flashy places but they were all decent dept. stores we took for granted and now all that’s left is Walmart (and a polite nod to Zellers where at least there is room to walk down the aisles).
Shawn, I wish you would have snagged the “E” too… I bet it went to the dump.
John gave a nod to Zellers, I’ll shop there any day of the week over Sprawl-Mart.
Andrew, same here. Every time I try to shop at Walmart the 24″ aisles I need to get into are strategically blocked off by armies of Bingo Mamas with sideways shopping carts, screaming kids, or both. Zellers keeps the store tidy and orderly and easy to navigate.
The first thing I thought of was that toronto psychogeography page entry.
Nice wide angle shot andrew… I really like it
It’s a shame to see the place vacant–and just imagine today a mass merchandiser taking the time to add embellishment to the store exterior–as in the flagstone sections. That was a common Woolco trademark of the day–you can still spot some recycled former locations in the U.S.–and possibly even a handful of Canadian Wal*Mart conversions still operating in the old Woolco spaces.
Nonetheless, I can’t join the chorus of “Wal*Mart Snobs” who look down at the rest of us for buying our Tide there–they are a chain store, just like the rest, and if HBC had three wishes from a bottled genie, they would love to have Zellers be exactly as big and succesful as WMT. I too frequent Zellers an equal amount to Wal*Mart and enjoy the wide open feel and lack of lines at Z…but has anyone stopped to think what the wide open aisles and calm store atmosphere REALLY mean?
BTW–Miss the N&D knife and fork sign too–the N&D business entity still owns Eastown.
JT, for me it’s a personal choice. I refuse to shop at WM becasue I don’t like/agree with their business practices. I understand that to have low prices, low wages must follow, but there are a plethora of stories about pricing pressure forcing supplier/manufacturers into bankruptcy, that is very bad for our economy. Plus there is the whole squeezing local shops out of business too.. That’s another stroy for another time. Long story short, I don’t like the way they conduct themsleves, so I take my $$$ elsewhere. I’m sure other people have other reasons.
As for the N&D Group, I belive that they also still own the Yorktown Plaza as well. I heard a story that Loblaws bought (or long time lease) the old Yorktown Grocery space, and is keeping it vacant to keep out the competition.
JT, it’s a personal choice for me too, not snobbery. I just don’t like the hectic and crowded atmosphere at Wal Mart. For those who don’t mind it, “to each his own,” I say. I find myself in Walmart a few times in the span of a year for one reason or another and I can take it for about 30 minutes then I need to get the h*ll outta there. I’m the type of customer they probably hate. I come and buy the loss leader items that everyone uses as a yardstick to judge Walmart’s great pricing… then leave. Early/mid weekday mornings are the best time to get in and out of there.
I drove by the old walmart on lauzon and the building was fenced up it looks like there are going to start to demolish the store
As far as I know the N & D people own the property still and it is under N&D property managment. They own that entire corner of Lauzon and Tecumseh Rd.
They didn’t demolish it, but they stripped it right down to the steel I-beams, and re-built it. It’s unrecognizable, but it wasn’t a pretty structure to begin with. Indeed a Liquidation World did go in there, and about a half a dozen other shops after the renovation and expansion was finished. The whole plaza got a makeover.
Oh an Zellers…the only one left is the one across the street from this at Tecumseh Mall, and it will closed soon. The US’s Target bought them out and they are in the process of converting the one at Devonshire Mall. The one at Ambassador Plaza was turned into a FreshCo and a Dollar Tree.
I used to be the shoe departement manager of Woolco, back in 1970! Must say, never liked Windsor ( to much Detroit, USA radio), so I was glad to moved back to Canada!
The Liquidation World that was there is now closed, too.
Harry, I much prefer the Detroit radio. I only wish I could legally get their satellite TV, too. TSN blows.
Was there not but a Wool Co store on Dougall Avenue? Might there be any photographs of that location? It was many a year ago that I do recall buying a pair of shoes at that location.
Yes, there was a Woolco in Gateway Plaza. The building turned into a Walmart and eventually everything was torn down to build the new Walmart.