The Woodward Department Store
by Bethanie Raasveld
History of a Department Stores
To better understand the significance of this building, a brief history of department stores in general is needed. To better understand what would be deemed as a department store, the Canadian government stated in that a department store was defined as a store that sold three different lines: 1) clothing; 2) furniture and appliances; and 3) another line of goods. These other goods could be food products, sports gear, jewelry, etc. Using this definition the very first store to be known as a department store was A.T Stewart’s Marble Palace which was built in New York around 1846. After that the department store grew in popularity, having risen with names like Macy’s, Marshall Fields and Hudson Bay Company. By the 1920s the department store was another part of life for those living in and around the cities, but soon after, around 1960, the department store took a downward spiral due to changes in cities’ structures and the movement to suburbs.
Woodward Company History
When the Woodward Building was newly started on Hastings and Abbott
In the beginning Charles Woodward, who started the company, wanted to get out of farming and agriculture. He had tried to start several businesses in Ontario, however he was unable to do so. In search of a brighter future, he moved to the Vancouver area and opened a store on the corner of what is today called Georgia St. and Main St.; this was in 1891. However it was not until 1902 that Charles started When the Woodward Company with six other store owners and bought the building that stands on Hastings and Abbott. This made the building “technically” the first Woodward company store.
Charles Woodward in 1910
In 1904, Charles sold his other store on Georgia and Main to buy the other members’ shares so that he could be the sole owner of the Woodward Company. After that the company would be run by Charles, his sons and his grandsons. Quite a few of the company’s ideas that ended up turning the store into a department store would come from the sons in one way or another. The first was the addition of the pharmacy to the store; this was because the eldest son was a “druggist”. After the introduction of the pharmacy, Charles’ sons came up with the idea of self-serve counters. These ideas would be followed by many others that would make the company successful to the point of having several stores throughout western Canada. The company would continue to be successful until 1980s. In 1981, due to the recession, the company began its long and painful decline until it declared bankruptcy in 1992.
The Main Woodward Building
Woodward Main Building in the 1920
From beginning to end, the Woodward building on Hastings and Abbott continued to run as the main building. In the end, the Hudson Bay Company converted many of the other Woodward department store buildings into the Bay and Zellers. However the main building was turned over to a group call Fama Holdings. The Main Woodward department store, or flagship store, had been expanded a total of twelve times during the course of its existence, to the point that the building was as it was in the picture to the right, which covered a little over a block.
The Woodward store when it was just starting
The original building was built in 1903 and the location was hand-picked by Charles Woodward himself. The building is the same size as the one that stands there today, which was around 190,000 sq. ft. The building was made of red brick and had a red, neon ‘W’ atop an 80-foot steel tower. The interior was made of heavy timber structures that supported the building for well over 90 years. As the additions were made, it was seen fit to convert all the walls to the uniform red brick that has long since been tied to the Woodward image.
What Has Happened to the Building Since
After the fall of the Woodward Company, the building fell in to disuse and was abandoned. During that time the local homeless over took the building and claimed it as their own. In 1996 when the plan to demolish the building was published, the Vancouver Community gave an outcry against it saying that the building was a historical part of the community and that it should be preserved for later generations. However, the homeless community wanted the city to turn the building into housing, so that they had had a better place in which to live. These opinions and petitions put plans on hold for several years. In the end, the city council decided that the condominiums would go up as planned, but the original building would nonetheless be preserved. To do this, the original red brick and white paint on the outside were restored, with the ‘W’ placed on a steel tower on top of the building.
Sources
City of Vancouver Archives
HBC Heritage
Heritage Vancouver Society
MemoryBC (The British Columbia Archival Information Network)
The Wonderful World of Department Store in historical Perpective: A Comprehensive International Bibliography Partially Annotated. By Robert D. Tamilia Ph.D. from the University of Quebec.
HBC Heritage
Heritage Vancouver Society
MemoryBC (The British Columbia Archival Information Network)
The Wonderful World of Department Store in historical Perpective: A Comprehensive International Bibliography Partially Annotated. By Robert D. Tamilia Ph.D. from the University of Quebec.