Woodwards demolition.

[Dan Sys]

This story from the Vancouver Sun (dated Sept 16/06) has some great photos of the shell of the old Woodwards store in downtown Vancouver . Click on: "Photo Gallery: Last Days of an Icon ".

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/ar...af-ef1d05032cbb

Of course the old Woodwards store met its demise this morning. It really was a staple in my life. I used to really look forward to every Friday night as a kid (growing up in Vancouver) when my parents would routinely take me to the Woodwards store downtown. If the visit conflicted with the airing of the Flintstones, I'd just hop the escalator up to the 5th floor and watch it in the TV showroom area. Plus the displays in their toy department on the 6th floor were something else!

It was also the best damn place to do your last minute one-stop Christmas shopping. Many a time over the years I procrastinated until Dec. 24th, but Woodwards always came through and I left the place feeling satisfied that Christmas was painlessly taken care of for another year. I doubt I could ever get that same feeling at a Wal-Mart.

Yes, it really is the passing of an Icon.

[radiofan]

Quite likely it was on one of your Friday night trips to Woodwards to watch the Fleentstones that you discovered C-FUN and CKLG charts in the Transonic Sound Centre. Or maybe it was when you were there on a Saturday morning to have breakfast with Santa.

I miss a lot of things about Woodwards too. The major one is their Birthday cakes. When the food floors were sold off to Safeway, someone at Woodwards must have kept the recipe for the icing. The dolts at Safeway have never been able to duplicate it!

I'm sure as he watched the news on CTV last night, Tony Antonias was whistling his famous $1.49 Day jingle.

[Dan Sys]

Quite likely it was on one of your Friday night trips to Woodwards to watch the Fleentstones that you discovered C-FUN and CKLG charts in the Transonic Sound Centre.

That could very well be, but I do remember faithfully making those weekly trips to Kellys Records at Georgia & Seymour to pick the CFUN & CKLG charts up. The excitement level rose even higher when I discovered that Glenn's Music on Granville had out of town charts available for the grabbing (like CKXL, WABC, KDWB, etc.).

[radiofan]

The first chart I remember picking up was a C-FUN Soundathon [December '63] from Kelly's in uptown New West when it was across from Woodward's on 6th Avenue. Sometime in 1965 I discovered the KOL charts at Kelly's Seymour and Georgia.

Glenn's Music was a great find in the summer of '66. I think it was after finding charts there from stations all across the states that I started writing to stations myself. In addition to charts some stations sent window or bumper stickers, and that began yet another collection.

[Glen Livingstone]

Glenn's Music was a great little record store.

That' where I bought the first Led Zeppelin album on 8-track.

Also scored a copy of The Relay/Wasp Man by the Who for 25 cents.

[Dan Sys]

A little off the Woodwards topic, but the news I learnt today about the demise of Tower Records kind of fits in with the above talk about defunct record stores such as Kelly's & Glenn's.

I remember only too well those trips to California back in the 70's & 80's when the folks I was travelling with wanted to do all the touristy things like hit the beaches and see the sights. Boring! My priority was to hit the Tower Record stores down there. I could spend hours upon hours in those stores and not be bored in the least.

Back in the late 70's I recall a visit to the Hollywood location and was surprised to see the placed decked out with a Jerry Doucette theme (posters, cardboard cutouts, Mama Let Him Play blaring out of the speakers, etc.). Kind of made me feel proud as a fellow Vancouverite. Sad thing though was a couple years later Jerry's album was sitting in the 49 cent junk bins in that very store.

Another icon bites the dust.

http://news.google.ca/news?q=TOWER+RECORDS...i=news&ct=title

[jon]

My only Tower Records story is fairly recent. Picked up a "factory sealed" copy of the Various Artists CD "Rock the Planet - Soul 60's" in a Wal-Mart clearance bin for about $5 a few years ago here in South Edmonton Common. Only to open it up and find a Tower Records SFO receipt inside, from a guy or gal who'd returned it and got his $9.99 U.S. back for it. So much for "factory-sealed".

I have lots of great memories of many Woodwards stores, especially New West, the aforementioned downtown Van store, and the one that was built here in downtown Edmonton in what was then Edmonton Centre, less than two years before I arrived here on January 23, 1975. I always loved to be able to find almost anything I wanted to buy in one downtown location, such as a half pound of bulk nails or screws!

But what I remember/miss the most (a single item, that is, not what I really miss "The Woodward's Food Floor") is their malts (Malted Milk) from the great counter under the escalator in the basement in their Edmonton store. Their cheese counter was fabulous, too. They would hand cut whatever amount of cheese you wanted, right off the big fresh "whole cheeses". Dutch Gouda was a favourite in those days.

[Jack Bennest]

When I arrived in Edmonton in 1980 - the only two things worth living for were:

1. bc wine to drink to much of
2. woodward food floor - nothing could touch them in the the far north


Now back to Kelly's while reading through this thread - I had Kelly's jingles running
trough my mind..... TW I think I have a complete tape of Kelly's ads from '75 - interested?