A family-run business in Cache Creek that has been a popular attraction for travellers since it opened in 1967 is closing its doors for good in mid-December, leaving behind a lot of happy memories.
The Cariboo Jade Shop was founded in 1967 by the Fear family, who operated it in one-half of a building at the highway intersection in Cache Creek. Current store manager Heidi Roy says that the Fears were “big lapidary people” who were interested in stones and gems.
“They did a lot of that work, with a focus on jade, china dishes, and crystal. They did a lot of jewellery, and things like First Nations dolls and Cowichan sweaters. We evolved it to be more giftware and got into rock specimens. This whole region is geologically quite important: you have coral at Pavilion Lake, the McAbee fossils, gold at New Gold, copper at Highland Valley, coal and amber in Hat Creek, and amethysts at Scotty Creek.”
It was 1985 when Roy’s father Ben and his brother-in-law Bill Elliott bought the store, and it expanded to take over the entire building.
“[Ben] had run the Husky gas station in Cache Creek from 1967 to the 1980s, and after he sold it he was looking for another business. He didn’t have one for a couple of years, and then this one came along. When they bought it it was mainly because after running a 24-hour Husky station for years, it was appealing only being open eight hours a day and seasonal.”
Roy says that the business was a booming one through Expo86, and even after the Coquihalla opened and diverted a lot of traffic from the Fraser Canyon the shop remained a popular spot for bus tours to stop through the 1990s: “They took the Fraser Canyon as it was the more scenic route.”
She adds that while many people think of tourists as being from overseas — which was the original market the shop catered to — a lot of the customers they saw were B.C. residents on their way to and from the Lower Mainland.
“Lots of people from the Lower Mainland have cabins and would come through every year. They weren’t looking for Canadiana souvenirs, but for nice gift items. The shop evolved to cater more to B.C. residents, and lots of people would come out from Kamloops and Kelowna or from Vancouver Island.”
As the name of the store implies, jade has always been a focus, with the shop selling carved jade figures and jewellery. Roy learned how to set jade stones into sterling silver jewellery: one of many things she’s done at the store.
“I started working here when I was seven. I got paid in candy, so I wasn’t technically an employee. I’d come over after school and unpack boxes. Three generations of the family have worked here, and everyone does all the tasks.”
The store’s biggest attraction is almost certainly the 2,850-pound, foot-thick slab of jade which was displayed outside the front door from 1987 — when Ben Roy acquired it — until it was stolen during a daring robbery in December 2020. The theft made headlines around the province, as did news of its recovery when it was found abandoned in the bush west of Kamloops a week later. Jade Boulder returned to the store in June 2021, where it was kept safe inside, but its future is uncertain.
READ MORE: Dramatic chase after iconic jade boulder stolen in Cache Creek
“It will go to the Lower Mainland and go for auction,” says Roy, who notes that the boulder was a very popular photo subject for tourists and visitors. “It’s an interesting shape, so there’s the potential for it to be a display piece and stay intact and not be sold for raw materials, where it would be cut up and sold as other things.
“I hope it would appeal to someone, but who wants it for yard art?”
READ MORE: Jade boulder recovered intact after daring theft in Cache Creek
READ MORE: Massive jade boulder returns to Cache Creek store six months after daring heist
Less noticeable than Jade Boulder, but even more striking, is a stunning grandfather clock with dozens of jade accents and tiles which Ben worked on as a project for the store’s 35th anniversary in 2002.
“Ben liked clocks. He came from a background in mechanical repair and was good with his hands. He got into clocks and clock repair, and was pretty much self-taught. The clock’s case and movement came from Ontario, and he did all the jade accents and tiling.”
The project took several months, with Roy explaining that jade is not an easy material to work with. “He made the template for the carved pieces along the top, and that work was done overseas and then shipped here. Jade is the stone for a 35th anniversary and there are 35 pieces of jade on the pendulum alone, one for each year.” She adds that the clock will probably be taken home and displayed as a unique home decor piece.
Jade shops have been closing in recent years, with Roy noting that when the Cariboo Jade Shop closes it will leave only Jade City near Dease Lake — where Jade Boulder was mined — open as a retail shop in B.C.
“That’s where all the jade mining is done these days. Some is done at Lillooet, but it’s not high grade and not in quantities to bother mining with. You can still find some pieces, but it’s not jewellery grade.”
Roy says that news of the shop’s impending closure caused “lots of surprise and shock” in the area when it was announced: “It’s been around for so long people thought it would never go away, it would just be there.
“We’d hoped to find a buyer to keep it going, and had it for sale before Ben died in 2015. Then there were the fires of 2017 and we didn’t have much hope of selling, and we took the listing down during COVID because it wasn’t the ideal time to try to sell. We were hoping to re-list after all the disasters passed, but we can’t wait any longer.”
The Cariboo Jade Shop might not be completely disappearing, however. The store has had an online presence since 2018, which Roy says has taken off quite well — “It helped during COVID” — and the plan is to see what’s left after the physical store closes and what they want to continue to carry, re-assess, and see if the online business will work out. She adds that Elliott’s Cariboo Clear water business, which had a depot at the Jade Shop, will continue.
The end of the Cariboo Jade Shop is, however, the end of an era on several levels, Roy says. She notes that a lot of locals used it for jewellery and watch and clock repairs, and wonders where they will go now.
“Small businesses all over are finding it difficult to compete with Amazon and big online stores. People buy a watch online, then come in to us to get the strap adjusted or the watch fixed. That’s when a small hands-on shop where people go for those sorts of adjustments and repairs is important.
“We’re not the only one: lots of small businesses are struggling. We bounced back after COVID, and sales levels are back to the 2014 level. It would almost be easier if it wasn’t going well business-wise, and we have mixed feelings about closing when it’s going well, but it’s on our own terms.”
