The Warshaw Supermarket (3863 St. Laurent) was a fixture on the Plateau throughout the second half of the C20th. As documented in the locally produced film Warshaw on the Main (InformAction, 1999) the store played host to a succession of colourful characters, not least of all its manager, Mrs. Levy. In later years the store was known for its rather eclectic range of products and produce. Warshaw closed in December 2002, and was replaced with a Pharmaprix (which immediately became the focus of a planning controversy relating to its own sign). There is currently a newer and smaller Warshaw store at Atwater Market selling contemporary interior decor.
Photographer: Alex Margineanu © InformAction Films inc.
We believe that the sign itself dates from the late 1950s or early 1960s. It consists of seven capital letters — 11″ deep metal boxes with red plastic fascias and interior illumination. An elaborate italicized ‘W’ logotype appeared to the left of the letters (see FRAG 3863), but its fate is unknown. In technical terms the letters are galvanized spot-welded metal with pigmented plastic substrate.
The sign was initially rescued by Québec-based artist Nicolas Fleming and stored and occasionally put on display by the Société de développement du boulevard Saint-Laurent and Les Amis du boulevard Saint-Laurent. The MSP took custody of the seven letters in October 2008, courtesy of the SDBSL, Les Amis, and Mr. Harvey Levy. In Spring 2010 the sign was repaired by Transworld Signs and installed in the CJ Building on the Loyola campus on a special plinth built by Facilities Management.
References
3863 FRAG (Warshaw)
Montreal settles Warshaw’s supermarket sign dispute. CBC News Montréal (Feb 23, 2007).
Warshaw on the Main (1999, InformAction Films). Dir. Tally Abecassis.
Warshaw — a haven of delicious — merged with tum,
from around Montreal we all could come,
to share in fresh –merged with yummy,
to satisfy anyone with a tummy.
Before there was Loblaws with their thousand stores,
or even Steinberg’s, became IGA and Metros,
The Levy’s greeted people from near and far,
They were here before we even had a car.
We took a streetcar and then a bus,
to wandered the world — as they knew us,
they searched the globe to find those cool
products — from pots and pans to a stool,
To make our house into a home,
A ‘Levy Lilt’ — and hence this Poem!
Mazel Tov Helen and Robby!