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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1988-04-20, Page 6n the Street By Jim Beckett The best tribute any entertainer can get is to know his show is scld out. 'Ihis is exactly what happened to perhaps the most popular local group of them all Saturday night at the Pinendge Chalet. It was billed as the farewell performance for Joe Overholt and the Standbys and it has been sold out for weeks. In fact, the tick- ets were gone without any advertising. Considerably over 4(10 people, most of whom had enjoyed them- selves -at the Pincridgc on dozens of occasions in the past, flocked back for the grand'f inale. The place was full by 8:30 p.m. with many people heading for the same tables they had sat at with their friends in years past. Perhaps Ross Veal summed it up better than anybody when I asked him if tie had many good times at the Pincridgc. His reply, "every Saturday nicht for 13 years." Joe, you just can't gct.a better compliment that. that. The game of musical teachers has started with announcements of several changes which -will be taking place at the beginning of next year's school year if they arc all approved at the May board meeting. The following transfers will affect principals and vice principals in the southern part of the county . John Siertsema will become the new principal at Stephen Cen- tral School repacing Don Finkbeiner. who will be moving over to J.D. McCurdy as principal. Present 'McCurdy principal Pat Soldan will be moving to Huron Centennial School in Bruccfield as principal. McCurdy vice-principal Niall Straw will move north to become vice-principal of Robertson Public School. Rob Snell, currently vice-principal at Seaforth Public School will move to Goderich as vice-principal of Victoria Public School. Replacing Niall Straw at McCurdy Public School is I'at Allan who is presently the vice-principal at Brookside. ************************************** Hundreds of wives must have jumped for joy last week when Glo- bal 'Television announced they will be carrying the Calgary- Edrnoriton series on thc long road to the Stanley Cup finals. • This news is particularly stimulating for the women because the games arc carried on alternate nights on the CBC network. In fact girls, if you play your cards right your husband will be able to watch • hockey on television -seven days a week. Just think, you'll be able to take advantage of the economics of scale when you prepare snacks for your loved one. But remember... if your husband.is anything like me you would be wise to have a varie- ty of go(xfics prepared in advance. After all... it wouldn't be fair to serve us popcorn or chips two nights in a row. Oh,. by the way, try and get all the vacuuming done in the daytime. Sometimes it causes interference on the TV. I've heard some husbands even have the nerve to ask their mates for more cold beer during the commercials. Others have nearly spoiled it for the rest of us by demanding their wives fluff up the pillows on the sofa and have the ottoman placed just right for their hard-working man when he is ready for the action to begin. Gee .guys, I'd love to join you: But not this year. I've three good reasons for missing at least a few of the games. I'm a Toronto Maple Leaf fan... my wife knows just about every lawyer in town... and she just discovered where. I've been hiding the bullets for my gun. - ************************************** Doug Pearson, Wayne Pearce, Al Beattie, Keith Ahrens, Scott Bur- ton, 13i11 Farquhar and others, be warned - Jack Fuller is looking for you. With the announcement that slow pitch will be more popular in town this year after the death of the fastball league, Jack Fuller has had some thoughts of reviving the famous Bald Dogs team despite the fact it had a truly dismal season last year. -The Bald Dogs, a rare combination of middle-aged and old -aged players, rely on the skills of years past to crush their opponents. The only problem is the crushers turned into the crushers last year. Regardless of this, the. Bald Dogs arc the only group of athletes that ever allowed me to play on their team. So far Jack hasn't drafted me for this year's team.... but look out guys, I'm showing up any- way. I1/41y son asked mc what position 1 would be trying out for this year and I couldn't give him an answer. You sec, after last year's layoff my favorite position has turned out to be "horizontal." 1 love my job at the T -A but last week the thought of quitting seri- ously entered my mind. It all started with a conversation I had about this year's formal corning. up soon at SHDHS. 