1. Serving the Alberni Valley www.avtimes.net Friday, August 21, 2015
A ‘This Is Then’ special edition
Extra, Front Page
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Sunny
This Is Then...This Is Then...
With Kris PattersonWith Kris Patterson
T
HIS COLUMN is different than
the usual format in a number
of ways.
My column has deliberately
run in Wednesday’s AV Times since the
beginning in January; however, with an
anniversary event like this one, I thought I
would try a new format.
In the spirit of looking back I have
also used the AV Times logo from when
it became a daily paper in 1970. I have
always received info for story ideas from a
variety of sources. Sherry Jasken came in
when she heard I was working on a story
on the 100th anniversary of Overwaitea
and presented me with a treasure trove of
information including old photos, newspa-
per clippings and magazines. This infor-
mation required more than I could easily
fit in one page so I came up with a differ-
ent set up for this column. Sherry’s dad
was George Trotter, who was the manager
of the Third Avenue Overwaitea in Port
Alberni from 1934-1960 after first working
in Abbotsford.
I approached Zack Jones, manager of
the Port Alberni Save-On-Foods store with
the idea of presenting some of the history
of this shopping store, which continues
to serve Port Alberni to this day. Save-
On-Foods is a chain of supermarkets lo-
cated across western Canada. Founded in
1982 it is a subsidiary of the Overwaitea
Food Group, which, in turn, is owned by
the Vancouver-based Jim Pattison Group.
A number of stores concurrently running
as Save-On-Foods formerly operated
under the Overwaitea brand, founded in
1915 and purchased by Pattison in 1968.
Most Overwaitea stores were gradually
converted to Save-On-Foods stores during
the expansion and renovation of the over-
all chain in the 1990s and 2000s.
The first Save-On-Foods store in Al-
berta opened in 1990, at Mayfield Com-
mon in Edmonton. The store’s loyalty card,
originally called the Save-On-More card
but recently re-branded as More Rewards,
was launched in May 1992.
Through a little more research I
learned that at one time there were two
Overwaitea stores, with one starting on
First Avenue before moving to Third
Avenue (this location was later home to
Fields). This area of Third avenue has
seen many different businesses over the
years including Sweet Sixteen, which was
located between Isobel’s and Overwait-
ea. There was a second store on Johnston
where Gone Fishin’ used to be, before they
moved to their current location. This area
was also home to several notable busi-
nesses over the years, such as A.W. Fast
Printers and Lithographers, which opened
on Jan. 3, 1962 at 19 Johnston St., between
Overwaitea and Comfort Shoes. A little
more than two years later, on Feb. 15,
1964, Fred Luecke bought the business and
“Lucky Printers” was born.
JUNE 5, 1947 OVERWAITEA
OPENS IN ALBERNI!!
“Displaying unbounded faith in
the growth and development of Alberni
District, Overwaitea Ltd., this morning
opened its new Alberni City branch store
at 8:30.”
That was the lead line in the story on
page 5 of the West Coast Advocate on June
5, 1947. The article went on to say:
“Situated in the modern new Harris
Block on Johnston Street the store will
have a frontage of 20 feet, with a depth of
75.”
Clarence “Mac” McKellar transferred
in from the Mission store to manage the
staff of five at the new Alberni outlet,
which was the 34th branch store owned
and operated by Overwaitea Ltd., a purely
British Columbia company.
“Another feature of the Alberni store is
the connecting archway leading to the ad-
joining store, which will shortly be opened
up by Begg’s Meat market,” read the article.
Ihope you enjoyed this look back at
some of Overwaitea’s history and its
connection to Port Alberni. Please look at
some of the information and photos in the
inside pages and come out and celebrate
the 100th anniversary with the great team
at Save-On-Foods and take advantage of
some of the great deals on today between
12-4.
If you have more memories and pho-
tos of shopping at Overwaitea or of George
Trotter I would love to hear from you
either by email at kris.patterson@avtimes.
net or by phone at 250-723-8171
ext. 228.
This photo shows the first avenue Overwaitea location in 1934.
This photo, taken by Keith Rodgers during a May Day Parade in 1957, shows
the Overwaitea Store on the corner, almost 10 years – to the day – after
opening. If you have any memories or photos of the Alberni Overwaitea,
please e-mail me at kris.patterson@avtimes.net.
A picture from 1957 that shows the interior of the newly remodelled store.
This photo shows customers at the checkout. Do you know who the little girl
in the checkout is? Please email me at kris.patterson@avtimes.net or call me
at 250-723-8171 ext. 228 and you could win tickets to the Chemainus Dinner
Theater.
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