Parker & Co. Excelsior Brand Canned Meats

"I want to make them beautiful, but they always turn out wrong! That one, too fat! This one, too tall! This one... too SYMMETRICAL!" - J.S. Steinman It has been suggested that this article should be split into multiple pages, or subpages. If you disagree, please explain why on the article's discussion page.

"There is something more powerful than each of us, a combination of our efforts, a Great Chain of industry that unites us. But it is only when we struggle in our own interest that the chain pulls society in the right direction..." - Andrew Ryan This article falls within the scope of the BioShock Wiki:Businesses Project. This project is dedicated to improving the articles about Rapture and Columbia's many businesses. Would you kindly help the BioShock Wiki by volunteering on the project page?

The store swept clean even in the worst of times.

Parker & Co. Excelsior Brand Canned Meats is a grocery store modestly advertised in Columbia. Notably, the building in the Market District in Downtown Emporia is completely ablaze, with a seemingly oblivious woman sweeping the floor inside. If the player observes the woman for a short time they will see that she phases in and out the same way as Chen Lin did when first met in his Gunsmith Shop.

BioShock Infinite

Main article: BioShock Infinite

There are several stores in Downtown Emporia. One is closed with its sign fallen amongst the arcade shops in the Financial District. Another is along the pathway from the Financial District to the Market District. It is shuttered with flaming refuse at its entrance.

The only store still open is along the main thoroughfare of the Market District, right across the street from Lutece Labs. Inside, one can find some supplies including a Dollar Bill and a Minuteman's Armory machine. Strangest of all is the shopkeeper calmly sweeping her burning store.

She can be heard uttering stilted dialogue ranging from an enraged rebuke to a calm welcome. The shopkeeper's Tear-like condition is similar to the state of the dead soldiers from the Good Time Club and Bull House Impound. She likely died at the hands of the Vox in this universe and maybe the dead body on the counter, but was brought, living, from the previous universe when Booker and Elizabeth jump to the next reality through the Tear in the police headquarter's basement. The store's destruction was caused by the Vox Populi in their rampage across Columbia. They presumably induced an explosion from the inside, as the doors are blown outwards, which set the store on fire. The player can enter and explore the small store unharmed, as the fire blazes by the counter and food display by the window, making a pathway. The Cash Register has fallen, but the counter still has a full bottle of Salts. Behind the counter is a Veni! Vidi! Vigor!, Dollar Bill and Minuteman's Armory vending machine, the latter of which has a Lockpick on the wainscot paneling next to it.

Gallery

Store in the Financial District.

Store between the Financial District and Market District.

Store in the Market District.

Store in Beggar's Alley of Harmony Lane.

A Parker & Co. Excelsior Brand Canned Meats store seen in the Emporia Arcade map of Clash in the Clouds.

Behind the Scenes

• The sweeping shopkeeper will continuously say lines said by female Soldiers when they are under the effect of Possession.
• If the player uses Possession on the sweeping shopkeeper in the Market District branch, she will cover, drop her broom and scream with a male voice.
• The sweeping shopkeeper was initially seen in a Harper's Grocery in pre-launch trailers and concept art. However, the layout of the store has greatly changed with the woman no longer framed in the doorway and the Edwardian hairstyle covered by a hat.

Pre-launch version of the scene in Harper's Grocery.

Concept art for the scene by Ben Lo.