Forty years of bank and supermarket convenience

Life in Point Roberts was never the same after September 1982. Forty years ago this September, a supermarket and a bank opened for the first time in the exclave. Prior to this, mom and pop stores offered a limited selection of groceries on the Point, and residents often traveled to Delta or Bellingham to shop for food, requiring border declarations on the trip home. The arrival of the first supermarket ushered in a convenience which brought Point Roberts into the modern world. Frozen foods like ice cream became easier to buy compared to soggy trips home from mainland stores. Businesses throughout Point Roberts and Tsawwassen, some of which competed for food sales, took out ads in the paper welcoming the new store to the community.

Initially named Mark & Pak, the supermarket occupied the south part of today’s store footprint. Three years later, the name changed to Point Roberts Marketplace. In 1992, the store expanded to its current size, growing from 14,000 to 35,000 square feet, and updated its name to the International Marketplace. The expansion introduced new point of sale scanners, the delicatessen with its seating area, a larger butcher shop and even a travel agency. To conform to the character plan, rope-wrapped pilings were added to the front entrance. in the summer of 1995, an effort to give the store the look of a vintage country store saw the painting of the mural by Eddie Buendia at the north entrance.

In the same month, the Point’s first bank branch opened in the footprint of today’s Umpqua Bank. In an era before debit cards, ATMs and online banking, banking required crossing the border at least to Tsawwassen if not all the way to the mainland during bank hours. The bank has been owned and operated under several brands over the years, and many corrsponding TV commercials featured local residents.

Together, the 1982 addition of the supermarket and eventual bank branch introduced conveniences which made life in our isolated community easier, saving time and border complexities. They also brought many new jobs to the community.

At the time, Point Roberts still had just a couple of gas pumps, but this would grow to 60 pumps beginning the following year. Soon, instead of locals leaving the exclave for errands, visitors were entering the Point for its services, contributing to significant increases in border crossing volumes and wait times.

Stop by the History Center on Gulf Road on Saturdays to share your stories of life on the Point before these modern conveniences were introduced.