| Navan institution celebrates 110 years in
business
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
J.T. Bradley's Country Convenience Store owner
John Bradley joins the band 'Ambush' on stage during the store's
110 anniversary party on Saturday night. Fred Sherwin/Photo
It's not by chance that J.T. Bradley's Country Convenience Store
is located in the heart of Navan. For the past 110 years it
has functioned as both food provider and community centre to
five generations of Navan residents.
On Saturday night the store threw a party at the Navan Curling
Club to say thank you for the community's support down through
the years.
"It's not much, but it's the least we could do,"
said the store's owner John Bradley. "We just want everybody
to have a great time."
Bradley's great-grandfather John Thomas Bradley first opened
a general store on the same site as the current establishment
in 1898 after moving to Navan with his family from Blackburn
Hamlet.
After J.T.'s passing in 1932, his two sons Morris and William
took over the business and continued to operate it for the next
43 years until it passed into the hands of Morris' son Lorne
who operated it as a Red & White produce and grocery store.
In 1990 Lorne sold the business to Gerry Labelle who turned
it into a convenience store. Four years later, John Bradley
bought the store from Labelle to once again bring it into the
family fold.
The store has undergone a lot of changes over the years and
even survived a devastating fire that destroyed the original
building in August 1948. John's father Ross Bradley was 15 years
old at the time.
"It was late in the afternoon after a very hot and dry
day. Someone was burning garbage behind the old St. Mary's Hall
that was right beside the store and it got out of control. It
was a very bad day."
Bradley grew up in the white house that sits in the lot on
the east side of the current store. As the fire spread through
the old store, the family tried to save as many of their possessions
as possible, believing it would spread to the house.
"I remember they were pitching stuff out the second floor
window and it was falling and breaking on the ground. We thought
we were going to lose the house for sure, but you know what,
it was saved by the Nepean fire department. I guess the Gloucester
fire department was busy or too far away and it was the Nepean
fire department that saved our house," recalls Ross Bradley.
Although the house was spared, the store was completely razed
to the ground. Despite the extent of the damage, Morris and
Lorne Bradley were determined to rebuild and within a week they
were back in business selling a limited number of items out
of the garage next door while the reconstruction was underway.
Construction began during the first week of September and was
completed in late January. Ross remembers the family throwing
a party in the store to celebrate the reopening.
"It was a party just like this. Everyone in the community
was invited," says Bradley whose earliest memories of the
store are a little foggy. "I can't really say. You know
it's always been there. It's always been a part of our lives."
In terms of the store's longevity, Bradley attributes two key
factors to its continued success. The first was when Gerry Labelle
bought the business and turned it into a convenience store.
"I don't think we Bradleys could have done that. My brother
Lorne sort of looked down on the idea, but looking back Gerry
did us a great service," says Bradley.
The other key factor was getting approval to operate an LCBO
outlet out of the store which has been a major revenue generator.
Today, J.T. Bradley's Country Convenience Store remains a Navan
institution. The store's regulars still congregate at the front
of the store every morning to scan the daily newspaper and share
some gossip over a hot cup of coffee.
"I think it's just as important to be part of the community
now than ever. Especially with more and more people moving into
the area and Orleans getting closer and closer. It's important
to maintain our identity," says John Bradley.
Also, see A Channel news link http://www.atv.ca/ottawa/news_61920.aspx
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