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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-12-01, Page 25w*, ight 'mW i to/ don is b *ai Air �* air Y 1 erato ave inspee wNh iaviga 8 3 12 o 7 79 n�9 6 59 $1 " � � '����.���� AL-E3 130 Y here'su�penalty s for theft. ' Chiefhe c�orKo � Pat THURSDAY, |DECEMBER l,l977' A SECOND SECTION ������� ��gift==� ��� �m~w� w��'�mw����. .����. shop features fine.ceramics BYJEFF SEDDON er been browsing around re looking for something noticed that you seem to one You glance around can't see any other pers or a store employee. r thought to yourself that ould be a snap to help self to some items on the and waik out of the store tected? eryone has been in that tion at one time or her. For some shoppers ooying They would like service and can't seem e any. For some it's a sure, They just want to around and not have a employee ask if they help. But for some it's eal situation, They want unnoticed because they d to shop for free. «pliftinQ in Goderich s to be one of those s that but a lot of people do. crime accounts for wn�o� and three pmp w to total volume of of many stores in rich. ef Pat King of the rich police ' shoplifting'—__ deox,�mrn� ported to times a year but adds ly that there are ob- !Y. more instances of thing that never get t "d, He said he had no of the amount ",~.. �m �~~^'- ��. annually in icecau �u�Uese--~^^~ r a ,_ police unless =modefinite suspect are ymoomxt"�~�~'e= � otheother,� — — PROBLEMPENSIVE random �'��me ��indicated shoplifters are a com- problem and are an sive hants'for`~ most . Some stores lose "wo $20,000 annually gh �eftvrmn�a�roe eh average—~~"= nm the majority of merchants of merchandise couldotal 'd be " Tmylor, owner of the ^" Canadian Tire said shoplifting ed to be . v... » P»�ofde ~`~vvem^p..-.��' Made a ~`""'"vr ncentrated at his store to reduce -° through ~ theft the hdidn't want to reveal e-^^effor` num off. Heses because it may encourage more shoplifting but did say that he calculates that one percent of his total sales is stolen. Taylor said that when he took over the store in the early 70s the losses were greater than that. He said the merchandise was being stolen by both his staff and his customers on about a 50'50 basis. Be discovered some staff members that were causing binuproblems and has since introduced a profit sharing program that has all but eliminated that problem but shoplifters are still costing him a considerable afroount of money annually. The store owners and managers said shoplifting is common enough to prompt merchants to price their merchandise to account for it. Be said it has been proven that three percent is the average amount stolen an- nually and the merchants tack three percent onto the price of their goods to recoup what they know will be lost through theft. "It's just another example of honespeople having to pay for dishonest peop|e," Taylor commented. His security .arrangements have made Taylor a qualified spokesman on shoplifting, Be said he had witnessed many crimes, some of which he could provo, and did, and some he was not quite sure' about and could do nothing about. Be said a merchant has to be "damn sure a customer has shoplifted" when he follows him out the door and accuses him. TOUGH TO PROVE The problems created when a merchant wrongly accuses a person of shopliftinxe`t doubly hard for them to prove the crime has been com- mitted. Chief King said a merchant can run into all kinds of difficulty if he makes a faise accusation adding that some people try to make it appear as though they have %sto\on something just so they can create grounds for a lawsuit when the store wrongly accuses theni. ' The:ob|wYoaid that a person putting something in his pocket i the store has not shoplifted. The crime is cnmnMitted after they have gone through the aren where they should have paid for the merchandise. Be added that no matter how convinced the merchant is that the person was going to steal the mer- chandise opohandise unless he has op- portunity to pay for it the theft has not been committed. The merchants are well aware of the problems they face in nabbing shoplifters. Taylor said he knew of an instance where a man deliberately made it appear as though he had stolen merchandise just to get back at a store that had sought and gotten a conviction against the man's wife for shoplifting. The man, stole some mer- chandise in plain view of a store employee and then managed to put the mer- chandise back