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."
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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