If not for a dying request from Stefanija Wilson, Jasper听Park Liquor probably wouldn鈥檛 exist.
Wilson鈥檚 daughter Heather started the business in 1994, to help fulfill her mother鈥檚 request to keep the building at 630 Connaught Dr. in the family for her granddaughter.
The Class A heritage building is a beautiful one, which Stefanija had owned since she traded houses with her old Grade 1 teacher in the early 1960s. In 1979 she opened The Golden Fleece Boutique in the space鈥攕elling sheepskin to Jasperites through the 80s, and souvenirs later on, once the economy tanked.
Heather Wilson, who owned a preschool in Calgary at the time of her mother鈥檚 death, wanted desperately to fulfill Stefanija鈥檚 wish, but knew there was no way she could afford the $15,000 lease payment that came with the building.
鈥淎s a preschool teacher I wasn鈥檛 able to manage to pay for all that lot rental, and run my business in Calgary. So I had to do something,鈥� she explained in an interview from the upstairs apartment of the building, May 9.
Alcohol had just been privatized, so she decided鈥攄espite knowing nothing about the business鈥攖o open a liquor store. That marked the birth of Jasper Park Liquor, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month.
For Wilson, the idea was to provide a product that people could turn to to help them through both rough and happy times.
鈥淚f they come in here they鈥檙e looking for something to either help them through their happy times, or their sad times. The people who come into the store, generally speaking, are looking for something, so I thought well, that would be a good thing鈥攖o be able to help people in all their emotional states of life,鈥� she said.
Starting out with nothing more than a recommended list of products from the Alberta Liquor Control Board, and an empty retail space on the ground floor of the building, Wilson opened her store.
鈥淲hen I had the liquor store the selection was not鈥� grand,鈥� Wilson laughed. This was true despite the fact that most of her capital went towards stocking her new store. In fact, Wilson said, the initial investment was so costly she had to make the businesses鈥� original sign out of Styrofoam.
These days, the business is run by Wilson鈥檚 daughter Tammy Vathje. From the beginning, Vathje helped out at the store. Although she was going to university, she came to Jasper in the summers to help her mom out. In 1999 she moved to town full-time to work as its manager, and in 2004 bought the business outright.
Although the small interior of the building is somewhat of a burden today, Vathje explained that in the early days of the business they actually had too much space. Because of this they partitioned the ground floor off, and rented it to Vicious Cycle, which still occupies the space today.
And while that worked at the time, these days Vathje deals with the building鈥檚 space restrictions all the time. She said that all of her orders get dropped off outside the back door, and she and her employees often get soaked with snow and rain when they are stocking their inventory. Sometimes, she said, they string up tarps across the back of the entire lot to protect them from the elements.
She also laments the inventory 鈥淭etris鈥� she constantly has to play to ensure enough products are displayed and enough room remains to store the rest.
But despite those limitations, Vathje and Wilson are committed to keeping the building true to its original design for as long as possible. Part of that is because of the memories it holds for them, but another is a respect for its heritage.
Gilbert Morris Taylor, who for decades ran his photography shop out of it, built the building in 1936. In the 40s Morris sold it to another photographer, a Mr. Johnston, whose wife traded it to Stefanija Wilson in 1960, after his death.
According to Vathje, much of the building is still original; the retail counter and front door are the same that were there when Taylor first built it. Even the door handle is an original.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been offered many hundreds of dollars for the handle on that door because it鈥檚 so unique,鈥� Vathje said with a laugh.
For her part, Wilson, who now lives in the upstairs apartment, hopes the building will be around for at least a little while longer.
鈥淚 know it won鈥檛 remain forever and ever,鈥� Wilson said, 鈥渂ut I sincerely hope鈥擨鈥檓 63 now鈥擨 sincerely hope that in my lifetime this building remains.鈥�
It seems like a fair request.
Trevor Nichols
[email protected]听
