Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Spirit Halloween in Goldstein's old haunt

Back in 2007, Goldstein Freshmart closed. Goldstein's was a small President's Choice-affiliated grocery store on Elgin between Cooper and Somerset, and had been a fixture of Centretown for decades. In December 2007, PrimeCorp "For Lease" signs in the front window bore "LEASED" stickers:

The closed store remained more or less as is, with all supermarket fixtures still inside, until September 2008, when the shelves were dismantled and the other contents were cleared from the store:

Not ten days later, the store was completely empty:

The Goldstein signs were covered over, and by October 6th, new "For Lease" signs were added, bearing the name of Arcturus Realty:

In January 2009, cleaner white paper was used to cover over the window, in place of the unbleached poster paper. Larger "For Lease" signs were also added:

No activity was visible until early September 2009, when signs announced the imminent appearance of "Spirit Hallowe'en":

And toward the end of September, the store opened:

A few days later, a marquee was added, on top of the white sign covering the old Goldstein sign:

A handmade sign by the front door indicates the store's hours, and another indicates that dogs are welcome:

Obviously, this store is only temporary until Hallowe'en, but hopefully it will spark a more permanent development at the site--perhaps even a new grocery store.

Who knows, maybe the store will even be included on the Haunted Walks?

1 comment:

  1. ... it won't spark anything. This is Ottawa. Obviously someone can afford to swallow the opportunity cost of leaving the place vacant this long. ... if only I had the capital...

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