Attention vintage fans – explore Canada’s vibrant past with its iconic department stores! From Hudson Bay, established in 1692, to Eaton’s (1869-1999) and Sears (1892-2018), our country’s history is steeped in retail traditions. But today, we’re shining the spotlight on Woodward’s, the beloved Vancouver and Western Canada institution, which graced the scene from 1892 until 1993. Join us on a trip down memory lane as we delve into Woodward’s rich legacy.

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy , eBay, are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase

Woodward’s truck parked by a Trans-Canada Air Lines plane at the airport-1948

Brief History of Woodward’s Department Store

• Charles Woodward established the first Woodward store at the corner of Main and Georgia Streets in Vancouver in 1892 (Source).
• Woodward’s established a mail-order department in 1896 and published its first catalogue in 1897. “The Great Mail Order House of the West.” (Source).
• On September 12, 1902, Woodward Department Stores Ltd. was incorporated, and a new store was built on the corner of Hastings and Abbott Streets (Source).
• In 1926 a store was opened in Edmonton and by the late 1940s the company operated numerous stores in British Columbia and Alberta.
• The growth kept happening and Woodward’s would become a central feature of the retail scene in southwestern British Columbia for much of the twentieth century..
• Woodward’s gambled that malls were the wave of the future, and this was the driving force behind their new location in the Park Royal Shopping Centre in West Vancouver, which opened in 1950.
• Woodward’s filed for bankruptcy protection on December 11, 1992, after a decade of failing to keep up with the changing retail landscape.
• In June 1993, Hudson’s Bay Company acquired 21 of the total 25 Woodward’s locations in a $235 millions takeover.
• On December 8, 2009, the Woodward’s Food Floor reopened for the first time since the chain’s sale to Safeway (Source).

For a full read of the Woodward’s history, visit the HBC Heritage website. To explore vintage Woodward’s catalogue history, visit the Canadian Museum of History.

Woodward’s store at Hastings and Abbott. Source-Canadian Museum of History

Woodward’s Department Store History Thru Vintage Photos, Advertisements & Catalogues

Inside Woodwards grocery department in Vancouver in 1904.

Source: dailyhive.com

“Pineapple Special! $0.35.” The fruit department of Woodward’s Department Store in 1905.

Source: dailyhive.com

The Woodward Beacon

In 1927, Percival Archibald Woodward (VP of Woodward) built a 75-foot-high beacon to act as a giant billboard advertisement for the department store. The tower held a searchlight that threw out a two million candlepower beam which revolved six times each minute and could be seen from Vancouver Island. When the war hit he was told to remove the tower and the 16-foot W took its place (Source).

Photo – 1938

Source: City of Vancouver Archives

Image of the “W” that was replaced during the war.

Source: hbcheritage.ca

Woodward’s Spring/Summer Catalogue, No. 60, 1927, cover.

Further Reading: Archived ‘Vintage Catalogue Blog Posts‘ from the Vintage Inn Blog

Source: historymuseum.ca

1920s vintage advertisement for Canada’s Woodward’s Department store from 1927. Published by the Vancouver Tourist Association.

Source: Pinterest

The Food Floor

The chain was distinctive in that stores included a large supermarket known as the “Food Floor”.

At Oakridge Centre and Chinook Centre (Calgary), the Woodward’s Food Floor had a conveyor system from the cash registers out to a structure in the parking lot. Upon request, the bag boys would pack customers’ groceries into numbered bins and send the bins through the conveyor system. Then customers would take tags with matching numbers out to the structure, and more bag boys would load the groceries from the matching bins into the customers’ cars. This service was called the Grocery Parcel Depot (Source).

Further Reading: This book chronicles what it was like to work at Vancouver’s legendary Woodward’s Food Floor in the sixties

Source: eBay

Woodward’s Grocery Buyers’ Guide for Spring, No. 64, 1929, cover.

Interesting Fact:  In 1902, after opening its first food centre, the company also started to issue separate food catalogues (Source).

Source: historymuseum.ca

Woodward’s Fall/Winter Catalogue, No. 71, 1932-33, cover.

Source: historymuseum.ca

Woodward’s, Ltd. – “We Sell Everything”, international “S” series panel trucks appear ready to deliver their goods back on September 24, 1931 (Source).

Source: Pinterest

1944 photo of women and a man buying war stamps at jeep shaped booth inside Woodward’s store.

Source: City of Vancouver Archives

Photo of shoppers inside a Woodward’s in 1945, going up the escalator and looking at items for sale.

Source: Pinterest

Woodward’s Beacon “The guide to better value” parade float. 1940s vintage photo.

Source: hbcheritage.ca

Women’s bathing suit window display from 1946.

Source: City of Vancouver Archives

Woodward’s Fall/Winter Catalogue, No. 100, 1947–48, inside front cover.

Source: historymuseum.ca

1940s vintage photo: Clover Leaf canned clams sampling display.

Source: City of Vancouver Archives

1953 vintage postcard from a Woodward’s window display in Vancouver, BC featuring a recreation of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Further Reading: Fashion Window Displays of the 1940s & 1950s

Source: eBay

“Woodward’s Christmas Gifts” as seen in a 1954 Christmas Catalog.

Source: Pinterest

1963 35mm slide of the parking lot and entrance of Woodward’s Department Store. So fun!

Source: eBay

Pumping gas, at Woodward’s in Vancouver Canada 1966.

Source: Pinterest

I hope you enjoyed learning about this Canadian department store, as much as I did. I knew nothing about them until I did this post so it was a lot of fun to put together.

Liz Observation: I did notice that there was not a lot of content for this post compared to the big department stores I mentioned at the start of the post. The 1950s was especially hard to find and I was surprised on the lack of advertising. If anyone has any light to shed on this, please let me know!

Question Time: Did you shop at Woodward’s? Or have any memories you wish to share? Please comment below as I love hearing from my readers.

Further Reading:

• “Morgans Department Store”-Canadian Vintage History (archived Vintage Inn Blog Post)
• Vintage Canada Blog Posts (archived posts)

Thanks for dropping by!

Liz