Woodward's

Woodward's was a Canadian department-store chain founded by Charles Woodward in Vancouver in 1892. It developed from a single downtown store into one of the most recognizable western Canadian retailers of the twentieth century, with a network concentrated in British Columbia and Alberta. The company's stores combined general merchandise with a substantial grocery operation, giving the chain a distinctive position between a conventional department store and a full-service food-and-household retailer. The first Woodward store opened at Main and Georgia Streets in Vancouver. Woodward Department Stores Ltd. was incorporated in 1902, after which the business established a larger location at Hastings and Abbott Streets. Expansion beyond Vancouver began with an Edmonton store in 1926. By the mid-twentieth century, Woodward's had built a regional network that reached Victoria, New Westminster, West Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Prince George, Surrey, Nanaimo, Richmond, Coquitlam, Abbotsford, Penticton and other communities. Many stores served as anchor tenants in newly developing shopping centres, helping shape the retail geography of western Canada. A defining feature of the chain was the Food Floor, an in-store supermarket operation that was integrated into many department stores. Woodward's became particularly associated with quality groceries, unusual specialty food items and customer-oriented services. At Oakridge Centre in Vancouver and Chinook Centre in Calgary, customers could use a mechanized grocery collection system: staff packed purchases into numbered containers, moved them to a pickup structure by conveyor, and loaded the matching parcels into customers' vehicles. This service was known at Oakridge as the Grocery Parcel Depot and at Chinook as Parcel Pickup. Woodward's also cultivated a strong promotional identity. Its monthly '$1.49 Day' sales, introduced in the postwar period and supported by radio, newspapers and a memorable advertising jingle, became part of western Canadian retail culture. The promotion offered a wide variety of merchandise at a common price point and helped establish the chain as an accessible, value-oriented retailer. Related operations included Furniture Fair stores, Woodward's Book Stores and discount-oriented Woodwynn outlets, originally known as Woodward's Bargain Stores. By the 1980s and early 1990s, Woodward's struggled to adapt to changes in department-store retailing, increasing competition and shifting consumer habits. The company sought bankruptcy protection on December 11, 1992. In June 1993, the Hudson's Bay Company acquired 21 of the chain's 25 locations in a transaction reported at C$235 million. On August 12, 1993, 13 former Woodward's stores reopened as The Bay, while 10 others were converted or renovated for Zellers. Four locations closed permanently. The transition was especially disruptive in Edmonton, where most of the permanent closures occurred. Although the retail chain disappeared, the Woodward's name retained cultural and historical associations in Vancouver and western Canada. The former Vancouver complex later became part of a major redevelopment, and a Woodward's Food Floor reopened there in 2009 under Nester's Market. The original chain therefore survives primarily through local memory, historic buildings, former shopping-centre anchor spaces and the continuing use of the Woodward's name in food retail.

Woodward's began in Vancouver in 1892, when Charles Woodward opened a store at the intersection of Main and Georgia Streets. The business expanded and was formally incorporated as Woodward Department Stores Ltd. on September 12, 1902. A new store at Hastings and Abbott Streets became an important downtown presence and provided the foundation for the company's later regional growth. The chain's first major expansion outside Vancouver came in 1926, when it opened in Edmonton. During the 1940s and 1950s, Woodward's added stores in communities across British Columbia and Alberta, including Victoria, Port Alberni, West Vancouver, New Westminster and Edmonton. It increasingly became an anchor tenant in shopping centres, opening at locations such as Oakridge Centre, Chinook Centre, Northgate Centre and Westmount Shopper's Park. Further expansion during the 1960s and 1970s brought the chain to Calgary, Prince George, Surrey, Southgate Centre, Mayfair Shopping Centre, Cherry Lane, Sevenoaks Shopping Centre, Lansdowne Park and Coquitlam Centre. The final expansion listed in the reference history was Woodgrove Centre in Nanaimo in 1981. Woodward's stores were broader than conventional clothing or general-merchandise department stores because many contained a large supermarket known as the Food Floor. The food operation became one of the chain's strongest points of differentiation. Its reputation rested on grocery quality and specialty products, while its service innovations included mechanized collection systems at Oakridge Centre and Chinook Centre. Customers could have packed grocery orders sent by conveyor to a numbered pickup area, where employees loaded them into vehicles. This convenience-oriented format anticipated later forms of organized curbside grocery collection. Promotional retailing was another important part of the company's public identity. The recurring $1.49 Day sale, supported by a long-running jingle and extensive radio and newspaper advertising, made Woodward's especially visible to value-conscious shoppers. The chain also operated related formats. Furniture Fair stores were established in Burnaby and Edmonton, Woodward's Book Stores operated separately in some malls, and Woodwynn outlets provided a discount format that had originally been called Woodward's Bargain Stores. The company's difficulties became acute in the late twentieth century. Woodward's filed for bankruptcy protection on December 11, 1992, after a decade in which it failed to keep pace with changes in retail competition and consumer behavior. In June 1993, the Hudson's Bay Company purchased 21 of 25 Woodward's locations in a transaction reported at C$235 million. Thirteen locations reopened as The Bay on August 12, 1993, while 10 were slated for conversion to Zellers. Two sites were divided between the two banners. Four locations closed permanently, including stores at Southgate Centre, Mill Woods Town Centre, Northgate Centre and Coquitlam Centre. Edmonton experienced the largest concentration of closures and related disruption. The acquisition also changed the commercial landscape of several shopping centres. In some cases, Hudson's Bay Company used Woodward's spaces to relocate existing The Bay or Zellers stores, producing additional layoffs or unusual configurations. At West Edmonton Mall, the former Woodward's space briefly operated as a second The Bay before later being redeveloped for entertainment and retail uses. The former chain's closure likewise contributed to redevelopment and expansion plans at malls such as Chinook Centre. Woodward's continued as a cultural reference after the department-store chain disappeared. The Vancouver Woodward's site underwent redevelopment, and on December 8, 2009, a new Woodward's Food Floor opened there as part of Nester's Market. This later operation was not a revival of the original department-store chain, but it preserved one of its most recognizable retail names and concepts.

