Memories of The Bay downtown

East Kildonan

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/04/2025 (484 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The wind can blow so coldly down Portage Avenue at Vaughan Street in winter. There wasn’t a bus shelter there in the 1960s, as there is today at the bus stop on Portage near one of the main entranceways to the former Bay department store.

When I was a girl, my mom and I, waiting for the bus, would retreat into the recessed vestibule that led to the Bay’s multi-person glassed doorways. I would warmly nestle into her arms, draped in the black Persian lamb of her fur coat; a glamorous thing with her initials embroidered on the inside. Every so often, my mom pulled away to see if the bus rumbling up nearby was the one that would carry us home to East Kildonan.

Today this vestibule, along with main floor windows and doors of the Hudson Bay Company store, which was completed in 1926, is covered with colourful designs as the building undergoes redevelopment by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization into a multifunctional community space called Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn.

I recall this pragmatically designed vestibule as having rather unique, curved grey granite walls. This is an ancient design that not only adds interest but stability to its load-bearing capability. In fact, the entire building is architecturally exquisite and important from a historical point of view.

My fond memory of that cold day was sparked by frequent news stories since March that The Bay – Canada’s oldest company (355 years) – had filed for bankruptcy, begun liquidating its holdings and closing stores

I grew up visiting Eaton’s and The Bay downtown. I recall seeing living mannequins at The Bay – live models who posed silently for a few moments until they changed positions, strategically performing their craft on raised platforms near the top of the escalators at the floor that sold women’s fashions. They were, of course, clad in the latest fashions for purchase.

One busy Saturday, I went to see cousin Anna Marie modelling in a fashion show at the Paddlewheel Restaurant, where a raised runway was set up. The models came out “groovily” dancing to a live band that was playing rock ’n’ roll hits of the day. (It was, after all, the late 1960s)

By Grade 6, my friends and I would take the bus downtown and among our travels we would stop at The Bay’s huge second-floor ladies’ restroom, where there were vanity stations of sorts, each with upholstered chairs and large mirrors with square frames that lit up. It felt exciting. There was a large full-length mirror for that last check.

As for today, we can hold even more affection for the beloved Portage Avenue building as it undergoes one of the most creative reuses of a precious heritage structure in urban history, exactly where it is needed most in Winnipeg’s downtown.