Originally posted to facebook on January 4, 2026. Excerpts republished on Chinatown Today with permission of the author.
My sister posted this pic a few days ago after she visited Chinatown to find that the sign for our family’s old bookstore was no longer on the building. Attached are two images of 105 E. Pender St in Vancouver’s Chinatown. Now, some sort of fast-food place, it was my dad’s bookstore from the late 1950’s until his retirement in the late 1990’s. He established his first store on the unit block of E. Pender in the early 1950’s, moving into this location several years later. The sign, originally replete with neon trim, was created and installed in the early 1960’s. As I understand, when the folks who bought the store from my dad on his retirement decided to close the store a few years later, the sign was supposedly designated as “historically significant” by the City of Vancouver. However, such designations come with no teeth. So, as with many other items officially deemed “historically significant”, the landlord/property owner simply chooses to neglect the item. Once the item is neglected long enough, it can be certified as “dangerous”. And once that it done, the property owner then can have it removed or demolished without being subject to any consequences for removing or altering a “historically significant” item or structure.
I have many memories that are intimately associated with the “KC Book Co.” and this location. It is where I spent a significant portion of my early childhood. I started coming to this store literally as a babe in arms. Both my dad and my mom worked to make this store succeed. So, this is where they brought me. The Chinatown of the day was very much a real community and as I grew, I too became a part of that community. I went with my parents to visit or patronize other stores; I have memories of being in the original Ming Wo when I was barely a toddler. Most other stores were also family-operated. So, their young children were also brought to Chinatown. Many of my days were spent playing on the sidewalks or in other stores with other kids from the neighbourhood. We literally wandered for blocks in search of new adventures. We were able to explore places as diverse as the Carnegie Library (at that time it was Vancouver’s Museum), the unit and 100 and 200 blocks of E Hastings with the Lux Theatre, and the shore of False Creek which used to run all the way to Keefer and Columbia. It was during these wandering that I discovered Hogan’s Alley (Vancouver’s Black neighbourhood), the Strathcona District, and Skid Row (now part of the Downtown Eastside).
During my childhood, the store was open 10 AM to 11 PM every day except Wednesday. This was similar to most other shops and stores in Chinatown. So, we ate meals as a family; either closing the shop for an hour to go to a local restaurant or getting takeout to bring back to the store. This is when I found out about some of Chinatown’s “secret” passageways. Our store, like most, had a tiny kitchen area at the very back. The area had a narrow door in the wall. It opened to reveal a dark, narrow walkway that led behind several of our neighbouring stores. At the end of the passage, a door exited into the kitchen of the “Green Door Restaurant” (which later gained cult-status amongst foodies in the 1970’s). So, we were able to get “takeout” without actually going out.
Many of my seminal experiences are linked to this store. I remember watching Winston Churchill’s funeral procession on the store’s TV. Likewise for JFK’s. And I literally spent an entire day standing in a small group watching the Apollo 11 landing and the first moon walk live on TV. I also remember meeting Bruce Lee when he was a young man who was just developing his personal philosophies and his Jeet Kune Do. He used to drive up from Seattle to buy martial arts books from my dad. Then there were the annual Chinese New Year parades in front of the store. So many memories.
My dad started the store as a Chinese bookstore. However, it morphed into being so much more. It became one of Chinatown’s hidden cultural hubs. My dad was well-known for his elegant “hand” in creating Chinese Calligraphy. For several generations, he was the go-to person for creating Chinese banners, posters, and signage. Early on, my dad started “mail-ordering” books, magazines, and periodicals to customers all over North America. The store had, for many years, the largest collection of classical Chinese literature as well as contemporary written works, magazines, and various Chinese-language periodicals available in Canada or the US. By the mid-1960’s, my dad started selling Chinese vinyl records, both contemporary and classical music. In the late 1960’s, he added 8-track tapes. And then cassette tapes as they became popular. For many years, our store was the only North American source for authentic Chinese-language music. My dad always had music playing in the store and out on the entrance to the store; something now common, but very usual in its day.
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