“Meet you at The Bay” was a regular refrain for me growing up. As a young teenager, it was to the Market Mall location, where my friends and I would scrutinize the make-up aisle and spritz on their free perfume samples. Then there was always a mission to some other store in the mall where someone wanted to spend their allowance or babysitting money. The Bay was usually too expensive to actually shop in! But it was our gathering spot.
Many people have an affinity to a particular store. For my mom, it was Sears, the practical department store where she could purchase household items for her large family and even splurge on a slice of pie at the café every once in a while. For my former mother-in-law, it was Eaton’s with their sparkling merchandise. For me, it’s The Bay.
The No. 10 bus in Calgary would pick me up just around the corner from my home and drop me off right at The Bay Downtown. By my mid-teens, that’s where I spent many a Saturday along with lots of people back the day. If you think of Petula Clark singing ‘Downtown’, which was a hit in 1964, it explains everything perfectly: ‘When you’re alone, and life s making you lonely you can always go Downtown. When you’ve got worries, all the noise and the hurry seems to help, I know. Downtown.’
I would include the lyrics to the entire song if I could, because it spoke to me then and it speaks to me now. I adored stepping off that bus in front of The Bay and bobbing along 8th Avenue Mall. There was a little boutique on a lower level just across the street where you could buy something called Buffalo Sandals, which we were all wearing at the time (after we soaked them in water and let them dry to the exact shape of our feet). They burned incense and carried alternative clothing, and I loved it there. I was strongly drawn to ‘street culture’ and the streets around The Bay had it all. A bright and vibrant sense of community I’m referring to, not dangerous culture that leaves people vulnerable. Downtowns were different in the 1970s.
There were also visits to downtown when I never even set foot in The Bay, but we always parked at The Bay parkade to begin whatever quest we were on. I once adopted a precious kitten that had been abandoned in that parkade and rescued by the Humane Society. But more times than not, we were inside The Bay.
I’ve already written about my pilgrimage to The Sixth Floor to have Anne Murray sign the very first album I had ever purchased. My oldest sister got one of her first jobs working part time at the malt shop on the second floor of the flagship store. I remember a special outing when the whole family stood smiling in front of the counter so she could serve us – a celebration of the launch of the next generation into commercialism! I was about 11 years old and I was so proud of her.
I worked at a centre for newcomers in Red Deer when I was taking my ill-fated first year of the social work program (which I wrote about recently). There used to be a Bay in downtown Red Deer at the time, and I told one of my clients that I would meet him there. He rode transit for the full length of the bus route, looking for a body of water.
‘Meet you at The Bay’, indeed. We will all be circling round and round soon, looking for large department stores which are quickly becoming passe for so many reasons. For me, The Bay always was the centre of the community. I will miss it, even though it remained too expensive for my pocketbook for my whole life!
Visit Sandy’s website at LifeInRetirement.ca