on a shelf undetected before lei the store. When the employee stopped him the man proved that he didn't have the merchandise and then went after the store for falsely accusing him. "Stores are on very touchy ground when they accuse a person of shoplifting," said the chief, "When the ac- cusations are made the shoplifter usually has some fairly convincing excuses but 95 percent of them that put something in their pocket in a store intend to steal it." SECURITY TOUGH Robert Taback, maf the Goderich Metropolitan Store, said he didn't know exactly how much mer- chandise was stolen from his store annually but felt safe in estimating that two percent of his total sales was uto!an. He said his store did not suffer as much as some of the larger hranches but was still losing a substantial amount of money through theft. Taback said he felt the best offense against shoplifting was good service. He said he asks his staff to watch their departments closely and make sure that when a customer comes in that an employee greets him and offers him help. He added that shoplifting probably will never be eliminated but it can be reduced. The manager said that in smaller communities security is tougher because .,veryone seems to know everyone else. He said a spotter working in his store would becommon knowledge 20 minutes after he started working. Taback said that yhop||f- T",n/vpmgrBA° BY JOANNE WALTERS The Iittle village of Auburn is usually bypassed by travellers as they whiz along County Road 25 on their way to bigger centres. Not many people take those little jogs off the main road to visit the centre of the village. If they did however, they might be pleasantly yu,priacd, especially at one of the newest stores located therc. The Friendly Village Gift Shop located on Goderich Street in Auburn has been open for about a year now. It features a variety of hand crafted items set in 5 homey atmosphere. It seems only natural that proprietor Bess Slater has opened a gift shop. She possesses so rutiC6 creative talent that she can,almost o� fillu��mam the store with her own hand crafted creations. In fact, when the store first openod, she did just that by trying to make' something new every day to put in it. But then she got a bit busier Auburn paints a piece of bisqueware. Bisqueware is and no longer had the time regreenware pr soft clay after it has been fired in a kiln and quired to make something new evermade hard for paiating. It is all part of the ceramics y dziy. This was beprocess which Mrs. Slater teaches on Tuesday and cause she became involved Thursday nights. (staff photo) with her ceramics hobby above all the others and, ����wm������ • 4 ��� ` � ' • • .0 One mfthe attractions atThe Friendly VillmmmKJ��t�m�m�umn�o��m�ylm�mv�*mm"= Bess Slater purchased last The kiln - Shop-- which Mrs.takes all the moisture out of a piece of greenware or soft clay to make it hard for painting.This is called firing. It is all part of the ceramics process which Mrs. Slater teaches onTuesday and Thursday nights. Here Mrs. Slater places a piece of greenware in the shapeof a Christmas tree in the kiln. (staff photo) without really meaning to, she became a teacher of ceramics as well. Since October she has held ceramics classes at the store on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7:30. She teaches six women on Tuesday nights and five on Thursday nights. One of her students travels to her classes from Brussels and a couple come from Goderich. Ad viuon people "just pop in" now and again whether they attend the classes or not. KILN AND GREENWARE One of the Slater store's drawing cards is a kiln which Mrs. Slater purchased for $500 and learned how to work this past summer. So, while not intending to teach cerannioy, after she got her kiln and hung out her sign, it just happened that way. Others became interested in learning the craft and using the kiln. At the store, Mrs, Slater has greenware for sale. This greenware is the very- soft clay substance which comes out of the mould ready to be cleaned and fired by the ceramics craftsman. She boys this greenware from Mercedes Ceramic Supplies, a 30 -year-old family business located in Woodbridge, .Ontario which even makes its own kilns. She has many shapes and pieces of greenware including beer xtoins, yiguuineo, animu|o, buatn, pitcher and bowl sets. casserole and candy dishes, ashtrays, Santa Claus mugs and Christmas trees for Chriatnlao deoorudonu, pots for plants and much more. Prices