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Chris Doering added a report about an old hotel in rural Alberta to a mounting record of abandoned mom-and-pop establishments and other buildings from the 1900s that he documents on his website.
Acme Inn, Jack’s Shoe Store, Sam’s Service Station—places like these are fading fast from existence, Doering tells The Epoch Times. Doering’s hobby project probing into old businesses began 30 years ago. It became a job in recent years when companies started seeking him to investigate the histories of commercial buildings.
He believes the classic, old-fashioned corner store will probably never return.
“You can’t beat a large corporation,“ Doering says. ”A mom-and-pop store versus a chain store—they’ve got all the buying power and the convenience and that kind of stuff.”
Doering, 60, from Calgary, now divides his time between archive diving through old newspapers, writing reports, and driving to abandoned commercial spaces across Western Canada, accompanied by his wife, Connie Biggart. They not only take photos but also soak in the vibe and nostalgia, and document it all on “Off the Beaten Path with Chris and Connie.”
Acme Inn in Acme, Alberta. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
Dick's Service store in Climax, Saskatchewan. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
Front view of Dick's Service store in Climax, Saskatchewan. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
The old Alberta hotel is part of their latest expedition called the Beer Parlour Project. So far they’ve toured rural B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan recording and meticulously researching dozens of pubs and taverns.
“I always have a fascination for anything abandoned or historic,” he said, adding that “anything tied to commerce” suits his interest.
On a trip to the Victoria Hotel in Bruderheim, a tiny Albert town east of Edmonton with a population of 1,329, Doering and Biggart found it still alive, despite it’s being built in 1906. While exploring, they met Hazel, a former server, who pointed to an elderly man in a well-worn ball cap. “Old Willie there, he'd come every afternoon,” she said.
The couple chatted with locals, took photos, and delved deep into the history of the Victoria Hotel.
Doering’s hobby turned serious after he and Biggart decided to shut down their clothing manufacturing company in 2010. “It was doing well, but it was just so much hard work, if we kept up it would have killed us,” he said.
His wife told him: “Why don’t you have some fun for a while?” She said he should take his hobby more seriously. He took her up on her suggestion.
Victoria Hotel in Bruderheim, Alberta. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
The entrance to Victoria Hotel in Bruderheim, Alberta. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
Starting an online platform, Doering soon learned that people have a deep nostalgia for simpler times—for when corner store fronts displayed Coke and Pepsi signs, and when proprietors knew you by name.
“Everybody has fond memories, but at the same time, they would patronize the other chain stores because they are more convenient,” he said.
On one of his many trips westward through the mountains headed toward B.C., Doering found Catonio’s Groceteria in the village of Blairmore. Formerly owned by Giovanni Battista “John” Catonio, it was the 7-Eleven of its day. Run by an Italian family, it also sold Italian goods.
“You can look at it, even from a distance, and know instantly it was a corner store,” Doering said. The squarish red-brick building with wood panelling still stands today.
“The last phone book reference we can find of them was the early 1980s, and then they seemed to vanish,” he said. The Battistas moved out in the 1950s, and a plumbing operation apparently then moved in.
It’s anyone’s guess when the building was vacated. It’s now as faded as the Pepsi signage on its west wall.
The storefront of Catonio’s Groceteria in the village of Blairmore, Alberta. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
Catonio’s Groceteria in Blairmore, Alberta. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
Sibbald Gentleman's Club in Sibbald, Alberta. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
Travelling in all four cardinal directions, Doering has stumbled on seedier places along the way.
In February, he hit the road east from Calgary. On the endlessly flat Prairies near the border with Saskatchewan, he found the Sibbald Gentleman’s Club in the village of its namesake, with a population of 30 or 40. On his website, he took a stab at who might have patronized the establishment in 1980s.
“Local oilfield workers flush with cash, in the mood for a little edgy fun, and looking for a release might be a possibility,” he wrote. “This establishment was the very last business in town, and now it’s all quiet down there on Main Street.” Records say the club closed around 2015.
But beyond just corner stores, hotels, and nightclubs, his reports sweep across almost all commercial sectors.
An abandoned grain elevator in Butze, Alberta. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
Nick's Service Shop in Andrew, Alberta. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
A frontal view of Nick's Service Shop in Andrew, Alberta. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
Bamboo Garden Restaurant in Mayland Heights, Calgary. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
Jack's Shoe Store in Coronation, Alberta. Chris Doering and Joanna Biggart
There were old mountain railways abandoned after the advent of roads, which he traced through weeds. He’s covered obsolete grain elevators, the “prairie sentinels” that now lie in ruins by the thousands across Western Canada. He’s delved into the loss of some Calgary businesses, two being Kart Gardens go-carting racetrack, now long gone, and the Highland Golf Course, which closed a dozen years ago.
Lamenting the decline, Doering pointed to a photo of a shuttered store next to a classic small-town water tower in Coronation, Alberta.
“Jack’s Shoe Store was a long-running business, Jack got old and quit the business and locked up the store,“ he said. ”It still had stock inside, so if you look through the window, you can see shelves with shoes, and shoes that were getting repaired.”
Doering notes on his website that Jack’s is “now just another shuttered store in another small prairie town. It’s a trend common out in rural parts and one by one they close and the local economic base shrinks yet again. Rinse and repeat. The statistics paint a worrying picture.”
Seeing the direction things are going, does Doering wish he could turn back time? Would he bring back the Battistas and shoemaker Jack?
“Yeah, I have a fondness for that,” he said.
Doering says he pictures himself strolling into Jack’s shoe store and chatting with Jack about the weather. “It’s so personal,” he said, adding: “Now today, of course, it’s very impersonal. I mean, the world changes, and I accept that.”
Michael Wing is a writer and editor based in Calgary, Canada, where he was born and educated in the arts. He writes mainly on culture, human interest, and trending news.
