In 1983 Hugh Addison, general manager of Park Royal, approached me in my little butcher shop in Ambleside and tried to convince me to move my butcher shop to Park Royal. ... I was scared!
Hugh was the general manager of Park Royal owned by Guinness, and he had the idea of making a food market in the mall. After many sleepless nights, we decided to make the big move and 33 years ago we opened with great fanfare and our little butcher shop thrived for more than 30 years. Park Royal at that time boasted to having the most independent stores of any mall in Canada – the butcher, the baker, Mary’s fish store, and many more independent stores which made the mall feel like home to all of us who lived in West Vancouver.
I was elected as president of the Park Royal Merchants Association, and served four terms representing the merchants, and we had fun – from the chili contests to the travelling minstrels in the mall at Christmas, to even the attempt to beat the Guinness Book of Records for the haggis eating contest. And who can forget our head of security “Whistling” Bernie Smith?
In short, it was a good place to be. Park Royal was my second home. My boys rode the horsey ride outside of Super Valu, and they grew up in the mall. The pride that we had for Park Royal was somewhat overwhelming. Over the years we saw changes, a change of mall ownership, and the coming on board of a new young mall manager, Rick Amantea, who as well made the mall fun. However, time marches on and things began to change. Sunday opening, late-night shopping, extended hours, which made it hard for some independents to follow, the opening of the Village at Park Royal – all came in and were well received.
Referring to the chess players, many of them, in fact, were customers not only for me but for many other stores in the mall. It is a shame what has happened in the last week. The decision to try and do away with this amazing entity was a poor decision. As I am very involved in many ways with West Vancouver, this decision is now “talk of the town” in a bad way. Park Royal was the best move I ever made, and the mall was good to me. A few years ago our store was asked to move, and the mall offered an alternative location, which we determined was not a good alternative, so we packed our bags and moved on. To say any of this stops me from shopping at Park Royal would not be true. I still love the mall. And I will try and live with the changes whether they be “the good, the bad or the ugly.”
What are your thoughts? Send us a letter via email by clicking here or post a comment below.
