visit beautiful markville shopping centre

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Vintage Ad #14 - Visit Beautiful MarkvilleOpened in 1982, Markville Shopping Centre is still around, though buyouts, family squabbles and bankruptcies mean that none of the anchors listed in the ad exist anymore. Replace Eaton's with Sears, Woolco with Wal-Mart and scratch the other two off the list (Famous Players moved out of malls, then merged with Cineplex, while squabbles among the Steinberg family led to Miracle Food Mart's sale to A&P, who closed most of the remaining mall locations by the mid-90s).

Tangent time: My family frequently shopped at Woolco while I grew up, usually the Dougall Ave store in Windsor. Mainly remember eating in the old school cafeteria, with flip-up red vinyl seats, striped drink cups, mini-packs of Peek Freens at the cash and smell of french fries. Even as a kid I thought the dining area had a dated charm. At their Leamington branch (a deluxe Woolworth's for most of its life, only switching to the Woolco nameplate towards the end), I used to stock up on remaindered Scholastic magazines like Dynamite and Bananas.

Dig the fashion show models. The guy looks like a shady magician from a 70s cop show or a spiffed-up dealer from a 60s anti-dope mental hygiene flick. You decide if she screams Eaton's or Woolco.

Source: Toronto Life, September 1985.

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