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Source : Bradford West Gwillimbury Times
Media Type : Newspaper Article
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Community : Bradford
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Description : D-Day had launched the greatest invasionary force in recorded history. The allies, from their toe-hold on the beaches of Normandy, were driving the Nazi armies back toward Germany. On the home front, the mood was one of optimism, even though items were still in short supply, and rationing a fact of life. And in Bradford, on July 15th, 1944, William Compton opened the "Carload Groceteria" on Holland Street West. Compton purchased Sutherland's grocery and bakery shop, which had been in business since the 1850's. With the assistance of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, he managed to stock his shelves, despite war-time restrictions. After the war, rationing came to an end, and Bradford began to grow, as immigrants, most from central Europe and the Netherlands, moved to the area. William's son, Gordon, grew up in an increasingly cosmopolitan town, and remembers primarily the "absolute honesty" of the new arrivals. "Their sense of honor was the only thing they arrived in Canada with," Gord Compton says. "Bradford was a heck of a nice place to grow up in." Gord helped out around the store, as soon as he was old enough to stock the shelves, and prepare and deliver orders. In those days, deliveries were complicated by the lack of street numbers. Residents would phone in an order and identify themselves - either by name, or if they were new to the area, by their residence: the old Smith house, the Jones house. "It was a very different era," Gord remembers. "You knew everybody in town, and of course, everybody knew you." The end of the war also brought the rise of the Chain Store. In 1951 William Compton joined with other independent grocers and Oshawa Wholesalers to form I.G.A., and the store became Compton's I.G.A. Compton's kept pace with the growth of the town, moving to new and larger premises on John Street in 1966 and finally to its current location, in August 1983. The store is now under the management of the third generation, Gord's son David. It is David who is organizing the 50th anniversary celebrations.