Starting in the late 1980s, I started doing some of my grocery shopping in Chinatown, because the prices were low. I frequented a few different places, including Sun Hing's on the Northwest corner of St-Laurent boulevard and de La Gauchetière.
I remember a wiry white woman who spoke Chinese worked the cash there sometimes.
The original civic number was 180, at least it was starting around 1910, until 1927 when it was renumbered to 1050. However, before 1910, the addresses seem to have yet again different numbers, and it's hard to figure out what was listed. Also note that Lovell's lists de La Gauchetière street under "Delagauchetiere" (and of course St-Laurent was St.Lawrence).
????-1945 : Singer Shoe Company until 1945. (Also listed under "Greenspon J L & D" during the 20s. Earlier: Singer Mnfg Co (1900-) and Singer H. boots & shoes (1910), Singer Shoe Co Ltd. (1920).
No listings from 1945 until 1951 when it becomes the Wahnan Café / A.K.A. Wah-Nan Café
1955 : Rodeo Café Inc., A club operated by Greek immigrants but the building was owned by the Chan family.
1959 : Here's a photo of the Rodeo Café from the city of Montreal's archives, taken in April 1959 [document VM097-Y-02-D003B-0159-17]...
1970 : Lodeo Café. The Chans took over operation of the club, but renamed it slightly, changing the R to an L, and one story goes that it was because Chinese immigrants who learned English as a second language had trouble pronouncing R (sounding more like an L), so I see the change as a way of reclaiming the name. Other stories exist about this change.
I spotted the place in the movie Strange Shadows in an Empty Room (original title: Una Magnum Special per Tony Saitta). It was released in 1976, but was probably shot in 1975. Here is a framegrab from the film (during a crazy car chase scene)...
1976 : No listing until 1987-88 when it's the Luen Hing Supermarket Co Inc., still owned by the Chans.
by 1995 it's listed as Sun Hing / Supermarché Luen Hing
by 2000 it's simply Sun Hing
January 2007 : burned down. A photo of the aftermath can be seen here: Photo of Sun Hing grocery fire aftermath.
Present: still vacant, a lot surrounded by hoarding with an ever-changing coating of posters, and trees growing.
Researched and written by James Schidlowsky, Sept. 2019. Updated Nov. 2021 with a movie still of Lodeo Café. Updated Apr. 2024 with a photo of Rodeo Café.
References:Click here to return to the Montreal Historical Bits home page.