Hynes
In the late 1930’s, there was a triangular piece of property that every resident considered to be a park. It lay on the Island Highway across from the old Island Hall (now the Beach Club Resort). George Wilson wanted the land to become the first shopping centre in BC. Sadly, that designation went to Park Royal but George Wilson’s dream did come true.
Enter Edward Uran Hynes, a pharmacist born in Prince Edward Island, educated in Saskatchewan and looking to establish a drugstore in town. That was the beginning of the Hynes Drug Store the only pharmacy between Nanaimo and Courtenay. The drug store set the fashion trend of the day by including a soda fountain at which the best 10 cent milkshakes were served. A clothing store joined the drug store and then George Wilson’s Red and White grocery store. A shopping centre was established!
See p. 167 Parksville & then some by Marjorie Leffler
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