Pay 'n Save in Vancouver, BC

Seattle's Pay 'n Save drug store's blue and green signs were a prominent part of the (American) Northwest's retail landscape from Alaska to Wyoming.  I was surprised to read that the drug store chain had stores north of the border in in the 1970s.  However, a check of some Vancouver area phone directories confirmed this.  I found a few stores in the Lower Mainland, starting with the 1973 phone directory and ending with the 1980 Vancouver directory.  In 1973, three stores are listed:

• 2331 E Hastings, Vancouver, BC
• 1444 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver, BC
• 5125 Victoria, Vancouver, BC

While really just a drug store, for some reason they are listed as 'Pay 'n Save Department Stores'.  Also, please note that it's possible that these stores were open before 1973; this is the first directory I had access to, where they are referenced.

The 1977 Fraser Valley directory lists three additional locations:

• 22390 Fraser Hwy, Langley, BC
• 10206 128th St, Surrey, BC
• 8037 120th St, Delta, BC

The 1978 and 1980 Vancouver directories list only the E Hastings location.   This is the last reference I found, so it seems that Pay 'n Save left the market around that time.

It's entirely possible other stores existed.  If so, I will update the map.

Looking at this 40 years in the future, Pay 'n Save's Canadian operation seems unlikely to have had any chance of success. Their locations seem marginal at best.  Canadian competition, in the form of Shoppers Drug Mart and London Drugs seems like it would have been tough.  (They are both strong retailers today, though I suppose it's possible they were not quite as with it back then.)  Plus, Target Canada shows us that branching out in Canada wasn't necessarily as simple as putting up a sign and opening for business.  Still, this is an interesting footnote in the Pay 'n Save story.  I wish I could have visited one of these Vancouver-area stores!