Shop Talk

February 23, 2013

When I worked with the Thomas Bouckley Collection of Historical Photographs, I was fascinated with the pictures of stores from a by-gone era. Much changed in Oshawa’s downtown core over the decades. The concentration of shops and boutiques shifted to the Oshawa Centre (OC).

Growing up in Oshawa during the eighties and early nineties meant you had a special place to hang out. Not only was the Centre a great place to shop, it was a social and recreational hub. It had many things that are no longer: bowling alleys, cinemas, a video arcade, concession stands, independent restaurants, department store cafeterias and (best of all) a pet store where you could cuddle kittens. Some other stores that came to mind:

Consumer’s Distributing, Bi-Way, L’il Bo Peep Restaurant, The Sabre Tavern, Marks & Spencer, Kmart Canada, Shops on Top, The Malt Shop, Classic Books…

Across town and now in our memories are:

Mother’s Pizza, Bargain Harold’s, Spanky’s Arcade, Circle in the Square Records, Knob Hill Farms Terminal…

Does anyone else recall any of the above? I’d love to hear your recollections… along the way to the comments section–a few vintage logos…

Bargain Harold’s

BiWay Bag

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K-Mart logo