• 2009

  Food Floor name returns to the Vancouver site

  [1]Woodward'sen.wikipedia.org

  A Woodward's Food Floor reopened at the redeveloped Vancouver complex under Nester's Market.

• 1993

  Hudson's Bay Company takeover and store conversions

  [1]Woodward'sen.wikipedia.org

  Hudson's Bay Company acquired 21 of the 25 locations. Most surviving sites became The Bay or Zellers stores, while four locations closed.

• 1992

  Bankruptcy protection filing

  [1]Woodward'sen.wikipedia.org

  Woodward's filed for bankruptcy protection on December 11 after prolonged financial and competitive difficulties.

• 1981

  Woodgrove Centre expansion

  [1]Woodward'sen.wikipedia.org

  Woodward's opened at Woodgrove Centre in Nanaimo, one of the last expansion locations identified in the company's retail history.

• 1958

  The $1.49 Day advertising identity is introduced

  [1]Woodward'sen.wikipedia.org

  The chain introduced a distinctive jingle for its widely promoted monthly $1.49 Day sales in April.

• 1926

  Expansion to Edmonton

  [1]Woodward'sen.wikipedia.org

  Woodward's opened its first Edmonton store, beginning its development into a western Canadian chain.

• 1902

  Woodward Department Stores Ltd. is incorporated

  [1]Woodward'sen.wikipedia.org

  The company was incorporated on September 12, 1902, and built a new downtown Vancouver store at Hastings and Abbott Streets.

• 1892

  First Woodward store opens in Vancouver

  [1]Woodward'sen.wikipedia.org

  Charles Woodward opened the first store at Main and Georgia Streets in Vancouver.

A broad, value-oriented regional department-store chain distinguished by integrated supermarkets, practical household merchandise, strong promotional pricing and prominent shopping-centre anchor locations.

• Supermarket and grocery retail

  Food Floor

  The Food Floor was Woodward's integrated supermarket department and one of the chain's signature offerings. It sold everyday groceries as well as specialty food items and was known for emphasizing quality. At selected stores, including Oakridge Centre and Chinook Centre, the operation supported a numbered parcel collection system in which employees moved packed grocery orders by conveyor to an outdoor pickup structure. The original Food Floor business was later sold to Safeway, while a separate Woodward's Food Floor operation reopened in Vancouver in 2009 under Nester's Market.

• Retail promotion · 1958

  $1.49 Day

  The monthly $1.49 Day promotion was a highly recognizable Woodward's merchandising program. Held on the first Tuesday of each month, it presented a broad selection of goods at a common $1.49 price point. Advertising on radio and in newspapers, reinforced by a distinctive jingle introduced in 1958, made the event a recurring part of the chain's public identity and value positioning.

• Furniture retail

  Furniture Fair

  Furniture Fair was a related Woodward's furniture operation with standalone stores in Burnaby and Edmonton during the 1970s. The Burnaby site later became the first Costco location in Canada in 1985, although that later use was separate from Woodward's.

• Discount retail

  Woodwynn

  Woodwynn was Woodward's discount-oriented retail format in British Columbia and Alberta. Some Woodwynn outlets operated within or alongside Woodward's stores. The format was originally known as Woodward's Bargain Stores and focused on lower-priced general merchandise.

• Bookselling

  Woodward's Book Stores

  Separate Woodward's Book Stores operated in some shopping centres alongside the department stores. They formed part of the broader retail ecosystem associated with the Woodward's name rather than a single product line within every department-store location.

• 1958$1.49 Day

  British Columbia · Alberta

  Woodward's promoted a recurring first-Tuesday sale in which merchandise across multiple categories was offered at the $1.49 price point. Radio and newspaper advertising, including a recognizable jingle, gave the promotion unusually strong regional visibility.

  Outcome. The sale became one of the chain's best-known promotional traditions and remained associated with Woodward's in western Canadian popular memory.

  Source

• 2009

  Reopen a Woodward's Food Floor in VancouverProduct launch

  Background

  The original department-store chain had disappeared, but the Woodward's Vancouver complex was redeveloped and its historic retail associations remained significant.

  Action taken

  Nester's Market opened a new Woodward's Food Floor at the former Vancouver complex on December 8, 2009.

  Aftermath

  The Food Floor name returned as part of a new grocery operation, preserving a recognizable Woodward's retail reference without restoring the former department-store chain.

  Source

• 1993

  Sell 21 locations to Hudson's Bay CompanyM&A

  Background

  Following the bankruptcy-protection filing, Woodward's required a buyer for much of its store network.

  Action taken

  Hudson's Bay Company acquired 21 of Woodward's 25 locations in June 1993 in a transaction reported at C$235 million.

  Aftermath

  Thirteen locations reopened as The Bay, 10 were converted or intended for conversion to Zellers, and four closed permanently. Two locations were divided between the two acquiring banners.

  Reported acquisition price. C$235 million (June 1993)

  Source

• 1992

  Seek bankruptcy protectionOther

  Background

  Woodward's had experienced roughly a decade of difficulty keeping pace with changes in department-store competition and the broader retail environment.

  Action taken

  The company filed for bankruptcy protection on December 11, 1992.

  Aftermath

  The filing preceded the sale of most of the chain's locations to Hudson's Bay Company and the disappearance of the Woodward's department-store banner.

  Source

1. 1Woodward'sen.wikipedia.org