Long run serving uncommon feet
Customers who need rare shoes visit Harry Young one last time
Linda Bush bought her first stilettos in 1962 when the then-20-year-old started her first job as an administrative assistant.
She bought three pairs in the same style — in black, brown and blue — at Harry Young Shoes near St. Clair Ave. and Yonge St. because no shoes ever fitted her so well with her size seven-and-a-half, AA narrow feet — something that had prevented her from comfort on her heels. She never looked back.
When the Mississauga woman learned of the closing of the 97-year-old specialty shoe store, she just said, “Where am I going to buy my shoes, now?”
In 1918, Harry Young opened the family store at Bloor St. and Dovercourt Rd., he offered women’s shoes in dress or casual from quadruple-As to Cs and men’s from triple-As to triple-Es — a niche specialty market overlooked by his competitors.
The store moved to the St. Clair and Yonge location in 1936, then opened a new outlet at Yonge and Adelaide in 1967, before relocating to its current spot on Front St., just east of Church St.
Since Tuesday, loyal customers have been lining up at the store to stock up their inventories — and to bid farewell to current owner, Tim Young, the founder’s grandson, and his six longtime employees. The store is on a monthly lease until all stock is cleared, likely at the end of summer.
“I’ve been working at the store since I was 10. I feel a little depressed. It’s like going to a funeral and you can’t believe someone’s died,” said Young, who turns 60 in October and is closing the store due to a rent hike.
“I am too young to retire. If I was in my mid-40s, I would just move to another location.”
“We are an old-fashioned store, serving one customer at a time. Our service is the main thing. We are one of the last family-run independent retail stores. It’s quite a legacy.”
Dorothy Swerling, who turns 92 next week, waited more than 30 minutes in her walker outside the store before she was let in and given a ticket to be served.
“I feel all the good things are leaving Toronto,” lamented Swerling, holding ticket No. 99. “Maybe quality is not as important as it used to be. Their service is excellent. It’s so sad.”
When Gord Patten was hired in 1980, he never thought he’d have stayed 35 years.
Although dealing with difficult and demanding customers is all part of the job, he said Harry Young — one of the first to introduce a private pension plan and employee health plan in 1953 — is a great employer that treats its staff like family.
“We have such a strong customer base, from coast to coast, as far as Australia and England. They are all very supportive,” said Patten. “I can’t tell you what’s most memorable in my 35 years here, but one thing I won’t miss is driving in from Brampton to Toronto every day.”
Bush said Harry Young’s shoes are pricey, but they last both in time and styles.
“I put on a shoe that I really liked, but they told me I can’t have them because they were not right for my feet. I have a very high arch, and it’d hurt. I trust them,” she said.
The only person who’d be happy to see the closing of the store is probably Bush’s husband, Terry Boughner, who chauffeurs his wife to Harry Young at least a couple times a year.
“We come in from Mississauga. I just wait outside when she shops. It is a good thing the store is closing,” said Boughner with a chuckle.