211 Bannatyne Avenue

J.H. Ashdown Hardware Company

James Henry Ashdown arrived in Winnipeg in 1868 and quickly set up a hardware and building material store to serve the growing city. In 1869 he purchased two lots at the corner of Main Street and Bannatyne Avenue and built a single storey timber frame building at 211 Bannatyne, where he would serve the public for the next 100 years as the J.H. Ashdown Hardware Company. Over the next century, Ashdown expanded his footprint across Canada, erecting wholesale and retail outlets in growing cities throughout the prairies. 

With his business booming, Ashdown started construction on a large warehouse at 167 Bannatyne Avenue in 1894. A year later, he negotiated a railway spur line to be constructed behind the newly erected building. Ashdown used to joke that he was the only company where the railway pulled up to his back door. Aside from the benefits of connecting his business to a national railway, the tracks allowed him to orchestrate one of Canada’s first publicity stunts. He gathered 40 rail cars with “Hardware from J.H. Ashdown” written on their slides and travelled town to town across western Canada to sell his wares.

The Ashdown company was one of the first Canadian businesses to create their own brand. In 1904, they launched the “Diamond A” product line, and stamped all their packages with the mark. The company also had their own mail-order business, to compete with Canada’s growing catalogue industry. J.H. Ashdown passed away in 1924, with his son Harry Ashdown taking over the business. By the late 1950s, they operated in 12 Canadian cities with revenues upwards of $14 million. However, a decade later, with declining revenues and increased market competition, The J.H. Ashdown Hardware Company ceased operations with the death of Harry Ashdown.