Eldon & Bessie Johnston
By Sheila Phibbs
The Haldimand Press
HAGERSVILLE—From streetscaping to housing developments, you don’t have to look far to see change in Haldimand. One of the most recent changes in Hagersville took place earlier this spring at the corner of King and Alma streets. While it is now under new ownership (Sobey’s), Hagersville Foodland will always be synonymous with the Johnston family and the contributions they have made to the community over the last 60 years.
When thinking about Hagersville Foodland, formerly IGA, some may not realize that the Johnstons did not always live in Hagersville.
Eldon and Bessie Johnston lived in Stoney Creek where Eldon owned Clark’s IGA with his brother-in-law. However, they wanted to move to a small town to raise their children – Cam, Gail, and Cathy – when the grocery store in Hagersville became available for purchase.
Gail recalls their dad talking about buying the store: “Dad said they had to go to Toronto to get a loan and he wondered why this person would offer them the support.” Perhaps ‘that person’ recognized the commitment and dedication, not just to business but also to community, that would be the hallmark of the Johnston’s success.
The Johnston’s IGA opened in December 1959 and Gail and Cathy, sometimes known as ‘the Johnston girls’, acknowledge that their parents felt the initial growing pains. But, always looking to the future, the once small store expanded as the business grew. As Gail suggests, “It has been 60 years of figuring out what works in the community.”
That mindset was put to the test in September 2001 when a fire caused significant damage to the store. Though devastated by the blaze, the family knew they wanted to rebuild even bigger. Gail and Cathy note that their dad was close to 90, but “he was in charge of the rebuild.”
Gail noted they were concerned about being “shuttered” for a year or more of construction, but someone had the idea to set up business in the vacant Canadian Tire Store to continue business.
Gail and Cathy say that once they moved here, their parents never thought of anywhere else as home; they embraced the town in a quiet way. That included investing in the community through their support of minor league sports, church groups, service clubs, the hospital, and figure skating.
Eventually, three generations worked together as Eldon and Bessie were both in the store well past retirement alongside their children and grandchildren. The Johnston siblings always shared management responsibilities for the store and, when Cam retired in 2014, his sisters carried on the family business.
“You’re always conscious that you have 50 employees counting on you for a wage, to be a success,” said Gail, explaining that a major part of the success of the business is the employees as they are who the customers see. “We’ve always had really great staff. The strength of the store has been the dedicated people working there.”
Not to be forgotten are the customers. Since their last day at the store on May 4, 2019, it is the daily contact with the people that Gail and Cathy miss the most.
In a business that has always faced competition, ‘the Johnston girls’ express their families’ gratitude to the loyal customers: “Everyone helped make us successful and made going to work a pleasure.”
Generations of families have countless memories of times spent riding in, walking beside, or pushing a cart up and down the aisles of Hagersville IGA/Foodland.
No matter the name on the exterior, it’s the family inside the store that will always be remembered for the good value that was put on the shelves and given back to the community.
