A part of my childhood has just died…
A few blocks from our house in Vancouver was an old chocolate shop called Lee’s Candies. The shop was founded in the 1950s, and became a time-capsule of that era, with unchanged décor, moulds and scales from the 1920s, and an equally-ancient cash register that went “ka-ching!” in that satisfyingly old-fashioned way. The chocolates were made by hand, fresh every day, and were sold strictly by weight, not per piece.
The proprietor of the shop, in contrast, was an anachronism: Valeria, cheery with a plummy British accent, heavy Goth makeup and Morticia Addams hair, looking every inch like someone who would never be caught dead in a candy store. But she had worked in the store for years, learning the trade of the chocolate-maker, and eventually took over from the retiring owner, George Tedlock.
Many a time I would stop there after school and pick up a few squares of my favourite, mint truffle—better than any chocolate bar, but still cheap enough, even for a high school student.
Valeria barely eked out a living: she refused to modernize the store (I guess she really is Goth!), and cheerfully admitted that she probably made less than minimum wage. But she hung on, and became a neighbourhood institution.
Yesterday a four-alarm fire gutted three stores along the 4300 block of 10th Ave., and now Lee’s Candies is just a smouldering pile of rubble. I’m not sure that Valeria has the resources to start up again—new rents alone would be astronomical—and I know that developers are foaming at the mouth to raze those buildings and build condos. When there’s so much money at stake, I guess the fate of a little chocolate shop doesn’t really matter much—except to all the kids and adults who left messages of condolence attached to the chainlink fence around the storefront ruins.
Happier days…
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Peter says:
March 9, 2007 at 1:10 am (UTC 0)
This is a real blow. Valeria has been exceptionally kind to us over the years. Five years ago, just before Jon’s first hip operation, we got a box of chocolates in the mail, some for Jon and some special test flavours for us “to review”. When we dropped by last summer after six years away, she welcomed us as though we’d been away a week. I was days away from ordering some more in honour of the next operation (Lee’s never did mail-order, except to select regulars/addicts).
She’s one of those wonderful creative people that we’ve barely gotten to know. Her minimum wage comment that Laura mentioned was in the context of art; we were comparing notes about a life where one chooses to dedicate oneself to an art, rather than take the beaten path. Valeria is an artist–she paints, she’s musical, and she creates chocolate. She will rebound from this. But it must be so hard.
Our hearts are with you, Valeria.
ken ambrose says:
March 9, 2007 at 8:41 am (UTC 0)
Growing up in Vancouver, my mom would put us on the bus for the long ride to the west side of town where our family doctor was. Across the street was Lee’s Candies, and being poor, it was a real treat when mom would cross the street and buy us chocolate at Lee’s. Recently I had rediscovered the store, and it has really saddened me to hear of the fire. Valeria, I hope something good will come of this. You have our support and best wishes.
Ken
Peter says:
March 9, 2007 at 9:38 am (UTC 0)
A short blog entry, but a good picture of Valeria here