Businesses just like this were once a common in older residential neighbourhoods of towns big and small. We’re speaking of the humble corner store, even if many, like the one spoken of here, actually stood somewhere mid-street. These were the 7-11s and Macs Circle-Ks of the day, convenient and close to home. We’re in the Crownsest Pass of Alberta and our subject was long ago home to Catonio’s Groceteria.
The business dates to 1929 and was first operated by Italian born Giovanni Battista (GB) “John” Catonio, who came to the Pass the decade before. Later some of his immediate family came on board and the business changed its name to Catonio Brothers. Still, to everyone it was plain old Catonio’s or sometimes mentioned as GB Catonio’s Grocery in various ads of the era. They offered Italian specialties and groceries in general.
Catonio’s Groceteria Blairmore Alberta: a corner store that closed long ago. By Chris Doering & Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)
Let’s give a shout out to “JLaF” for sponsoring this and many other posts at BIGDoer.com. Do the same…
In the 1960s directories list both a Catonio’s Groceteria and Catonio Brothers Grocers with different (but close) phone numbers. The addresses are not listed (old phone directories didn’t always do that), but data suggests they were one and the same in regards to location. Perhaps each arm of the business functioned in some differing capacity? Italian goods verses the rest of it? Wholesale and retail? Your guess is as good as ours.
Scroll down for photos and to comment.
In the late 1960s and beyond, it’s only shown as Catonio’s Groceteria, but they use both of the earlier phone numbers. Two lines suggest things could get busy.
The Crowsnest Historical Driving Tour pamphlet mentions Catonio’s operated out of this building on the south side of Blairmore (19th Ave) into 1965. Older phone directories do no list addresses, recall, so they’re not any help here. The firm did continue in business, that much we know, but it’s not clear if here or at a later confirmed location.
By 1975, addresses appear in local directories and shows the business at a spot right across the tracks in downtown Blairmore. That’s on 20th Ave just west of the Cosmopolitan Hotel at 120th Street (earlier 20th Street). There’s an insurance firm operating out of this location today.
The last phone book entry we can find for Catonio’s appears in the early 1980s and then they seem to vanish.
Meanwhile, GB Catonio seemed to have moved to Calgary about 1960-ish before passing on in 1967. His address in town here puts him at the very centre of what today is the business district of trendy Inglewood.
Catonio’s store is attached to a house and that was common at the time. The business owner lived where they worked and had the shortest commute on the planet. It’s the building on the left side in the photos, although the home to the right is close to touching the store’s west wall and from certain angles also looks connected.
A couple plumbing and heating firms worked out of the old store in the 1970s-1980s period and for a time (early 2000s? – records are missing) the building was part of a Bed and Breakfast (operating out of the old house?). There’s gaps in the data but left over signage for the Bee Hive B&B on a window suggest they were perhaps the last tenant.
Otherwise, the old Catonio’s Store has been vacant for long stretches and looking inside as best we could, suggests it been a while since anyone went inside. The house appears occupied or is used in some capacity, however.
Pop companies would often pay for the store’s signage in exchange for advertising and on the west wall look for a faded Pepsi logo from the 1950s-1960s period. It almost appears they painted over another sign and some (perhaps) older hard-to-decipher lettering shows at the top. To the right you’ll see “Catonio Bro’s” spelled out.
The building is a typical corner store, with big picture windows to display the wares, and a recessed door. You can look at it, even from a distance, and know instantly it was a corner store. They all shared certain design characteristic and if you’re like us, seeing that recognizable form inspires a flood of memories. Kids knew what treasures they held and were particularly good at spotting them from long distances away.
The folks would send us down to the store for the paper, or smokes, and always included an extra coin or two for penny candy. Deciding on what to choose could easily eat up ten or fifteen minutes and for a child were some of he most difficult decisions in life up to that point. Much to the annoyance of the storekeeper, no doubt.
Mojos or spearmint leaves? It’s a question for the ages and the only logical solution for a six year old was to get both.
These old family-run stores were a treasure, personable, friendly and a place to catch up on local gossip. Present day convenience stores seem so impersonal in comparison, but such is progress.
Team BIGDoer are regulars in the Crowsnest Pass (it’s our second home) and we have explored towns in the area extensively, but we really didn’t know about Catonio’s until fairly recently. That’s how it goes sometimes – you think you know a place well and then comes a special surprise like this. No doubt we passed it by before, but it didn’t click.
We’re looking at a cool little building and while we don’t have an intimate connection to it specifically, we do with places very similar. It’s the same store from our childhood, only in a different town and with a different name.
Something to say and no one to say it to? Go here: Contact Us!
Date of adventure: August 2021 and December 2025. Location: Blairmore, Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, Alberta. Article references and thanks: Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, Alberta Culture & Multiculturalism, FindaGrave.com, plus Alberta Government Telephone records @ Medicine Hat & District Genealogical Society and Calgary Public Library.
_________________________
BIGDoer.com: Historic Connections & Comparisons – Pop History – Simply Fun!
Comments are (OFF)