Red Apple comes to town: Remembering Woolworth’s

Woolworth's downtown Lethbridge circa 1980.

Source: Facebook/Lethbridge Historical Society

(May be subject to copyright)

Whether it was onion rings with my Opa Jetz at the cafeteria, strolling through the aisles looking at toys, riding the city bus and stopping in front of it, or watching a Grey Cup replay on a black and white TV, Woolworth’s in Lethbridge has a lot of memories for me.

Recently, the Bargain Shop in our town transformed into a Red Apple and, amidst the publicity for the grand opening, I discovered it had its roots in Woolworth’s.

That brought back this odd mix of memories for me.

The four corners
Growing up on a farm, we used to go to Lethbridge every Saturday. Because my parents went grocery shopping every Thursday, Saturday was more for checking out stores and shopping for the other essentials like clothing, shoes, school supplies, and for me, toys, books and later music.

We would always park on the west side of Galt gardens and walk a couple blocks to what I have recently started calling “The Four Corners”.

It was an intersection that had a store on three of the four corners and a building on the fourth corner that seemed to rotate through a variety of uses, primarily a restaurant such as A&W.

On the southwest corner was Kresge’s, across the street on the southeast corner was Eaton’s, and across the street on the northeast corner was Woolworth’s.

They all had something a little different, but enough to attract our attention.

Gaining entrance
What I will always remember about Woolworth’s is the entrance – there were actually two. The one we entered through, on the southwest corner of the building, had the spinning door thing. I am not sure what it was called, but you started walking and were sealed in a little compartment as you moved. Usually I was in one, and my mom behind me. Sometimes, as I got older and started messing around, I would just keep on going, past the point to enter the store and keep on going and going like a circus ride.

There was also an entrance, maybe that was the main entrance, on the south wall. We rarely entered through that one, although I remember it had double glass doors with a vestibule in between. The plastic horse you could ride for a quarter, and some gum or prize machines were also there. I preferred the ones at Kresge’s but that’s for another time.

The one time I distinctly remember going through those glass doors was when I stayed with my cousins Nina and Carl for a few days. They lived on the north side of Lethbridge, and would take the bus downtown. So, Carl suggested we do that. We walked a couple blocks to the bus stop on 23rd Street North and hopped the “Number 5”. The buses were kind of a blue or purple with yellow trim. It was my first ever ride on any city transit. We weaved through the streets then pulled up – right in front of Woolworth’s. That’s where the main stop was, right in front of the double glass doors.

Once inside, the thing that sticks out is the white tiled floors. They brightened the whole store up. They also got pretty gross when people tracked mud in during winter when the snow began to melt.

Lunch is served
Woolworth’s had a cafeteria as well. It was long and narrow, with seating on the right. The seating area was actually bound by a stub wall.

I loved eating out, I still do. What I will remember most was in my first years of high school, so like 1984, 1985, 1986 when we would go visit my Opa Jetz, or meet him downtown. My Oma had died on Christmas Eve of 1984, so he was living on his own.

A couple times, we would go to Woolworth’s strictly because he wanted some onion rings. I was all in too. They made them fresh, which both my Mom and her dad really liked, so we’d pay, have a seat and wait.

This one time, I was really hungry. I kept looking over to see the window where the cook put the finished orders. Then the onion rings appeared.

There was a curly hair on top.

Stuff like that didn’t gross me out, but I could not say the same for some of my family.

Still, as the waitress brought them over, I couldn’t stop looking at that hair. How did it get there? Why was it so long and what made it curl like a cork screw? She set down the plate and, with lightning speed, I plucked the hair off the top.

My mom scolded me for trying to take the first onion ring, when clearly I should have waited for Opa. That was one I was willing to take for the team, so our meal would not get sidetracked. Besides, he said it was all right. To be honest, I can’t imagine anything grossing him out. He lived in a lot of squalor in his younger days, and guaranteed he saw and ate a lot worse than a hair on an onion ring. Even if it was really long and really curly.

Just browsing
We also did shop at Woolworth’s, although of all the stores we went to Saturday mornings, I don’t recall buying a lot there, besides clothes.

I do remember one time, when I was young, I was with my mom and a sales clerk came up, asking her if she needed any help.

“Just browsing,” my mom responded, and the clerk went away.

I saw her do that at another store. I was fascinated. It was like Kryptonite. Those words repelled sales clerks.

When I got older, there was a particularly aggressive sales clerk pursuing me, so I tried the magic words.

“Just browsing,” I said. She disappeared almost instantly.

Action replay
I have another odd memory. It was 1979, and I was just getting into Canadian football. It was the Saturday before Grey Cup Sunday. Back then, CBC aired a replay of the previous year’s Grey Cup. That year, Edmonton was playing Montreal, and it was a rematch of the 1978 Grey Cup.

I was excited to see it, because I wanted to learn more about the players taking to the field the next day.

Then my parents rounded me up to go to Lethbridge shopping. I was so disappointed.

As happens when you’re young, I had kind of forgot about it as everything else got going.

Me and my mom walked into Woolworth’s and started looking around.

Then I heard it, the sound of a football game. I could hear the commentary. The thing was, I don’t recall Woolworth’s having a large electronics department. It had some radios and tape decks but I don’t remember any TV of any consequence.

I looked around, then just followed the sound. It was coming from a small, black and white TV that was maybe 10 or 12 inches. Still, I heard some of that game, which Edmonton had won, and the names of some players who were no longer with Edmonton – George McGowan sticks out.

But, like anything, my mom had finished browsing and it was off to the next store.

I still remember that crappy little TV though, and the joy it gave me to catch a bit of an old football game.

And it was brought to me by Woolworth’s.

Woolworth’s or Woolco
On the far southern edge of Lethbridge at the time was the College Value Mall. The anchor store was Woolco, and I always wondered if it was connected to Woolworth’s in any way.

My mom had always said they were.

Wikipedia revealed to me that Woolworth’s did own Woolco. The difference, according to Wikipedia, was that Woolworth’s were five and dime stores while Woolco was a full-line discount department store. That makes sense, because I do recall a lot more stuff at Woolco.

Parting thoughts
I went off to university in Edmonton in 1987 and really never looked back. When I was visiting Lethbridge in 1993, I discovered, Woolworth’s was gone. In its place was a store called the Bargain Shop. Now, those stores have become Red Apple, whose colours are similar to Woolworth’s.

Shopping, like music, movies, TV, and sports, was a big part of growing up. There are distinct memories tied up in the places I shopped, whether Kresge’s, Eaton’s – or Woolworth’s.

Still, when I have an onion ring, I think about my Opa.

I have Woolworth’s to thank for that.