05/22/2026
It's time for another Flashback Friday!
Anyone else remember the old Woolco at Weston and Sheppard?
For anyone who didn't grow up with it, Woolco was basically the massive, go-to discount department store of the 70s and 80s, think of it as the Walmart before Walmart existed.
If you live in the Westown neighbourhood today, you’re basically walking right where it used to be!
But get this, before the store even opened in 1970, there was a house on that corner with a literal backyard zoo. Local kids used to wander into the woods and find random ostrich and peacock eggs!
Once Woolco built their massive store there, it became the spot! People still talk about hanging out at the Red Grille cafeteria for milkshakes and popcorn.
Walmart bought them out in 1994, and by 2011, the land was turned into the housing community we see today.
The coolest part is all those street names : Abraham Welsh, Mary Chapman, and Betty Nagle (the amazing North York teacher), are named after real local people who shaped Emery.
Check out the link if you want to read the full throwback article! https://www.emeryvillagevoice.ca/Misplaced-Eggs
