Grocery Hall of Fame - Richmond

by Jenavieve

Activity:

Dad woke us up one summer morning and said, "Hey, guess where we're going today?  The Grocery Hall of Fame."  "The ghostly what?", I asked.  "The Grocery Hall of Fame where there's all sorts of stuff: like old ketchup bottles, old pop bottles, posters, signs, and other good stuff." "Get real dad, we're not going, no way", Nathan shot back.  But then dad said if we went to the Grocery Hall of Fame, he would also take us for fish and chips at Dave's in Steveston.  We went.

The Grocery Hall of Fame is located in a building designed to look like a store in the 1920s, behind the home of Bill Spaner of Richmond.  Bill Spaner is the president of Tempo Sales Ltd. and has collected a ton of stuff related to the grocery business.  Dad was hoping to see Mr. Calvin McLeod, the 90+ year old curator, a very good friend of my grandparents, but Cal had the day off. 

After seeing all the old stuff, Mr. Spaner also showed us around his 2.5 acre property where there were chickens and horses.  Unfortunately, when we were there Mr. Spaner's dog killed one of the neighbour's chickens.  Mr. Spaner asked us if we wanted the chicken, but mom didn't.

Age group:

All ages, although I think adults would like this activity the most.

Expense rating:

Free

:

I've never seen dad so excited.  He was jumping around and pointing at stuff and asking mom do you remember this, do remember that. You see dad used to work as a "bag boy" packing groceries at an IGA Supermarket when he was 15 years old, a long, long, long time ago.

:

Who wants to see old cans and stuff.  I didn't see any display of Pokemon or Simpsons Spaghetti O's.  It was a bit of yawner for Nathan and I, until  Mr. Spaner gave a bag of caramel candies with chocolate inside, and a jar of peanut butter and jam swirled together.

Details:

From Vancouver, go across the Knight St. Bridge over to Richmond to Westminster Highway.  Turn left on Westminster Highway, and then turn right on No. 6 road.  Go down to 6620 No. 6 Road.

Please note: Visits to The Grocery Hall of Fame are by appointment only.  To book your visit call 604-278-0665 (Tempo Sales).

The Grocery Hall of Fame
6620 No. 6 Road
Richmond, British Columbia
(604) 278-0665

Area:

Richmond 

Season:

All seasons (but call ahead to see if it's open)

Educational highlights:

See what grocery retailing was like in the days before the Superstore or Save-On-Foods mega stores invaded Vancouver. 

Fun for the adult?:

Dad found the Grocery Hall of Fame really interesting.  And when I asked mom, she said visiting the Grocery Hall of Fame was a real "trip".