Young couple Victor and Anna (Peters) Primavera stand in front of the Star Store building which Victor’s parents, Joseph and Martina Primavera had opened in 1929.
Joseph had originally set up a shoe repair and leather goods business in Langley in 1919. He purchased the Boston Bakery building on First Street in 1922, naming the business the Star Shoe Store, after a popular manufacturer of shoes.
The business gradually grew into a mercantile, and the name became the Star Mercantile Store, which was later shortened to the Star Store.
A new, two-story brick building was added in 1929, and then a brick facade was added to the original store section in 1933. Nine hotel rooms (for $1 a night) and a dentist office occupied the upper floor.
Anna Peters, who worked next door in the Tiemeyer Bakery, caught the eye of young Vic Primavera. The couple married in 1938, and a year later when Vic’s father died, Vic and Anna took over the family business. They moved in above the store, and their first two children were born there.
The Star Store (now run by Gene and Tamar Felton since 1984) is a part of Langley’s history with a long future ahead.
