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With nearly 900,000 square feet it was the second largest sized store in Canada and the only other store Timothy Eaton opened other than in Toronto, that was still in existence until its insolvency.
The biggest loss to Downtown Winnipeg ever,especially for shoppers.With 895,000 square feet. This particular (Winnipeg) store was the second city to have an Eaton's store and was opened by its founder Timothy Eaton.
It required several expansions immediately to accommodate demand,growth + unrivalled popularity.It was responsible for 70% of all Downtown retail for years even with The Bay and hundreds of other boutiques nearby.
It did over 90 - 100 million throughout the 1950's, 1960's + 1970's and even did a little over $100 million in later 1980's, yet less than Half those sales towards the end.
The Winnipeg Eaton's store was the World's 10th largest Department Store in size!
It offered 9 full shopping levels with 2 full sets of spacious escalators, west side Hargrave Street and east side Donald Street..
Unparalleled selection, style, quality + service in almost every commodity!
The landmark red brick store, known as "the Big Store" to Winnipeggers (referred to the same by all other Eaton's locations) , was an instant success. In 1905, the initial staff of 750 grew to 1200 within a few weeks of the opening. By 1910, three more storeys were added to the store and other buildings were constructed. By 1919, the Eaton's retailoperations in Winnipeg covered 21 acres and employed 8000 people.There were hundreds of thousands of square feet for Warehousing andd catalogue needs as well.
For many years, the Downtown Winnipeg Eaton's store was considered the most successful department store in the world, given how it dominated its local market. As late as the 1960s, Canadian Magazine estimated that Winnipeggers spent more than 50 cents of every shopping dollar (excluding groceries) at Eaton's, and that on a busy day, one out of every ten Winnipeggers would visit the Portage Avenue store
Comprising nearly 4 entire blocks,There was actually an entire community within the Downtown area of Winnipeg.
One block was for the undeniably best store for all occasions, Eaton's Dept Store, one for the Catalogue sales building, with 10 floors, 2 for retail...one block had a huge multi storey parkade as well as a power plant supplying all the power to all the Eaton Buildings downtown, their own water from an underground artesian well and another block for surface parking.
From .Cosmetics, Crystal ware to Car supplies.
from Fragrances, Fabrics, Figurines, Fans and Food processors to Furs
and Fine Furniture domestic as well as imported from Europe..
From hardware, to hair products.
From Auto Parts to Appliances, Golf Equipment to Gastronomic specialties, Puff Pastry, Party favors, Paints, Pianos to Live Pets...Kayaks to Key making, Photo developing to Photo equipment, Jewelry to Jell-O, Fur salon to Furniture, sofa beds to snowblowes, Mattresses to marmalades,
Televisions to Toasters..Soaps, sheet Music, snow and Sofas. Linens to luggage, Under fashions to Umbrellas....etc.
Services that ranged from travel office to investment brokers on the upper floor..concert + events ticket office, post office,.dry cleaner to shoe repair..Tourism + Information Booth..Lottery centre, complimentary coat and parcel checking until the store closed..
At one time up until the late 1950's..they actually offered free babysitting services along with a rooftop playground above the 9th floor.. where a large separate employees lounge for men and women complete with lounging sofas, TV's, pool tables etc existed until near the last days.. .
The main floor had over 3 dozen cosmetic lines into the late 1980's that made one feel they were in New York or Paris.The selection was second to none.
Some of the impressive upscale lines were Prescriptives, C Dior, Serge Louis Alvarez, Rene Guinot, Nina Ricci, Chanel, Princess Marcella Borghese, Lancaster, Guerlain (which the Eaton family owned for many years) La Prairie, Erno Laszlo, Lise Watier, Givenchy, Yves St. Laurent. Juvena, Helena Rubenstien with the always respected Shiseido, Estee Lauder, Lancome, Clarins, Orlane, Elizabeth Arden, Biotherm, Clinique etc.
There were some popular priced lines as L'Oreal Paris, Yardley,Revlon etc.
Some very contemporary names such as Cargo, Tony and Tina and Bonnie and Bill were added in the last couple of years.
Hundreds of Prestige fragrance lines right up to its final days.
There were fashions from budget yet value driven..mostly moderate to better names..and several lines..right off the runways of Paris + London +.Rome.Until the mid 1980's,there were buyers set up with fashion houses in those European cities expressly designing for Eaton's.
There also existed some factories in WInnipeg making items as well.
.A designer's Walk like no other in Western Canada for men + especially women..
In the mid - late 1980's they even had;The Nolan Miller Dynasty collection and one could wear the same ensembles that Joan Collins, Linda Evans, Stephanie Beacham , Heather Locklear + Diahnn Carol wore on the popular prime time dramatic series.
Names like Wayne Clark, Alfred Sung, Kasper, Simon Chang, Adrienne Vitadinni, Rouie, Ports International, Carole Little, Anne Green, Anne Klein, Mondi, Jaeger, Givenchy, Louis Ferraud, Christian Dior, Aquascutum, London Fog. Liz Claiborne Jones New York.
Casual wear names such as Calvin Klein, Steve Madden, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger , Nautica etc..a huge Esprit boutique, Aquascutum Tabi International.
The ladies shoes dept was second to none as a rule..having many price points but a fabulous section of high end lines such as Andrew Geller, Bandolino,Evan Picone, Liz Claiborne, Kenneth Cole, Steve Madden and Thomas Wallace.
Casual lines as 9 West and more.
The Fur Salon carried over a dozen designer lines such as BLACKGLAMMA , C Dior, Oscar de la Renta, Givenchy, Pierra Balmain and more.
The men's wear had several areas and departments as well.
Hardy Amies,C Dior, YSL and Shipley were among the tops.
