Glace Bay shoe store closes
Beloved couple that ran it has retired.
If anyone deserves to put their feet up, it is Cecil and Rita Saccary.
And they are doing just that now that the Glace Bay Shoe Store has closed its doors.
Rita Saccary, 72, spent more than 52 years ensuring Cape Bretoners had proper footwear and for the last 17 years she and husband Cecil, also 72, have managed the downtown Glace Bay store.
“Our last day brought mixed emotions,” Cecil said. “We should have been retired years ago. We stayed because Rita certainly enjoyed what she was doing.”
It was 1964 when Rita went to work at Agnew-Surpass, a shoe store in the same downtown location from which she retired.
Rita took over as manager in the 1970s and in 2000 the Agnew-Surpass business declared bankruptcy.
“The Glace Bay store was one that never ever went in the red,” Cecil said. “In fact when they went bankrupt they moved most of their merchandise from the Sydney store and other stores as far as Antigonish to Glace Bay to be sold.”
A shoe store was a proven good fit for Glace Bay and in February 2001, Jimmy Huang called the Saccarys asking if they would run a shoe store for the Huang family.
The Glace Bay Shoe Store officially opened May 1, 2001 with the Saccary tag team in place.
“We were happy to be doing it together and anxious to see how well we’d work together,” Cecil said. “We did everything and I mean absolutely everything — except sign the cheques.”
Obviously being together day and night worked.
“I think we fell more in love,” Cecil said. “We started kicking around together when we were 13 or 14 years old,” adding they married in 1964.
Cecil was the manager of the Modern Co-op for 20 years and he had previous experience as a salesman.
“If you needed a tire, refrigerator or oil filter or even a new pair of drawers, you came to me.”
Although Cecil was well versed in selling, it was Rita who was an expert in shoes.
“I knew a lot about selling shoes, I was really good at it and could fit anyone,” she said.
Rita said she taught her husband everything there was to know about shoes, but they worked well together because they were good at different aspects of the business.
“Selling shoes was Rita’s job,” Cecil said. “I looked after the administration and logistics.”
The store not only served people from Glace Bay and area but customers came from all over the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and beyond.
Cecil said there were at least half a dozen women from the area who now live in Halifax but remained devoted customers.
“They’d come home for vacation or the weekend and wouldn’t buy their shoes anywhere else but here.”
Cecil said people flocked to Rita because of her expertise
and because they could depend on her.
“Rita never pressured anyone,” he said. “She made sure people got what they wanted and if shoes didn’t suit you she told you.”
However they each had their own customer base.
“There’d be people that would come in and say, ‘Where’s Cecil?’ These are people who I dealt with for 20 years at the coop. If I wasn’t here they’d come back.”
The most memorable shoes they sold were Heelys, a shoe that came with built-in wheels.
“We sold truckloads,” Cecil said. “It was a fad that lasted about five years. People are still looking for them though.”
Rita said they had a lot of good customers that became good friends.
“So many came in to wish us a happy retirement, there were a lot of good people.”
The only thing on the couple’s agenda now is their children.
“We’ll go to Newfoundland and down to Yarmouth to see the kids but that’s it,” said Rita. “We’re looking forward to this.”
Cecil said mainly they plan to relax.
Allen Huang, a member of the Huang family who owned the Glace Bay Shoe Store, said they
don’t have any plans for the downtown building at this time.
“I still have to clear out some stock that’s still there before we think of doing anything else. We will let people know when we decide.”