From the Windsor Star – September 3, 1968
- Ottawa and Gladstone about the year 1930 is shown above. The store on the corner is Cherniak’s, one of Windsor’s oldest merchandising firms and still prominently identified with retailing. The building was known as Nader’s and carries the date of 1924 on its name block in the upper centre of the facade, Ottawa Street, even then, was a bustling thoroughfare.
I wonder if this building is built into the Freed’s empire today…
I wonder what it was about Ottawa street back in those days that made it an additional ‘downtown’ to the city of Windsor, and/or town of Walkerville.
The city’s downtown at the time was more than ample for the population. Ottawa seemed like excess? What a good time to be in business I suppose!
During my 1940-50’s shopping days in Windsor, the Ottawa St.shopping district was wonderfully diverse. Shops offered things not offered on Ouellette. I bought some crystal from Czechoslovakia at a small shop on Ottawa St., which was an inexpensive addition to my marriage trouseau. I got my silver and china from Birks large elegant store on Ouellette. Ouellette was more upscale by the culture of those days, long before the Mall, but Ottawa was popular also. In the 1940’s while in HS, I worked at Jo-Anne Shoppe, a small elegant lady’s wear store on Ouellette. We sold the new-fangled nylon stockings after WWII.
Other shopping areas in Windsor back then, Droulard Rd.,Tecumseh Rd. near Hall and Moy, also Sandwitch, and finaly Riverside, lots of retail stores mostly independent. not chain stores.
Ford City, Sandwich Town, and Riverside were their own towns though at one time, so those shopping districts are explainable.
I am just wondering about Ottawa Street in particular because it was never a town, yet it’s district is huge. I wonder what the draw was as apposed to downtown??
As long as you don’t go shopping on Sunday or Monday and don’t mind the non-Mall limited business hours, Ottawa st. still has a few decent retail establishments. Freeds, L.W., Canada Salvage, Ruelland Antiques, Holland Antiques, New and Old, Juniper Books, and D&R Vacuum bring me there regularly, to a name a few.
Do you have any info on the history of Freed’s?
Even though Windsor was a major car town, a lot of people didn’t have cars in the mid 20th century. Those families that did usually had only one car. Shopping locally was a big deal. In my neighbourhood there were three mom and pop grocers in a three block area in the sixties. Plus there was a local jeweller, hardware and shoe repair between Tecumseh and Seminole on Drouillard. Because there were a lot of stay at home parents without transportation there was also a booming business in daily home delivery of milk and bread.
Speaking of the milkman I remember in probably 1952 milk being delivered to our home on Norman rd. Silverwoods I think with a horse and wagon. Also the sheeney man going down the alley with a horn collecting scrap metals and other things I can’t remember now ??? Bread was later, but as Vince said we also had 3 groceries within walking distance and mom would pack us up one walking one in a stroller to get some groceries at Seminole Provision, Dorners, & the last escapes my memory, it was on the corner of Techumseh & Pillette where Charlies (kitchen) is now.
I can remember my aunt who lived in Riverside getting milk delivery as recently as the late 1970’s. Was that possible?
Hello Mike Wannick. I too lived on Norman road (1589) in the late 40s and 50s. I also remember Silverwoods delivering milk and Wonderbread delivering to the front door. For a weekly shop we took the Pillette bus to Wyandotte street and to the big Dominion store just east of Pillette. It was right next to the then Centre theatre. I worked there as an usher as a teenager in the mid fifties. We also shopped at Seminole provisions and a few bits and pieces at Holts variety
at Seminile and Pillette. I don’t think old Mrs Holt ever left the store although the old man did occasionally. Does any of this bring back memories??
In the late 50’s Loblaws was next to the Centre theater east of Pillette, Dominion store was at the corner of Wyandotte and George, west of Pillette.
Richard McIntyre you are quite correct in saying that it was a Loblaws next to the Centre theatre. How memories fade with age!! Am I correct in saying that a Loblaws or Dominion store also opened in the middle fifties on the south side of Tecumseh road west of Pillette?
In the fifties Loblaws had a store where the Giant Tiger store is, When Loblaws closed all teir Windsor Stores they changed this to OK Economy, another Loblaw name. This store did not last very long, later became catalouge store like Consumers Distrubitors, then burned down.
Further west on Tecumseh Rd. was A&P at Central, Dominion between Chrysler and Walker Rd, and Loblaws near Hall now Trevie resturant.
>>Further west on Tecumseh Rd. Loblaws near Hall now Trevie resturant.
This Loblaws was on the south side of Tec. between Lincoln and Gladstone, and is now Francos, I remember buying bread there for 22 cents a loaf back in the mid/late 60’s
I remember milk being delivered by Bordens into the 70’s, and other dairy trucks after that. While a kid I got a kick out of being able to walk up to the back of a milk delivery truck and buy a pint (of milk). They looked sort of like mail trucks with a reefer.
I remember the milk/bread man coming ’round in the 70’s in Forest Glade. The local grocery store there was N&D (I think?). I’d always thought that we still had a milk man because at the time it was a new development without one of the larger grocery stores but it seems it was city-wide.
I suppose N&D would have been considered the local grocery store for Forest Glade residents at the time, until Gordon’s opened in the late 70’s. We moved to the ‘Glade in 1975 and I remember when it was being built.
Giving away my age, but, I remember: the coalman, the iceman, the breadman with his tray of Hostess treats, the milkman with his Creamtop milk which was used to make real whipped cream, and who can forget the Fuller Brush man with his case filled with dozens of items, each in it’s own almost secret pocket. Wow. I think there was a coal company just north of Hana on Parent Ave. An ice company was on the west side of the tracks across from the foundry at the southern juncture of then Crawford and Tecumseh. There were stables at Walker and Wyandotte where Ambassador cleaning is now. Don’t remember if it was a dairy or bread stable.
The corner of Walker and Wyanddotte was Walkerside Dairy, later Bordens Dairy until they went out of milk and ice cream buisness in Ontario.
Does anybody remember the Soble man, weeky service of all kinds of items, I think they had orange trucks?
Hey Richard McIntyre, great recall of all those memories on our landscape long ago. Can’t help you with your question, but maybe you recall the locations of the Big 3 grocery chains on Ottawa St. in the 1950’s? And also how about Twin Pines dairy, their milk was no match for Purity Dairies, but they had the best ice cream by far.