Downtown Nanaimo Business Graveyard

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This is a list of businesses that once graced downtown Nanaimo. As noted elsewhere, there was a time when the local business community was strong enough to support a thriving media landscape: the Daily Free Press published six days a week with 10,000 paid subscribers. There was also the weekly shopper, the Nanaimo Times, and CHUB radio.

That media didn’t exist by accident—it existed because downtown commerce was healthy, busy, and prosperous.

Today, despite years of spending and repeated efforts to “reinvent” downtown Nanaimo, there are very few true destination businesses that reliably draw people downtown.

140 Downtown Business That Have Come and Gone

(with thanks to Nanaimo native son Kevin Shaw for his help compiling this list) 

GONE:

  • 7-Eleven

  • A&B Sound

  • Acme Restaurant

  • Air - Sea Travel

  • Anderson's Clothing

  • Archie Johnson's

  • Bank of BC

  • Bank of Montreal

  • Bar Room Sports

  • Bardot Hair Studio

  • Barsby Sporting Goods

  • Bastion Gallery Frames

  • BC Hydro

  • Big Scoop Ice Cream

  • Black and Blue Tattoo

  • Black Beard's Pub - bottom of Villa

  • Black Beard's Pub downstairs in Villa

  • Black's Camera's

  • Block Bros Real Estate

  • book stores galore & "coffee" shops

  • Boris Taxi

  • Brian Ball stationary

  • Buy, Sell and Trade

  • CAC Loans and Financing

  • Capital Theatre

  • Catto's Cameras

  • Charlie the Barber

  • Charlie York Men's Wear

  • Cheap Air Travel - where Red's Bakery is now

  • CHUB Radio

  • Chevron where new bus depot/parking lot is now

  • CIBC Bank

  • Cloverdale Paint and Paper

  • Commercial Hotel

  • Coast-FM Radio

  • Copp Shoes

  • Cougar Cabs

  • CPR Ferry Docks

  • Dakin's Boots, Shoes and Furniture

  • Dick Provost Motors

  • Dizzy's Nightclub

  • Eagle's Hall

  • Eatons

  • Englefield Photo studio

  • Esso where TD Bank is now

  • Field's Department Store (in Harbour Park Mall)

  • Filthy McNasty's Restaurant, which became Acme

  • Fine Lines Gold and Silver

  • Fletchers Furniture

  • Friends of Haven

  • Funk Your Fashion

  • Glenn's Fabulous Sandwiches

  • Goodwill

  • Gordo's Burgers Restaurant

  • Graham Chesterfield

  • Guvernor's Restaurant - Harbour Park mall

  • Hank's Cycle Shop

  • Harding's Jewelers

  • Hill's Indian Crafts

  • Hoppers Jewelers

  • Household Finance Loans

  • In-Print

  • Industrial Plastics

  • Islander Cafe

  • Isherwood's Men's Clothing

  • Jean Burns Women's Wear

  • Kelly's Stereo Mart!

  • Ken Thompson Men's Wear

  • Kennedy Drugs

  • Kits Cameras

  • Legion on Wallace Street

  • Lindsay's stationary and lunch counter

  • Lloyd's Smoke Shop and Confectionary

  • Long and McQuade Music

  • Lovick Photography

  • Mac-Blo Nanaimo HQ

  • Maycock Optical

  • McFarlane Travel

  • McLaren Lighting

  • Merit Interior Design

  • Meyers Holland Motors

  • Montgomery Ward department store

  • Motave Restaurant

  • Mr. Mike's Steak House

  • Nanaimo and District Credit Union

  • Nanaimo Cablevision

  • Nanaimo Community Policing Office

  • Nanaimo Daily Free Press

  • Nanaimo Lawn Bowling green

  • Nanaimo Printers

  • Nanaimo Realty

  • Nanaimo Smoke Shop

  • Nanaimo Sportsman

  • Nanaimo Times

  • Nanaimo Travel

  • Nash Hardware

  • National Land

  • Overwaitea at back of where conference centre is

  • Paramount Theatre

  • Peddle Pusher

  • Pirate Chips

  • Post Office building

  • Queen's Hotel barber shop

  • Quinn Jewelers

  • Rendezvous

  • Rick Wood Men's Wear

  • Safeway

  • Sally Shop for women

  • Scotch Bakery

  • Scoundrel Nightclub

  • Sears 

  • Sears Automotive

  • Sebastion's Nightclub

  • Second hand stores everywhere

  • Senini Graphics

  • Shoppers Drug Mart in Harbour Park Mall

  • Shell on Vic Cres.

  • Shoreline Hotel became Villa then Dorchester

  • Shuffle's Nighclub

  • Singer Sewing Machine

  • Smith's Butcher

  • Speedy Auto Glass

  • Strand Theatre

  • Stuart and Hudson Building Supplies on Terminal near bridge

  • Super-Valu

  • Sweet 16 - women's clothing store

  • Tally-Ho

  • Tel-Anne Answering Service

  • Terminal Hotel Cafe

  • Texaco Gas

  • The Cobbler Shoe Repair

  • The NewsStand

  • Tivoli's Nightclub

  • Tommy Tucker's Chicken

  • Toys 'n Things - Harbour Park mall

  • Treasure Trove

  • Vancouver Island Coach Lines bus depot

  • Willing Wayne the Discounter

  • Wong Bros. Shoe Repair

  • Yale Shoes


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