Saint George Marsh
A grocery store for the art set on Main Street
CBC Radio 3, January 15, 2006

When East Vancouver residents stumble across Saint George Marsh at 28th Ave and St George Street, they wonder what the hell it is. It could be a grocery store. But then again, it might be an art gallery or an archive of vintage artifacts. In fact, Saint George Marsh is what happens when two former art school students collide with the city's restrictive zoning laws. Freelance journalist Sarah Efron went to check it out.

Gleeson: Popeye cigarettes, Thrills gum, Maltesers, Mackintosh toffee, wine gums, licorice pipes, cigars.

At first glance, it looks like a classic corner store. There's a shelf of groceries and candy at the counter. But shopkeepers Jacob Gleeson and Gareth Moore also have a display of vintage mountaineer gear, a case of silver collectors spoons and cassettes of eighties stars Tone Loc and Blondie. It's not clear what is a display and what is for sale.

Gleeson: We've got a smoking display. People come in here asking for cigarettes. We don't have any but we do taunt them with cigarette related art and games. We have been donated one sealed package of cigarettes but it's not for sale.

Moore: Actually it is for sale. It's $35.

Two women walk into the shop. They're interested in an unopened vintage can of no-name cat food. Moore throws in a beverage and a pack of cheesies and closes the deal for five bucks. This store was born in the June when Gleeson, a former art student, learned the space was vacant.

Gleeson: A friend bought the building handily. It was zoned so it has to remain grocery store according to city hall. We saw it as an opportunity to do something interesting and fun with it.

They rented the corner store, plus the apartment next door for only 800 dollars a month. Moore moved into the apartment and they named the shop Saint George Marsh after a historic wetland in the neighbourhood. Moore and Gleeson open the store in the evenings when they get back from their day jobs. The store isn't meant to be financially viable, although it does make some money selling ice cream bars and bags of chips.

But what do the neighbours say? Upstairs tenant Steve Fisher recalls his first encounter with Saint George Marsh.

Fisher: I wondered what the hell are you guys doing. There was a blend of muesli, some old backpacks. I'd left some old art I'd made out by the bin and they'd mounted it to the wall. The next thing I knew, I though we've got ourselves an art project and it kind of took off from there.

As night falls, Gleeson is setting up the lights in a corner of the shop called The Decoy Gallery. Its mandate is to show work by people who don't consider themselves artists-- they just happen to create things in their spare time.

Gleeson: Tonight we're celebrating an opening. It's the works of Red Roney, a 93-year-old veteran who does ceramic masks and is a prolific painter.

Soon local art scenesters come in for the opening. They drink beer and admire the ceramic heads of Jean Chrétien and Dustin Hoffman.

Gleeson says the city inspectors have visited their grocery store, but they haven't expressed any concerns. So it looks like more neighbours will get the chance to discover Saint George Marsh. And people who have already stumbled across it may be in for some discoveries as well.

Gleeson: We have rotating displays, so if you come in once, you've seen one reincarnation of the store, but if you come in again, you'll probably see something new.

In Vancouver, I'm Sarah Efron for CBC Radio 3.