At 60 years old, La Vieille Europe shows no signs of slowing down

La Vieille Europe celebrates 60 years The Plateau institution was first a Jewish deli before evolving into a specialty shop that now has products from dozens of countries.

Over the past six decades, hundreds of businesses have come and gone on The Main.

One of the few constants on the ever-changing tapestry of Saint Laurent Blvd. has been La Vieille Europe, a grocery store celebrating its 60th anniversary.

The Plateau institution carries everything from biscuits to coffee to meat, all with a flavour from across the pond.

Steve Da Silva practically grew up in the shop and is now a co-owner, inheriting his share of the shop from his father, who was one of La Vieille Europe’s founders.

“With Portuguese school right around the corner, I used to come into work with my father before and I used to clean up,” he said. “He would give me odd jobs to do.”

The shop was initially a Jewish deli before evolving into a grocery store for people to get their European goods.

Over the years, Da Silva has seen plenty of changes on the famous street.

“I find it was much more ethnic than it is today,” he said.

Like Da Silva, co-owner Paulo Raimundo spent much of his formative years in La Vieille Europe having started working there as a teenager.

“There were a lot of Portuguese people in the neighbourhood,” he said, smiling. “It was quite easy to have a Portuguese conversation with just about anybody my age.”

“I hope this store continues going for another four, five, six generations at least,” said Raimundo.