1 haven't been in high school since the 60s but l'm calling Bruce Shaw tomorrow to sec if there's any chance of enrolling before the formal. 'Formals are always a big event in the life of every young person but the past,few years have -seen the ultimate in expense and effort put into one big night. Apparently three local couples have spared no expense to ensure a good time for themselves this year. I heard they've chipped in on a hotel suite in London where they'll all return 10 enjoy the rest of the evening following attendance at a few house parties after the dance. nut hold it. 'ihe best part is yet to come. You sec, they're not us- ing just any beat -up old car to -get there. The young males and their fair damsels will he chauffeured to the formal in a stretched limou- sine and :returned to their suite in London when the festivities end.. 11 l Imes -Advocate, April 20, 1988 Page 5 A half century in shoes By Adrian Harte Exeter may have changed a lot in the past 50 years. but Wuerth Shoes is still in the same building and a Wucrth can sell be found be- hind the counter. John and Linda Wuerth bought the store from father Rey and wife Willa in 1984; they took over from Alfred and Lucilla Wuerth in 1964. The 50th anniversary of Wuerth's is marked by the opening of a new store in Goderich, which joins the seven-year-old Clinton store in what John Wucrth terms a "mini chain." Linda Wuerth is the secretary - treasurer of the corporation and Willa is still involved in adminis- tration. "It's a very exiting move for us," said John, who has noticed a de- clining number of independent shoe retailers in small towns. Those that remain are usually mul- tiple store operations made strong- er by the necessity of chain buy- ing. "If you're going to be in busi- ness in the 1990s, the writing's on the wall," said Wuerth. Wucrth has also seen the elimi- nation of the wholesale middlemen from the shoe business. The reces- sion of 1982 forced many retailers into purchasing directly from facto- ries, which means that Wuerth's orders the next scason's stock 10 months in advance from as many as 130 suppliers in several coun- tries. If a size or style sells out in mid season, there is little chance of ordering more. "There's no such thing as a home -town shopperr anymore," Wucrth observed, stating that he has to rise to the challenge of keeping thc store up to date with its image, pricing and product line in order to compete with larger markets only a few minutes away. "Successful retailing is partly projecting a successful image and an image of the '80s," he said. He wants his customcrs, when they first walk into the store, to sense a friendly, but businesslike atmos- phere. "I was born and raised in the shoe business," said Wucrth, who worked in John Deere's finance de- partment -after graduating from U.W.O.'s business school. He and his wife decided to purchase the two stores in 1984, renovated and expanded the original Exeter loca- tion in 1986 and now arc extending the' family name into Goderich. Wucrth secs the expansion into mini chains as the only way these days to realize a return on the in- vestment and to reap a reasonable income from the operation. But Wucrth would not describe himself as an entrepreneur and explains he is in no hurry to create an empire. "I'm fairly conservative in our growth. We take it one year at a time," he said. The sales strategics may have changed, but so have the products. Wucrth held up a pair of boots, handmade by his grandfather some- time between 1910 and 1914. The use of nails and wooden pegs in their construction attest to the fact the shoe business used to be more involved in making and repairing footwear than retail. "Most of the footwear today is throwaway," said Wucrth. Advances in materials and con- struction have made it impractical or impossible to repair worn shoes. Soles are usually glued in place rather than stitched, even on work - boots. This means that the shoe re- pair workshop, which has been a part of Wuerth's since 1938, secs little use these days. The peak of the shoe -repair busi- ness came after the war when five repairmen worked full days to keep up,with the demand generated by the Air Force base at Huron Park. Now Wuerth's father, Rey, works only a couple of hours each morning, and even then it's mostly for orthopedic modifications to new shoes rather than repair. John Wucrth thinks little of while -you -wait shoe repair franchis- es being set up in shopping malls. He said they are mainly for replac- ing the rubber lifts on women's shoes: a lucrative trade, but far re- moved from traditional shoe repair. The role of the small retailer has changed somewhat overthe past decade. - Wuerth