Spencer's (department store) facts for kids
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Trade name
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Spencer's |
|---|---|
| Department store chain | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Stores sold to Eaton's |
| Founded | 1873 |
| Defunct | 1948 |
| Headquarters | Victoria, British Columbia |
| Products | (Full-Line Department Stores) Clothing, grocery, footwear, bedding, hardware, furniture, appliances, music, cosmetics, jewellery, china, imported specialties, housewares, sporting goods, stationery, toys, home textiles, restaurant. |
David Spencer Ltd. was a popular chain of department stores in British Columbia, Canada. People usually called it Spencer's. This company was around from the late 1800s until the middle of the 1900s.
Contents
The Beginning of Spencer's Stores
Spencer's started in 1873 in Victoria. A person named David W. Spencer opened the first store. It was on Government Street and was called "Spencer and Denny". This first store sold things like fabrics and other dry goods.
Growing Across British Columbia
The store did very well and grew bigger. In 1890, a second store opened in Nanaimo. Then, in 1907, a store opened in Vancouver. The Vancouver store was so successful that it soon took up almost a whole city block! Later, more stores opened in Chilliwack and New Westminster.
Spencer's Joins Eaton's
For many years, Spencer's was a big competitor to another British Columbia store called Woodward's. But in 1948, a much larger store chain, Eaton's, bought Spencer's. Eaton's had stores all across Canada. The nine Spencer's stores in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island became Eaton's stores.
What Happened to the Buildings?
The second Spencer's store in downtown Victoria was at 1150 Douglas Street. It replaced the very first store. This building became an Eaton's store until the late 1980s. Then, it was taken down to build a new shopping mall called the Victoria Eaton Centre. Today, that mall is known as the Bay Centre.
The Spencer's store in downtown Vancouver was on Hastings Street. It also became an Eaton's store until 1973. That year, Eaton's opened a new main store in the Pacific Centre mall. But unlike the Victoria store, the old Spencer's building in Vancouver was not torn down. It was later used by another store called Simpsons-Sears. Now, it is part of Simon Fraser University and is called the Harbour Centre.
The last parts of the Spencer's chain disappeared when the Eaton's company closed down in 1999.