for this greenware range from about 70 cents for an ashtray to about $4.50 for a casserole dish. Mrs, Slater says you must have respect for gipcnwuro. It has to be handlei.Iike eggs when being worked with or it will crumble. Sometimes if it is hrokcn, it can be salvaged by putting it in a plastic hog with water to make it soft for remoulding. Once a person purchases a piece of greenware that he or she' likes, the next step is to clean the mould marks off and even it out with a cleaning tool. It is then sanded by rubhing a sanding sponge on it in a circular motion. After that it is washed with water and sponge. The greenware is now ready to be fired in the kiln for the first time. The kiln is lined with fire brick and electric coils. It heats up in various stages from low (500 degrees) to medium (1100 d,grocs) to high (1830 degrees) at which time an automatic kiln sitter or cone which bends at a certain temperature automatically shuts it off. The kiln takes all the moisture out of the greenware and makes it hard. Mrs. Slater's kiln is Canadian made.lf you buy an American kiln, she says. it has to be rewired to Ontario 8ydro'oouundards The hydro for the kiln doesn't cost much because the heat is contained inside. The kiln takes about three to four hours to warm up, about that long to fire a product and about that long again to cool down resulting in ahut a 12 hour process. PAINTING RXSQK}EwVARE After the first firing in the kiln, the greenware becomes known as bixquewore. It is then ready to he painted. Paints cost about $1.35 a jar but a jar lasts for more than one piece. A popular paint is crystal glaze. This iot contains little specs of glass which melt and run totber when fired creating different dotted patterns. Mrs, Slater's shop is well stocked with various colorsof paint to apply to ceramics creations. Herglazes are a ono. �az Californian -made but she .purchases them in Wood- bridge at the same supply cVmpany where she pur- chases her greenware. There is a great variety of paints to work with says Mrs. Slater. There are both satin and foamy glazes like the kind that would be used to paint the beard on the Santa Claus greenware. After the bisqueware is puinted, it is dull and must be fired in the kiln again to reveal its natural shiny color. It's always exciting at this stage. says Mrs. S}ator, to open up the kiln and see hat's there. Red and orange colors are the hardest colors of paint to use. About five coats of these colors must be applied to the hiyquonure because each creation requircs about three coats and the kiln fires off at least two coats of red and orange colored paint. Stains are also popular according to Mrs. Slater. These stains are put on the hisqueware and then covered with a plastic coating. The Colors of the stain are the true colors that are shown in the paint's jar so a person knows exactiy what he's getting. CERAMICS FOR EVERYONE Mrs. Slater took ceramics lessons for eight years when she lived in Hespeler. Her teacher there is still teaching ceramics after 25 years. Mrs. Slater just happened to drop in at her mother-in-law's place for a visit one evening when she was headed for her ceram,ics class. She decided to go along with her to see what it was all about and she endcd up sticking with it. Ceramics is a hobby :hat people can pick up easily *ocnrmng to uncs. slater. A person's very first piece turns out reasonably well and this is encouraging, she SaYS. A lot of people think you have to be artistic to take up ceramics, says Mrs. S|ater, but it's up to the individual. A person can simply clean and paint something which is already there. More ar- tistically inclined r'dmivaUyinc|ined people may paint their own flowers or dcsigns on a moulded piece or put decals on their creations. Mrs. Slater's students are mostly young vvnmen, some still in high school but ceramics can be enjoyed by all age groups she says. Many senior citizens are taking up the hobby and even youqg children can handle such a hobby according to Mrs. Slater who holds up a snowman created by a 3-year- oN. Mrs. Slater's own two ohi|6ron, a girl and a boy aged 12 and 14, have both taken up ceramics. After Chriatnnua, Mrs. Slater is planning to teach her classes some hand modelhng by giving them a big blob of p|pntorcinm like material and letting them shape it them- selves. Small roses hand moulded out ofclay mnnkem nice finished ceramics product, according to Mrs. Slater. Mrs. Slater naturally fills Turn to page I5A