Fort Chipewyan HBC Store 1958 - 1967

The year after we moved to Fort Chipewyan the HBCo expanded the size of the store and introduced the ability for customers to select merchandise themselves before purchasing it. The floor-plan, including the basement, was doubled, and freestanding counters and shelves were installed throughout the customer area. Two tills were now used, one for dry goods and the other, with a scale, for groceries. With Canadian Utilities Limited now providing 220 and 110 AC power, a reefer was installed for frozen goods storage, and a display cooler and ice cream freezer were placed on the floor. Fluorescent lights provided a much brighter atmosphere, along with large front windows and several upper windows. A post office was built separate from, but next to, the business office. Local clerks were hired to manage the tills, stock shelves and run the post office. There was even a fitting room. A staff washroom with flush toilet occupied a corner of the building, so no more long walks to the outhouse on the southwest corner of the lot.

This post focuses on the store itself - separate posts for store staffing, Christmas activities, and the fur trade itself are coming...

The HBC property in 1958 looking southeast. Structures include the store, flagpole, lighting plant, warehouses, fuel drum yard and building, and outhouse. The outhouse got tipped over every Hallowe'en, sort of a tradition. Notice the Canadian Utilities' fuel tanks stored on the government wharf point.

Store later in the Fall 1958. The CUL building and power poles have been erected, and the fuel tanks have been moved closer. 

Store in Fall 1959 during the expansion project. CUL is now fully operational.

HBC property in late summer 1962, not long after the big flood of that summer. 

In the Spring of 1965 Courier Flights Limited's Helio Courier failed to take off from Mission Bay due to soft conditions and needed to be towed back to the airstrip behind the RCMP detachment. I don't know why the propellor was missing. I made the trip to Edmonton several times on this plane while going to school. The jeep beside the store belonged to the RCMP. Note the fence on the east side of the store is missing, as is the flagpole. The motorbike looks like a Honda Trail 90, vintage 1964. 

The following two slides, taken in 1958, are the only ones I have that show the interior of the store before the expansion.

The store in 1958 had the traditional format of shelved goods behind the counter.
Barry Shields is clerking. 

West wall of the old store.

Floor-plan of the expanded store, not to any scale. The ramp by the stairway to the basement was used to slide freight down in the summer and fur down in the winter and spring. Fur baling was done in the basement.

The rest of this post are photos of the interior of the expanded store, starting in the Fall of 1959 during the transition to the new floor-plan. It was chaotic, but the store stayed open.

The northwest corner, with Mah's Athabasca Café out the window. Shelves are supported with cases of Carnation Milk, the display case is from the old store, and temporary tables are used for merchandise. 

The new display cooler temporarily in the southeast corner. The meat is probably bison from Wood Buffalo National Park. 

West wall at a different stage, grocery scale is temporarily in the new addition. New display cases are being assembled. 

Looking north at the dry goods till.

Looking north-east. What a muddle! 

The following photos were later in the Fall of 1959, after the snow. The new shelving is installed, tills are in their final locations, and the west wall is complete. Things are a lot more organized.

Southeast corner. Canned soup and coffee take most of the south wall shelf. For some reason a tremendous amount of Johnson's baby powder.

At the grocery till looking south. Lard is given a lot of space. Flour, lard and baking powder were big volume sellers.

The display cooler in its final location, with tobacco products behind the till. I overheard two women giggling over this cooler one day, one pointing at a garlic sausage and saying "muniaw tuxsees", white man's penis in Cree. 

Dust was a serious issue. At the close of business each day we would cover dry goods, particularly clothing, before spreading Dust-Bane on the floor and sweeping (my job after school). A lot of sand and mud tracked in from the dirt street.

In the northeast corner. Later more electrical appliances were available as people got power.

The south wall beside the post office - its door moulding is at the very edge of the frame. I got my first shotgun from this display - a Mossberg bolt-action 12-gauge magnum with a variable choke. Great gun for long distances, it got me many ducks but sadly never a goose. I always wanted a five-shot clip (illegal) but never got one. 

By 1962 the south wall has a produce display, partially visible on the far right. 

Men's clothing and hardware, 1964. Notice the back of a kitchen wood stove, an airtight wood stove, and a Pioneer 450 chainsaw. Price tags on larger items had an associated alphabetic code for the cost price of so selling prices could be negotiated without referencing the books. Once in Fort McMurray I decoded the store's codeword and then bragged about it to the post manager - he was not impressed.

Dry goods counter, 1964.

December, 1964. Notice the mocassins with ankle-high rubbers, local favourite footware.

Grocery till at Christmas, 1965. Cheese corns are 25¢, Cracker Jacks are 10¢. Notice the fluorescent light covers.
The tops of all the display cases are now fully covered with merchandise. 

The office in the southwest corner, probably early 1967. This is the counter mentioned in Man Who Chooses the Bush.

Probably early 1967.

Probably early 1967.

The Northern store in 2020 has an eastern expansion to the original 1950's building, with its gable-end a distinctive feature of the design.