There she goes – Henderson’s Store is no more

On Friday morning, Valerie Henderson stood at the window inside her home on Norway Bay’s Wharf Road and watched as a large digger took its first knock at the long, white garage-like building – what came to be known as the Henderson’s store – where she and her family had served the community for more than three decades.
The digger had been stationed in the open lot directly across from her window since the previous Friday, lined up with its elbow pointed at the structure it had been hired to destroy, ready to strike when summoned. But the long weekend followed by last week’s rain and snow had punted the actual demolition day into an undefined future.
As Henderson waited for the demolition to begin, so too did the community. Messages poured in on Facebook from year-round neighbours and cottagers alike sharing memories of the iconic building that had offered itself as a community hub since it was built in 1959.
People wrote of sunset walks to get ice cream, loading up on candies when they were only one cent each, working their first job as a cashier at the store, getting freshly cut meats from the meat counter Henderson’s son Andy opened in the mid 90s, playing pool to the sound of the jukebox, and the list goes on.
“This was my childhood home!” wrote Susie Wiggins, daughter of Norm Wiggins who bought the building after he helped Campbell’s Bay’s Sylvio Arbic build it and ran it as a boat and snowmobile storage and repair shop for almost 20 years.
“My dad would play the accordion or his harmonicas before I went to bed down in the shop [and] I would lay on a snowmobile in my pjs and listen to him,” Wiggins recalled.
She said her father Norm passed away in November 2022, and doesn’t think he would have been able to bear seeing it torn down.
“It was really sad for him to see it had fallen apart,” Wiggins said, herself tearing up at the thought of losing the place that was so filled with memories from 10 years of her childhood.
The Henderson family bought the building from Norm Wiggins after moving from Toronto in the late 70s. When the family closed the store in 2018, the plan was never to tear it down, but the snow load that accumulated on the building when the heating was shut off caused its structure to collapse.
“So now we’re putting her down,” Henderson said. “Actually, council has told us we have to.”
Andy, who bought the building from Henderson a few years back, said he has not yet decided what he is going to do with the lot.
“I’m just kind of exploring all my options right now. I have some ideas but nothing is really finalized.”
On Friday morning, Henderson called THE EQUITY with an update.
“I just wanted to let you know that it’s happening.”