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Remembrances of New Westminster shoe stores past

Last week we learned that another of New Westminster’s older businesses is closing: Harry Minuk Shoes, started in Sapperton’s commercial area in the early 1940s and then operating in two different uptown locations.

Last week we learned that another of New Westminster’s older businesses is closing: Harry Minuk Shoes, started in Sapperton’s commercial area in the early 1940s and then operating in two different uptown locations.

There have been many comments on social media about this loss and many others about shoe stores in general – what people remember, where they shopped for footwear and where people shop locally now for shoes. While we won’t get into the “current” discussion, we will note some of the names that have been part of this part of New Westminster’s history.

Of course the most immediate memory, and yet another loss, was Copp’s Shoes downtown. Copp’s had the reputation and appearance of an old-time store that will long be remembered by those who knew its street corner location. Another downtown shop from some years past was Agnew-Surpass. It was a long-term chain of shoe stores, well known across Canada, that closed down completely about a decade and a half ago.

In the uptown area, many people remember Woodward’s shoe department and its public address announcements in that area: “Numbers are being given out for service in the shoe department, please take a number for service.” There will be many others who will look back on Woodward’s and getting a pair of running shoes for gym class at school for $1.49.

And speaking of sports shoes, there will be many folks who remember Earl Peterson Sporting Goods for their large selection of this type of shoe. When you start to look back at a particular type of business or store, there will always be some that stand out, and we have mentioned some of them. Looking back at the downtown area along Columbia Street, there are a couple of others that were well known, one much longer than the other, but both important.

Sinclair Shoes was a prominent business in the early 1900s when they once occupied a major storefront in the Westminster (Trust) Block. At this location, they made and sold footwear and won a national award for their Christmas window display. Later, they moved farther up Columbia Street.

Another shoe store was linked to the city’s first years. They closed down with the retirement of the owners, still of the family who started the store, in 1984. In that year, as part of the city’s 125th anniversary, Bill and Nan Johnston, closed Johnston Shoes. This family and store was very well known for decades for their annual May Day display.

To Harry Minuk Shoes – thank you for your years of service.