Village Squire, 1979-09, Page 20ine Clothes Line provided a new outlet for she energy an
enthusiasm of Joan Hemsworth and Joanne Dahl in Listowel.
They still sell top grade lingerie however and even a few hats are
on display for winter. They have a few dresses and good quality
leather gloves and handbags and they still sell one of the old
specialities of the shop, fancy handkerchiefs.
The shop had been known so long as a hat shop that many
older customers still come in looking for hats, not realizing that
the hat shop hasn't been in business for over 2 years.
One of the things the shop has done for the pair, Joanne says
is to make them mote realistic. When they opened the store they
both wanted to make it a darling little shop with only the best.
They wanted to buy only the loveliest things. They soon found
out however that that isn't very practical. People's tastes are
different and you have to sell what the customer wants even if
you don't like that piece yourself.
Like many people who go into business the women have also
become a little more cynical about people, particularly some
people who want clothing returned to get their money back for no
apparent reason.
Joanne says everything has pretty well worked out the way
they had hoped it would however. One of the things they would
like to do that they haven't been able to would be to redo the
interior of the shop. That's impossible however until work to
complete the precautions against flooding is completed. Listowel
has been a frequent victim of the floods and no store is, more
vulnerable than that occupied by The Clothes Line.
The shop has a unique curved west side wall that meets the
east side wall at a point at the back. This is caused by the fact the
building follows the line of the bank of the river which flows right
under the main street of Listowel. The backdoor of the building
opens onto the river. There is a high water line on some of the
store's fixtures that measured the rise of past floods.
The couple didn't discover until they tried to move some of the
fixtures to clean that all the counters were bolted to the floor to
keep them from floating around in the flood waters. Until that
possibility is lessened, the couple will stay with the shop just the
way it is.
fmaRSHRLLS
maftYS
150-152 QUEEN ST.
GR,NO CENTRAL HOTEL_ i84.7 — 1. 4''.�,y1i
ism
IMP
The Grand Central Hotel built in
18-13. was for decades a welcom-
ing place to spend the night.
Today it is a group of three
connecting shops. What was once
the lane for horses & buggies to
reach the stable at the back is now
a charming CARD & CANDLE
SHOP. The original bar is now the
LADIES WEAR with its handcraft
section. Browse on into the.GIFT
SHOP, once the dining room.
L�1� _ inhere full use has been made of
the charm of this old building.
�1flRSHPLL'S ,, Si. fflffflYS
"WHERE THE UNUSUAL IS USUAL"
GIFT SHOP LADIES WEAR CARD SHOP
150 QUEEN ST.
Many of the original antiques are
used to display imports from
,iround the world.
"DO COME VISIT US SOON"
284-3070
18 Village Squire, Sept7nber 1919