Vancouver Tradition Preserved

At one time, nearly everyone in Greater Vancouver did their shopping in Downtown. There were as many as five very large department stores. You could do all of your shopping in just one of them. As the suburbs built malls, these stores gradually went out of business and the building redeveloped. Today there is just one left (see extra), and it is struggling.

One of the most popular stores was called Woodward’s. It was locally owned, had a ‘food floor’ with it’s own branded goods, and a regular sale called ‘$1.49 Day’ (dollar forty nine day), on Tuesdays.

During the holiday season, the big attraction to the store was the ‘Woodward’s Christmas Windows’. The display windows on one side of the store were decorated in winter and Christmas dioramas. People flocked to these windows as part of their holiday routine, regardless of whether they patronized Woodward’s or not.

When the business finally succumbed to the changing times (in 1993), it left a huge void for its loyal customers. But the first question on many people’s minds was, ‘What will become of the Christmas Windows?’ Fortunately, there was a suitable site in the city, and the tradition continues, even if the back story is fading into history.