The Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-06-13, Page 33If there is a. newspaper
publisher in this part of On-
tario who has earned the
respect of his associates and
staff, it must be Robert George
Shrier, the 39 -year-old
president -of Signal -Star
Publishing Limited.
Bob Shrier is ' an unusual
man who has made unusual
strides in business after an
unusual beginning. Though
some would say he is a self-
made man, most people who
know Bob Shrier well find him.
truly humble .and most ap-
preci,tive of the people and
friends along the way who have
made his fondest dreams come
true,
"I didn't do it", insists the
dapper voting president of a
thriving enterprise. "It was a
`we' effort, all: the way. It was a
wise man wIlo once said, I'd
rather have one man working
with me than . three men
working for me."
Bob Shrier was born in
Preston and moved to Galt at
an early age. The family had
be'n plagued with illness and
Shrier the go-getter found a
part-time job in a shoe store at
the age of '14.
From ,then on it was Shrier,
the .salesman, and it was the
same natural sales ability that
helped him become„a good shoe
salesman which later boosted
the Signal -Star publisher up
the ladder, of success.
When the Shrier family con-
templated a move to.Ottawa, it
was clear that young Bob's
, school, days had ended. He was
now 16 and expected to take a
fulltime position.
One evening -before the Ot-
tawa move, Bob was visiting a
girlfriend who was the
daughter of S.L. McCabe, now
president of the Thompson
' newspaper, then advertising
director for Thompson and• at
that time in' charge of about .10
publications. •
Mr. McCabe put down 'his
newspaper . and looked across
his livingroom .at. his
daughter's visitor.
"How would you like to try
the newspaper business when
you get to Ottawa?” he asked
abruptly.
That's how R.G. Shrier got
into the newspaper business
which has consumed his atten-
tion for almost a quarter of a
century. On his arrival in Ot-
tawa, Shrier became a mat boy
at the Ottawa Journal.
Mat boys don't make much•
money so to supplement his in-
*, Shrier went to the only
thing he knew - selling shoes.
He worked ,in an Ottawa shoe
store on Saturdays only and
did exceptionally well on a
commission basis.
"I made as much money on
Saturday as I'd make all week
working at The Journal",
recalls Shrier.
Not content to be confined to
the mat room and a meager
wage all his life, Shrier attemp-
ted . to convince someone at The
.Journal that if he could sell
shoes, he could sell advertising.
He went straight tothe head of
the staff and extolled his
talents as a first-rate salesman.
It might have been . nothing
more than an exercise in
teaching a young bragger a
lesson, but whatever the reason
Shrier was assigned to selling a
full -pager of advertising to
correspond � vith,the arrival in
Ottawa of 'The Athletics, 'a
professional baseball ,club in
the International League:
There was a slight catch in
the assignment, though.. He was
told all the advertising must be
sold to those 'advertisers who
were not- regular customers of
The Journal.
It didn't take tong to, sell the
page of advertising. Young
Shrier was a good salesman.
Enthusiastic about his feat,
Shrier even laid out the adver-
tising promotion including in it
a picture of some of the players
and a little bit of information
about them. - just to foster in-
terest among :t ie reader..
How 'many' readers noticed
the ad never wasdetermined,
but it was soon evident the ad-
vertising had caught the eyes of
the ballplayers pictured,jn the
ad. An irate ball team with
professional press 'agents to
handle their publicity, deman-
ded to see The Journal .officials
about this flagrant use of the
names of• important per-
sonalities 'to
er-sonalities'to sell merchandise
in Ottawa. `
The 'executive' . sent out to
the ball park to squarer the
damage was none other than .
the 16 -year-old that boy turned
ad salesman on trial. Bob
Shrier faced' the barrage of
angry ballplayers alone, admit-
ted he was sorry for any liber-
ties he may have unknowingly
taken and offered to act as
their batting practice catcher
who hadn't turned up, by way
of making amends!"
He not only turned the tide
for The Journal, he became a
regular. batting' practice catcher
and bull -pen catcher for the
Athletics when they were at
home!
"1 was later offered a
fulltime job with the Athletics
publis
President R. G. Shrier
a proud day
ady director agrees
staff .greatest asset
Mrs, •J.A, Shrier, a director: of
Signal -Star Publishing Limited,
admits the business has been
more successful than she ever
thought possible.
"It has gone beyond anything
I'd ever hoped to see", she says
and I turned it down", remem- '~ nth 'obvious pride, "both in
bers Shrier. "I wonder twhat
would' have happened if I'd
taken it."
That wasn't the only job Bob
Shrier rejected in those early
days in favor of .newspapering.
He was ,offered ,a position at
$100 a week with CKOY Radio
Station Ottawa three times as
much as he was making as a
mat boy at The Journal - but
he decided against it,
.."Incredible", admits Shrier,
shaking his , head 'at" the
memory.
Determined to become an-ad-
vertising'salesman, Bob Shrier times",Mrs. Shrier goes on.
applied for a job ,at The Lon- "There has been a great deal of
don Free Press. He was' almost effort expended ton keep it a
hired, too, except Chuck Fenn progressive organization both
--continued on page 30S for business purposes and as a
quality and capacity."
"From my point of view, it is
the staff who have done it", she
adds without hesitation. "It
never would have been possible
without the people we had,
especially in' the bad; times." •
The "bad times" were .those
early years at the Signal -Star
when the press was new, the of-
fset pperation ° was new, the
staff was new, the expansion
came ,quickly and the 'debts
were amounting.
"But the' business has
progressed, it has kept up to the
responsible member of the com—
munity."
Mrs. Shrier, knpwn to nearly
all the staff as Jo, was born in
Ottawa. She graduated from
the University of Western On-
tario with a degree in
Secretarial Science and is
presently beginning her, fourth
year of the Certified General,
Accountants Association
course.
Following her marriage to
R.G. Shrier in' Tilbury where
her. 'parents. lived, she went
with her .husband to,:Penrticton,
BC and to Barrie before
coming to Goderich in late
1961, She is the mother of two
chikrren, Robbie 1Vand Anita
11,
She worked in the Signal -
Star office from 4966 until the
end'of 1969. Now as a director
of the firm, she is involved
mostly in the decisions. of ,
management and the financial
aspects of, the business. From
time to time she fills in as op."
general office assistant when
someone is sick or away on
vacation, hut for the most part
Jo Shrier is one director who is
content to direct. .
She doesn't talk about it
much, but in the early days Jo
'Shrier worked long hours with
her husband toward the success
of the business. At one time She
did all the bookkeeping for all
the Sinal -Star publications
and knew what it was to keep
12-14 hour days right along
with, the- rest of the staff.
"The possibilities are
unlimited for the future", she
believes. "I expect there will be
more expansion but we hope to
continue to improve. our
established facilities and`'
situation in the community.
The quality of production is a
real concern."
"We expanded very quickly
with a lag,in quality she ex-
plains. "Now quality is catching •
ad