Storefront Vancouver - The Book

Update : My short run of Storefront Vancouver books is now sold out! Currently working on a new and updated version.

Yes it's true! I decided to put together a little book about Storefront Vancouver. I've tried to cover all the bases including both East and West sides of the city. There are also sections on Corner Stores as well as a "Then and Now" comparison of how some stores have changed in recent years. Some places looked at a little more in depth include Chinatown, Tosi & Company, The Smile Diner, Knowltons Drugs, The Only Seafoods and more!

The book is 88 pages long and is 6 x 9 inches in the popular Trade format. Right now I just did a short run which is available at an affordable price at Pulpfiction Books!

Hassan Tailor and Launderama

The heavily fortified storefront on East Broadway at Fraser Street dates from 1931. According to artist and historian Michael Kluckner the old house in the back with the Launderama is positively ancient as it dates from 1897. The old sign out front for the laundromat is also very old and is now extremely faded. I'm guessing it's from the 1960's. It doesn't light up anymore but it's aways great to see an old sign around town.

Fast forward to April 2017 and the Launderama has closed and Hassan's is living on borrowed time. A developer has bought the three buildings at the South East corner at Fraser and East Broadway and a new building is in the works.

Pizzeria Farina

Located in the notorious Cobalt Hotel, Pizzeria Farina has almost made the old place respectable since it opened back in 2011. When I first moved to Vancouver in the late 80's I seem to remember the spot being Mom's Kitchen and it looked plenty rough around the edges. Over the years countless cafe's and eateries have tried their luck in the little space but nothing lasted very long until Pizzeria Farina came along. In recent years the bar at the Cobalt dispensed with it's punk scene and the open walkway through to the parking lot has been closed off and turned into a little bar called The Boxcar. But sadly times have not changed in the Cobalt Hotel itself where people are still living in dangerous and substandard conditions.

The Purple Rainbow Florist

The Purple Rainbow is tucked away up on Fraser Street near East 47th Avenue. The building dates from the late 1920's and was once a corner store. Up until the late 1990's the store was called Harry's Produce when it was then converted into a florist shop. If you visit the store today and look closely you'll notice the very bottom panels closest to the sidewalk are in fact old embossed 7up signs that have been painted over. Too bad as the signs would be worth quite a bit today!

Carrall Street Church

This old building near Pigeon Park was in the news recently as it suffered seriously structural damage during an unauthorized demolition right next door on November 2nd of 2016. The Gospel Mission Society has been in the building since the 1940's and Wing's Cafe has been going since the 1950's. The building is much older and dates from 1889. For a time it was home to the Louvre Hotel. On the alley side of the building are some fabulous ghost signs which are probably the oldest in Vancouver. One advertises beds up the alley for 20 Cents a night. The others are for the Louvre Saloon. Unfortunately the damage to the building looks pretty serious so we'll have to wait and see if it can be repaired.

A photo taken on November 4th 2016 after work was stopped on the demo of the building next door.

And a photo of part of the fabulous ghost signs in the alley.

Pirate Joe's

Update June 8th 2017 : Owner Mike Hallatt has announced he's closing Pirate Joe's. Read more about it in this piece in the Vancouver Sun.

This is the old location of Pirate Joe's on West 4th Avenue photographed at the beginning of 2016. The store has since relocated to West 10th near Alma as a developer bought the 4th Avenue building in 2015 and evicted all the long time tenants. For the unfamiliar, Pirate Joe's is the unauthorized reseller of Trader Joe's merchandise bought legally in Washington State and then brought over the line back to Vancouver. The owner of the store Mike Hallatt has since been banned from buying at Trader Joe's and he employs people in the states to shop for him. There's been an ongoing legal battle with Trader Joe's suing Hallatt. The media in the US and the Uk seem quite taken with the David vs Goliath story. You can see a recent video from he BBC here. Update November 3rd : finally a story by our own local media!