Beckwoman's on the Drive

Beckwoman's had been an institution on Commercial Drive for many decades. It was probably one of the older businesses on the Drive too until it closed in 2020. According to blogger Jak King who writes about the Grandview neighbourhood and The Drive, the store originally opened across the street from its last location way back in 1981. Then it moved to 1314 Commercial Drive in 1989.

Over the years the Store went by a few different names including Beckwoman's Folk Art and Beckwoman's Hippie Emporium. If a normal retail shopping experience was what you were looking for then Beckwoman's would certainly not have been it. After Googling the store years ago I found some interesting reviews that people had posted on Yelp. Many were not very positive and most were downright scathing! Shopping at Beckwoman's sounded like it could be a bit of an adventure. Apparently the store owner would often accost potential shoppers by demanding to know what they were looking for before even being allowed inside! Not a recipe for retail success in this day and age. You can read more of the store's Yelp reviews here!

I remember that back in 2015 there had been a fire in the store which had closed it for quite some time. I believe the store owner had actually been living in the back of the place as well. That got me thinking that I better get around to photographing the store while it was still around. The photo above was taken back in early 2018. Fast forward to 2020 and the Covid-19 Global Pandemic has been hard on many businesses both large and small. Sadly Beckwoman's on the Drive was one of its casualties. Later in the year the store would be thoroughly renovated and a women's fashion boutique called Rave On now calls the space home.

The removal of the big Beckwoman's awning revealed a little Spanish tile roof which can be seen in an old photo from the Vancouver Archives (CVA 786-78.19) which was taken back in 1978 when the store was a Shoe Hospital. It's amazing that the store today looks nearly identical to how it looked over 40 years ago!