Village Squire, 1979-09, Page 21Lynne Henry along with her mother-in-law Isabelle operates Hansel and Gretel, a shop for children's
clothing at the south edge of Blyth.
A family
affair
The Henry family finds
togetherness pays off
Hansel and Gretel, the shop specially for children's clothing
on the edge of Blyth is a family affair all the way.
The shop was started a year ago this month by Lynne Henry
and her sister-in-law Mary Lou Henry in a house that was owned
by their father-in-law Robert which had until recently been the
home of his parents. In the spring of this year when Mary Lou
decided that being in business really wasn't for her, Isabelle
Henry, wife of Robert and mother-in-law of Lynne and Mary Lou
decided she would like to get involved so she became a partner.
• Today the two women share the duties of keeping the store
going and share the burdens as well. Lynne makes it even more
of a family affair by bringing her children to the shop so that they
can play while she works. Having the shop in an old house
provides the necessary facilities for that.
For both women the choice of children's clothing is an apt one.
Lynne was a primary school teacher before she took time out to
raise her family. Isabelle still teaches primary school at East
Wawanosh Public School at Belgrave. She helps run the store
during the summer, after school and on weekends.
The shop originally got started because as mothers of young
children both Mary Lou and Lynne found it hard to find a good
selection of quality children's clothing. The building was
available so they decided to open the shop. It opened last Sept. 8
with neither of the partners having any business experience but
each bringing to the business previous experience that proved
helpful. Mary Lou had worked for six years in a bank so was used
to dealing with people and money. Lynne had had teaching
experience so she knew about dealing with children and had,
September 1979, Village Squire 19