NEWS photo Paul McGrath

AFTER 40 years at Park Royal, Eleanor Mack is closing up shop. Store owner Lynne Stevenson's
head-topping confecitons will be packed away until the store reopens at Walker Place next month.

ELEANOR MACK is saying
goodbye to Park Royal.

By Layne Christensen
Fashion Reporter

After 40 years of tenancy, 32 of
those years in its present location,
Park .Royal’s lone millinery has
decided not to renew its lease.

Located in the south mall, mid-
way between Eaton’s and the Bank
of Montreal, the tiny shop has been
the destination of choice for
brides-to-be, stylish socialites and
elegant matrons in search of haute
headgear since the "50s.

_ Park Royal was a strip mall
then. And Eleanor Mack herself
trimmed the hats and served the
customers.

Trained at I. Magnin’s in
Manhattan, “Miss” Mack, as she
was respectfully. called by cus-
tomers and fashioa tradespeople,
cut an imposing figure on the local
fashion scene until her death in
1990 from bone cancer.

“She was really, really loved,”
recalls Mack’s daughter. Lynne
Stevenson who has carried on the
business. “She was loved down at
the wholesalers and she was loved
everywhere.”

Like a captain who stays with
his ship, Miss Mack graciously
tended the store right through her

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illness, passing off her debilitating
condition as “just a sore back”,

In recognition uf her mother’s
Old World service, Stevenson has
been rewarded with customer loy-
alty.

Recently one long-time cus-
tomer, about to renew her wedding
vows of 50 years, brought in her
brida! headpiece to be “refreshed.”

“ve inherited some of these
delightful older ladies who are in

hat at

iocation

their 70s. They come in and remi-
nisce,” says Stevenson, who is now
serving the store’s fourth genera-
tion of clientelle.

Since the Dec. 24 announce-
ment of the store’s clo.ure on Jan.
15, clients new and old have been
streaming into the store to share
memories. And it’s left Stevenson
feeling a little nostalgic.

See Shop page 19

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Mens & Ladies

C

evue Ave, West Vancouver
925-9454

Lie ade,

FALL & HOLIDAY |
CLOTHING & SHOES

789 WEST. PENDER STREE
OAKRIDGE CE 2

STARTS JAMUARY 13TH!
PARK ROYAL CENTRE ONLY

(SOUTH MALL) 926-7666