Storied Ste-Catherine St., the vibrant heart of Montreal, dates back to 1758, two years before the British conquest, with the beginnings of the Faubourg St-Laurent, a suburb separated from the heart of the city by marshes.

For 150 years or so, it was largely a mixed residential street. Then, in 1891, Henry Morgan & Co. made the brash move uptown, building the fine architectural gem known as Colonial House, facing Phillip’s Square.

Morgan’s move ushered in a golden age of department stores on the street, followed by retailers large and small, theatres and burlesque halls, strip clubs, restaurants and sports venues, and now the Quartier des Spectacles.

Dinu Bumbaru, policy director at Héritage Montréal, on St. Catherine street in Montreal.
Photo by Dario Ayala

Ste-Catherine St., circa 1900.

Along the way, it became the vibrant heart of the city – chaotic, for sure, as Dinu Bumbaru of Heritage Montreal describes it – the venue for parades and protests, shopping and dining, strolling and entertainment. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, it’s elbow to elbow for shoppers. When a Stanley Cup game ends in disappointment – or jubilation, the vandals come out. When armistice was declared on May 7, 1945, ending five years of World War II, throngs celebrated on the street.

“It’s a shopping street, it’s not a shopping centre. The street may be chaotic, but there’s life to it until 3 o’clock in the morning,’’ says Bumbaru.

“Even the old postcards are covered with scenes of the nightscape.”

It was also the gateway to Montreal because of its proximity to Windsor, Bonaventure and Central Stations, he points out.

The retail barons of the 20th century have created a legacy, Bumbaru says, and stores were built with spectacular features. Look up, he advises, to view the cornices and decorations on the upper floors. “It shows that even the most greedy retail architecture had a sense of participating in the theatre of the street.”

The entry of global giants like H&M or Victoria’s Secret has not changed the scale of Ste-Catherine, but many local retailers have decamped to the underground malls.

The city should have a strategy, Bumbaru says, to save space for artists’ studios, for instance, as happened with the Belgo Building, or to set up retail incubators. West of the downtown core, rents are cheaper, he points out, and new retailers tend to set up shop there.

But back to Morgan’s, purchased by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1960, although its name was not changed to The Bay until 1972. Its move uptown was met by derision and doubt, but many shops followed from the Old Montreal business district – and prospered.

Vintage image of Morgan’s, now The Bay.

Among the names that might not be recalled by most of us today: S. Carsley, W. H. Scroggie, John Murphy,  Hamilton, and Goodwin’s. For more recent recollections, the T. Eaton Co. bought Goodwin’s (formerly Carsley) in 1925; in 1929, Murphy’s became Simpson’s. In Montreal, Simpson’s – then owned by The Bay – closed in 1989; 10 years later the once mighty Eaton’s department chain went bankrupt. Also in 1999, Simons, the venerable Quebec City-based institution, moved to Ste-Catherine St. in part of the former Simpson’s building.

And then there is Ogilvy, known as the Grande Dame of Ste. Catherine St., which opened in 1866 as a linen shop on Mountain St. just north of St. James, moved to Ste-Catherine St. in 1896 and across the street to its current pride of place in 1912.

Now owned by Holt Renfrew, it is in the process of renovation, expansion and merger with Holt Renfrew.

Further east, Dupuis Frères opened up shop in 1868 near St. Hubert. It went out of business in 1978. Bumbaru explains that topography – the natural slope that is Bleury St., the marshes that separated the old city from the new – and the dead zone that once characterized the area between Bleury and St-Laurent Blvd., split off the eastern area from what became the downtown shopping zone.

Change is inevitable, of course, and so it goes for the street itself, which is undergoing a major renovation, with plans for heated and widened sidewalks, more trees, and more places for pedestrians to sit.

Much is at stake.

Heritage Montreal has been asked to sit on planning committees working on the renewal of the street.

“They’re very conscious of the very fragile ecosystem that they’re working with,’’ Bumbaru says of the city. “They don’t want this to turn into a page of the history book that says, ‘There was once upon a time a lively street called Ste-Catherine.’”

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Talk about the beautification of Ste-Catherine St. W. Pharmaprix has just opened its seventh “Enhanced Beauty Boutique,” or Galerie Beauté as we say chez nous, in the country. It is 4,000 gleaming square feet of prestige and mass brands, plus the the usual drug store stock upstairs.

And the concept boasts the only Chanel counters in drug stores in the world.

Forty per cent of consumers buy both prestige and mass products – a little Maybelline mascara, perhaps, with your Chanel gloss – so it makes sense to pair the offerings in one store, explained Lana Gogas, communications manager for Shoppers Drug Mart.

New and exclusive is Paul & Joe, a mid-priced marvel with pretty packaging that sports a chrysanthemum motif and bright, clear colours. The spring collection, shown to media, draws on a butterfly inspiration. There’s a men’s section, fragrance area, and counters for Smashbox, Lancôme, Clarins and more. As at Sephora, employees don’t work for the brand – they work for the store, so they can offer objective advice.

What was especially impressive was the area with the (mainly French) clinical brands – I spotted my hard-to-find my Uriage facial oil cleanser. Not a sexy name or package, but it works just as well as the prestige brands at a fifth of the price.

Bright shades from Paul & Joe for spring and butterfly packaging for spring.

Pharmaprix, or Shoppers Drug Mart in the rest of Canada, operates two other drug stores on Ste-Catherine St. between Bleury and Guy, as well as another at Place Ville Marie. And its Murale banner, with dozens of prestige brands as well as services like facials and a brow bar, is also located at PVM.

So why add yet another beauty store to the mix?

Murale is a standalone beauty concept, Gogas said. Shoppers is about health and wellness as well, she said. But beauty has evolved, and “we really needed to elevate the experience.”

Well, the beautification of Montreal’s main shopping street continues. Victoria’s Secret will open just about across the street on Dec. 10 and then the fun really begins – wide, HEATED sidewalks, a supersized Holt Renfrew-Ogilvy (set for 2017, but who knows?) and then Saks Off Fifth.

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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 10: Model Valery Kaufman from Russia walks the runway during the 2015 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at Lexington Avenue Armory on November 10, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria’s Secret) *** Local Caption *** Valery Kaufman

Gigi in a butterfly look at Victoria’s Secret fashion show in New York. It will be televised Dec. 8. / Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria’s Secret

It’s been a long time coming but now we can report that Victoria’s Secret is bringing its second biggest store in the world to Ste-Catherine St. on Dec. 10.

Being a downtowner, I have watched and cursed the never-ending construction on the corner of Ste-Catherine and Stanley Sts. – and I also have managed to sneak a few peeks at the inside – which has a massive video screen at the back. In fact, there will be 45 video screens and 2,000 mirrors – I do have to see this (but I fear the lineup, if the Carrefour Laval opening was an example.)

It will house 33,000 square feet of frillies, plus sport, beauty and swim collections on three floors.

Ste-Catherine St. is indeed in transition; last week Pharmaprix opened a sleek Galerie Beauté – the only drugstore in the world with a Chanel counter; this morning, Ivanhoé Cambridge and The Bay announced a Saks Off 5th for the Eaton Centre (in 2018) – here’s my post; and we’re still waiting for details of the Ogilvy-Holt Renfrew 220,000-square-foot project, scheduled to open in 2017.

Here’s a feature I did on Ste-Catherine St. a while back.

The store is at 1171 Ste-Catherine St. W.

Model and new Victoria’s Secret Angel Monica “Jac” Jagaciak walks the runway during the 2015 Victoria’s Secret fashion show. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Victoria’s Secret)

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