Dress wear and Casual lines as Kenneth Cole, Joseph Abboud, Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren, Chaps, Tommy Hilfiger, Liz Claiborne, Jones New York, Gant, Britches, Cacharel, Nautica, London Fog etc.
The children's and infants wear is still mourned by moms and grandmothers alike.
There one found the most stylish fashions as a rule.
As well ,one entire floor..the 7th.. dedicated to only Furniture. Almost 70,000 ft 2 plus dozens of well appointed designer gallery rooms.An art gallery, huge lamp dept.
As well as some budget brands ,there were mostly moderate better lines and some exclusive brands including a gallery of Imported from Europe one of a kind and fit for a king exquisite pieces until the early 1980's.
Some items were several thousand dollars a piece,(such as a chair etc.. imported from Italy, UK and France to name a few.
Also and until near the end was found ultra high end prestigious names such as Baker, Century, Gibbard, Henredon, Deilcraft, Lane, Drexel-Heritage, Lexington, Hespeller, Stanley, Barrymore, Strathroy, Flexsteel, Baetz Bros, Kaufmann of Collingwood, Cooper Bros, Sterling, Carson's of high Point, Hickory-Fry and more.
Moderate lines such as Sklar-Peppler, Jaymar, Kroehler, Alexvale, Huppe, Vylis, Shermag, Baronet, Brentwood, A&P and more.At the lower end Palliser, Souhtshore etc was available as well.
On 6 one found Major Appliances especially the trustworthy VIKING brand as well as other prestigious lines and you wanted to say you dealt with Eaton's.
Also, Electronics, Fine table, bedding and other Linens, of all price points but many splendiferous offerings as well..carpeting, Area Rugs & Fine Imported Oriental Rugs up to $36,000 that I recall.
The SOUK bazaar had rugs from Morocco, India, China ,Turkey, Iran, Iraq and others. Many area rugs from Belgium and Italy.
Machine made wool rugs by the thousands also were offered as well.
In the lower level was a huge grocery store the size of a medium/large supermarket with over 35,000 sq ft with a cornucopia of splendid offerings.
Affectionately called Eaton's Foodateria..offering excellent quality meats, fish, seafood alongside typical and less typical brands of import and hard to locate foods.
Always a bustling spot, even right up to the end,especially the downtown dwellers and even more so the downtown working crowds..
And..across from the grocery dept was a large and very busy pharmacy and apothecary.
On the 3rd floor was imported fine foods section one might expect to see in London @ Harrods or Bloomingdales :Macy's in New York or Chicago as well as the longest cheese counter, all in marble in North America at the time and also a fantastic meat counter..
Fabulous bakery counters were everywhere, with their famous own signature cakes such as Red Velvet Cake with pastries and incredible European tortes such as Dobosch and sacher.
Many of the desserts were served not only in their many restaurants in the store but in many fine dining rooms across the city.
Even at the end there were nearly 50 employees in the bakery preparation kitchen in he tunnel area where many master European bakers each did their craft and specialties.
Also there were several dining options including the famous Grill Dining Room with luxurious carpeting and window coverings, chandeliers and wainscoting with huge vistas from the long windows on the 5th floor..
Most famous were their many delicious home made soups..Chicken pot pie, Prime rib and Turkey and Asparagus Cheese Roll-ups, the favorite of little old ladies.
Desserts of course were plentiful.
A hostess shop provided dainties and catering as well.
Some clients would even bring their own serving pieces to have Lasagna, meat pies act to be made in so they could brag it was their own.
The Valley room was so busy and served more hot meals than any department store in NORTH America even in the early 1990's.
Carved turkey and Roasts each day were offered.
The Soup Kettle had 4 soups a day plus quick healthier options as did the 2nd floor health food bar Euphoria.
The Char Bar was very popular and reading the vast array of books and magazines followed in time permitted.
There was than famous T Eaton Statue on the main floor presented as a gift by the employees on the 50th anniversary of the company.This remained a popular meeting spot until the stores closing.
Also on the third floor, a porcelain lovers dream come true.The finest names in fine china dinnerware and figurines..Dresden, Rosenthal, Royal Doulton, Hammersley, Royal Crown Derby, Minton, Limoges, Viileroy & Bach, Denby, Royal Worcester, Spode plus dozens more..
There were more attainable names as Mikasa, Royal Albert, Johnson Bros. plus .There was crystal from Lalique, Waterford etc.Sterling silver, the best silver plate and gold as flatware and hollow ware pieces in patterns galore.
A housewares division like no other was adjacent on the third floor.
Immediately behind the huge store was erected in 1919 a 10 storey catalogue sales building for all of Western Canada similar in size to the flagship store and in remained in active operation until 1976.
It was soon redeveloped as a 3 level mall,office + parking multi use facility known as Eaton Place.The T Eaton Co helped develop it but sold it soon after.
Eaton Place was the premiere and first destination Fashion mall in Manitoba when it opened in 1979 and remained so for nearly a decade..
It was recognized across Canada for its offerings of stylish fashions in this part of the country.One found prestigious Canadian, American and European designer brands.
It fell into a less important mall when portage Place opened and Polo Park expanded. and a really bad state when Eaton's closed.
The name remained until 2002 when its owners (the only ones in Canada with an Eaton name changed) felt it important to change the name of the mall + office complex.
It is a poorly rented mall now, so it might have been best to leave the name alone so people would know it is till there
Most Winnipeggers still mourn the loss + speak of it with great affection daily!
The quality of their goods, selction and service has not and probably shall never be replaced.
There will never exist such a store in Winnipeg, or Canada ever again.
Retail logistics at IKEA.
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This critter is used to help "round up" all of the shopping trolleys.
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