Feb. 6, 1991: W.W. Arcade closes its doors after almost 60 years
With light bulbs, lug nuts and live bait, the store had a little of everything
It wasn't exactly a traditional arcade with games to play, but the W.W. Arcade was a landmark shop on the corner of 97th Street and Jasper Avenue for close to 60 years.
The store was originally a hardware store when it first opened in 1932 under the name W.W. Sales Hardware. With a change in ownership came a change in focus, and in 1942 the business became W.W. Arcade.
The business closed in 1991 after 59 years of service.
Selling light bulbs, lug nuts and live bait, W.W. Arcade was like a general store of the past — complete with handwritten receipts.
For years, customers enjoyed the service from the experienced staff and the unique items.
They also had unique services; the light bulb tester mounted on the wall behind the counter made sure you didn't go home with a bad bulb.
But, as the shopping culture of Edmonton changed to a mall-centric, big-box-store metropolis, places like W.W. Arcade fell by the wayside.
After the original store closed, there were plans to reopen the store on the city's south side. Those plans never came to be.
The aptly-named Hardware Grill, which opened in 1996, now occupies the space the store once lived.
W.W. Arcade still lives on — at least a couple its own signs do in the Edmonton Neon Sign Museum on 104th Street and 104th Avenue.
In the video, Bill Laing takes a tour of the signature store and shows why the downtown hardware store is remembered fondly by many long-time Edmontonians.