has seen the emer- gence of the chain discounters with the price -oriented shoes -in -a -bin ap- proach. "It's not in our interest to chase that kind of business," he said. "We're finding we're having to lean to better quality products." According to Wuerth, his custom- ers arrive at the store expecting to find a large selection of shoes that fit. They arc willing to pay an av- erage of $80-100 to get what they want. The actual numbers of shoes sold by Wuerth's is down, but the store's income is up. Wuerth also describes the athletic shoe market as "tough." "The brand consciousness is so extreme and it's very faddy," he said. The current top sellers arc from Re- ebok. In fact, Wucrth claims Reeb- ok cannot manufacture shoes fast HIGH TECH - John Wuerth indicates one of the recent advances in ath- letic shoes. This training shoe features a sealed air cushion in the heel to absorb shock. enough to. keep up with the de- mand. . Despite brand consciousness, Wucrth believes, dollar for dollar, the quality of athletic shoes is very similar, partly bccausc they all come from the same part of the Ori- ent. The only differences he does notice are the leaps in technology athletic footwear has made over the past five .years. • New soles and tricks like air bags in the heels have DETROIT MEETING - Mike Williamson (right) of Fraynes in Exeter met with General Motors President Robert C. Stempel recently in Detroit during the annual two-day meeting of the GM President's Dealer Advisory Council of which Mike is a member. The Council is composed of GM dealers repre- senting 50 cities in the U.S. and Canada. It was formed in 1934 to give top GM management and dealers a forum to discuss matters of mutual inter- est. TRADITIONAL CRAFTSMANSHIP - Rey Wuerth stands in the work- shop that houses shoe repair equipment used in Wuerth's for 50 years. He holds a sign used in windows on the Huron Park air force base to indicate houses where boots were to be picked up for repair: Peter's Point ('ontinut'd from page -1 needed community service. That's the "giving Zane". And society benefits: Thanks to volunteers it' can function better, more efficiently and economically. If we had to pay for all • these services, we'd be poor. That's thc "receiving lane". Don't cvcr let somebody tell you that we don't need volunteers, that gbvcrnmcnts should provide these services out of general tax revenues. Some things should be Icft to government - like rural mail service or agricultural research or national security. But when it comes to helping someone in trouble who lives a few houses down the road, i prefer to get a few neighbours together and not bother any government. That's thc Canadian way. And that, my iron Curtain friends, is tfic way we'd like to keep it. LA -Z -110Y® Chairs C. JIaskett and Sort Furniture 188 Main St. Lucan 227-4688 arrived . to make the shoes nu>re comfortable than ever before. But Wucrth notes the responsibil- ity of the retailer is to understand these advances and to be able to ex- plain then to the customer. "The biggest -growing phase of • the market is the walking shoe," said Wucrth. Several of the athletic shoe companies have introduced lines to compete in -a market that used to be dominated by northern European manufacturers. Sizes of Canadian feet have also changed. The average Canadian male used to take a size 9D shoe, - but that average has climbed to WEE.- Wucrth's stocks more sizes that used to he considered oversize and even sells the occasional mens size 15 or ladies' 1 1. A demand still exists -for Italian shoes bccausc of their emphasis on fashion over function with their softer leathers and -fine detailing. - However, Wucrth says his custom- crs arc more concerned with fit and comfort than ever before. Wucrth's now sells fashion acces- sories such as handbags and jewel, - Ivry not only to make colour - coordinated shopping easier, but also to encourage browsing and in- crease customer traffic. Neverthe- less, just as 50 years ago, shoes are the mainstay of the business. Wucrth does not plan to mark the anniversary of the store with a large sale, but will instead treat custom- ers to frcc coffee, carnations, and a chance on a prize draw. Wucrth says he is still pleased .when longstanding customcrs of his father and grandfather return to the store and say "no one but a Wucrth has cvcr sold mc a pair of work-- -- boots." "It really means a lot to mc," he said. - COU1TPY fLO\ilt5 For 6e&refary'S Gley... We are j phone ca I I away.! 235'250 5 mein reef•eiefer Spring has Sprung at / --- A1C ' liiIII90119F9Ill Mr k4 131-11 -9 ' (H(I€L9 383 Main Street, Exeter, Ontario Phone: (519) 235-2590