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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2014-12-10, Page 1010 News Record • Wednesday, December 10, 2014 Wagler elected as chair for new AMDSB board of trustees The inaugural meeting of the 2014-2018 Avon Maitland District board of trustees was held on Dec. 1 and featured three new mem- bers, as well as trustees Doug Prat - ley, Nancy Rothwell and Judy Cairncross. Southwest Huron trustee Randy Wagler was elected chair of the newly formed board of trustees for Avon Maitland to begin the next four-year term. Wagler, a trustee for 14 years, has previously been chair on one occa- sion and has been vice -chair three times. Joining chair Wagler as vice - chair is trustee Lynette Geddes. Geddes is beginning her second term on the Board and is the trus- tee representing St. Marys, Perth South and West Perth. This is her second election to the vice -chair position.HYPERLINK "http://your- schools.ca/wp-content/ uploads/2014/ 12/OPSBARep- 2015D ougPratley. j pg" Trustee Pratley, returning after a four-year hiatus from the board, was elected as the Board repre- sentative to the Ontario Public School Boards' Association (OPSBA). Pratley is one of two trus- tees from the City of Stratford. Trustee Robert Hunking of Central East Huron was acclaimed as the alternate OPSBA representative. Archie's Surf Shop eases out of London and back into Bayfield market Lynda Hillman-Rapley QMI Agency/For The News Record Deciding to close his Rich- mond Row Archie's Surf Shop after 24 years, Jim Archibald, says it was not easy decision. "While we understand that the closures of independent shops in London may be newsworthy - our decisions were based mostly on personal choice, "Archibald told QMI Agency. "We made a choice a few years ago that we wanted to spend more time in the south during the winter months and concen- trate on what really like to do - which is resort retailing - specif- ically in Grand Bend." "And now with a new shop opening up in Bayfield in the spring - we figured the time was right to make the move to ease out of the London market place. So as of January 2015 we will be closing the shop on Richmond Row in London." Archibald explained that retail in the city has had its challenges and the customers purchasing options have evolved since they started back in 1991. "We have been through all sorts of changes in buying pat- terns during the last 24 years - from cross border shopping to increased Big Box completion and now On-line and Vertical operations that offer the most recent challenge - and you just take them on as best you can." He adds that independents can compete with these guys. "But to do so for us would have meant some changes in who we buy from and how we buy. It would have also meant a little rebranding and some capital infusion into the building that at this point in our 30+ years in retail we just didn't want to take on" Archibald explained that they are going to concentrate on the three beach shops they operate and take some much needed battery charging time in the south during the off season. "It's been a lot of fun during our 24 years on the Row. We met a lot of cool people and we have sent several employees into the Industry who are still holding down posts with "Billabong" and "Quiksilver': "We have made friends for life who enjoy this action sports industry as much as we do and we have learned a lot about this business. Heck we have even had two people meet and get married because of the time spent with us at Archies- and that is very special for us." DON FELLY DIM LAWYERS CORPORATION MURPHY Injured/ Insurance Disputes? 18 The Square, Goderich Phone: 519-524-2154 926 Queen Street, Kincardine Phone: 519-396-3636 www.donnellymurphy.com Problem Solved Right Here THE BEACH BUSINESS Archibald came to Grand Bend in 1984 while he was work- ing with Frito Lay in Toronto and wanted to try to start his own business. "I had grown up visiting the area every summer and the advantage of Grand Bend was that it allowed seasonal retailing and a relatively affordable entry into the market - something malls and long leases did not allow. So I figured if it didn't work out that I could just keep selling chips." A friend of the family had rented one of the "Shacks" down near the beach and he wasn't going to rent it again the follow- ing season. Archibald had also operated some Jewelry kiosks in several department stores while working at Frito Lay and after closing them he had a signifi- cant amount of products left over that he needed to clear. "And Grand Bend and its tourist based customers seemed like a perfect fit. So I rented that shack and just experimented with all sorts of retail products in addi- tion to the jewelry to see what worked best." "One shack lead to another then after a couple of seasons I just noticed this "Surf/Wind- surf" movement started hap- pening around me. I saw it as a growing market and seemed underserved given the nature of the beach customer that was obviously frequenting Grand Bend. So when our present loca- tion up the street came available for rent I jumped at it. I started selling mostly Australian surf brands as the ability to import all of the US brands wasn't avail- able yet due to old licensing agreements and lack of the internet etc. We eventually expanded our product mix into "Resort" and "Grand Bend" products which really helped with sustaining a to,HEA T „°: STROKE FOU N DAT [0 N ASSESS YOUR RISK, longer season and attracted a larger demographic." A couple years later he bought the building - a few years later he bought the old fast food outlet next door most remember as "Clinchers" and expanded the shop again as they needed a bigger foot print to sell all of the different products they wanted to sell and accommo- date the larger crowds at peak season. "By then we had opened up a shop in Bayfield as it was close enough to operate but unique enough to attract a dif- ferent demographic." "We were in Bayfield for 10 years but that concept seemed to have run its course and the U.S. visitors were dwindling at that time as well - which was a significant part of our customer base. So we bought "Finnegan's" in Grand Bend at that point about seven years ago and turned it into a retail concept that we hoped would not only be successful but compliment not cannibalize the existing retail stores in the area. So we left Bayfield at that time to concen- trate on this new venture." And now, almost eight years later and after the thought of easing out of the London market place became a reality - they started looking at the Bayfield market again. "We just thought that our focus would now be solely on resort retailing and opening up a shop back in Bayfield seemed to make sense. It seems to be in a bit of a boom lately with a lot of new homes and new commer- cial areas being built. Add in the fact that some really well located space became available and it all seemed to fall into place." Archibald says they are going to build on their experiences and product mix from both the surf shop and the Emporium in The Bend when we open up Bay- field this spring. MAKE HEALTH LASTCA