Groceteria.com

Any ideas on the original purpose and identity of this one?

The shallow pitched roof with exposed beam-ends is similar to that of the gable stores that Safeway was opening in Winnipeg around 1960...but the scale is not. The footprint of the building is only around 8000-9000 square feet. Note the snazzy sign, which has got to be original.

Brief update, after checking the most obvious resources for leads:

Google Street View proves that the building is a former supermarket, and it operated as a Shop-Easy store as late as 2009. Shop-Easy is a chain name that came up during my Thunder Bay research, and I *thought* it had gone totally defunct in the 1970s...but this wouldn't be the first time I had my preconceptions challenged! The store also once had front display windows, with a circular sign (for a circle-S logo?) by the door.

The Winnipeg Tribune archive shows that this address was a Family Fare store in 1977-80. The paper didn't yield any earlier references.

Fortunately, as luck would have it, a local history book on Beausejour is also online. Page 760 (geez, how thick is this thing?) says:

In 1964, after enlargements and remodelling were not enough, a new store was built at the corner of 500 Park Avenue and Second Street. Leo and Gordon [Kaatz] remained in partnership until April 5, 1975, at which time the business was sold."

So it was originally an independent store.

Andrew T. wrote: ↑23 Sep 2021 18:14 proves that the building is a former supermarket, and it operated as a Shop-Easy store as late as 2009. Shop-Easy is a chain name that came up during my Thunder Bay research, and I *thought* it had gone totally defunct in the 1970s...but this wouldn't be the first time I had my preconceptions challenged! The store also once had front display windows, with a circular sign (for a circle-S logo?) by the door.

Makes sense that could happen in a Canadian setting, as it has in the USA, where a chain has basically dissolved/gone bankrupt but one (or a few) stores keep independently using the name as no one else cares or challenges their use of it.

More updates. This article from 1970 lists Shop-Easy as one of the 60 discrete companies then owned by George Weston Ltd...which links the chain to Loblaws. (Geez, is there a single Canadian grocery brand of the last 50 years that Loblaws, Sobeys, or Metro don't control?)

Furthermore, the Loblaws Freshmart website shows the Shop-Easy logo as an active brand...and apparently, there are still a handful of Shop-Easy stores scattered in small towns throughout western Canada!

So that's where things stand...