WITH A WEE BIT OF EXPERIENCE - WE OFFER SOME RETAIL EXPERIENCE - WE UNDERSTAND HOW TOUGH IT CAN BE

My life-partner Suzanne, began working at about eleven to twelve years of age. While I started a little bit later, my multi-year gig began with Clark's Produce, a wholesale fruit and vegetable supplier, in Bracebridge, for a buck an hour. Hey, it was the sixties, and I was a kid without income to that point. So a buck an hour was, as far as I was concerned, one significant step toward early retirement,

Suzanne began her work career, when her family (Stripps), of Windermere, purchased the Windermere Marina, on Lake Rosseau. With her mother, as head cook, they ran a well known little snack bar called "The Skipper." From the sixties into the seventies, Suzanne's summers were pretty clearly defined. Work! From making milkshakes and ice cream cones, to flipping burgers, and serving up food for many long, long days, to help the family enterprise. The only time to swim, in the lake she loved, was either in the early morning, or late at night. It was hard to make friends. She admits it wasn't much of a social life back then, except with customers…..many who did become life-long friends. I've never known Suzanne to show any regret whatsoever to that early immersion into the family business. Same with our boys Andrew and Robert. They became antique dealers before their respective fifth birthdays.

She went on to work at the Windermere House shop, and then was in charge of retail and other related sales at the Windermere Golf and Country Club. She has run a majority of our retail sales, in a variety of locations since the late 1980's, when we established Birch Hollow Antiques, and God Bless Her Soul, she's run sales all over the place ever since, from antique shows, to fundraising sales, to the humble flea markets and garage sales. She has even run yard sales for others, all very successful, I should note.

I went from the produce delivery circuit, where we began deliveries at about 5:00 a.m., to the lumber trade, where I was also on the road dealing with happy, indifferent and indignant customers, from one end of Muskoka to the other. I worked at South Muskoka Memorial Hospital, in maintenance for four years, painting and re-painting the building….and acting as a goodwill ambassador to all those who used the facility. Everyone, at least in Frank Henry's term as administrator, was told, clearly, that we were to make this a welcoming, accommodating place, and if it meant a painter or gardner had to scurry in for a wheelchair, for a patient….well, we were glad to do it!

When I got my first writing gig, as a reporter for the Muskoka Lakes-Georgian Bay Beacon, back January 1979, not only was I on the news and sports beat, but I had to sell office supplies at lunch hour, or any other time the clerical staff was out of the office. I was scared to death, at first, but I didn't really mind the added responsibility. It certainly put me at the ground floor of what was going on in main street commerce. Of course, in MacTier, that was a pretty short stretch of retail outlets. None the less, I don't regret the experience. Truth is, that while ringing in an office supply sale, I often got a news tip, or idea for a news feature, from a chatty customer. From 1979 to 1990, I was dealing with hundreds of people a month, as an editor with Muskoka Publications, and hundreds more, as manager of Woodchester Villa and Museum, and a few hundred more in our main street Bracebridge antique shop, below Martin Framing. As far as serving the public, and just in case you were wondering about our family's background…..seeing as we pass ourselves off as knowledgeable in the field, we were in the front-line of a lot of charitable ventures beyond our daily tasks. We were actively running fundraisers in Bracebridge, particularly with the Rink Rat Hockey Club, which is still operating to this day, and raising funds for worthwhile groups. We raised many thousands of dollars in my tenure with the club (I commenced it as The Herald-Gazette Rink Rats) and the annual Lovable Losers Hockey Tournament we founded decades ago.

From the mid-1980's, our boys, Andrew and Robert became part and parcel of all our projects, including the Crozier Foundation, operated by our friend Roger, a former all-star goaltender with the Detroit Red Wings. The boys were in a special parade with Roger, their entry announcing the creation of the fledgling children's foundation. With mom and pop, we stayed with the foundation for 12 years, working at skate camps (as food providers), and helping with the Sports Hall of Fame rotating exhibits at the Bracebridge Arena. What choice did they have? None! But I'll tell you what, their early exposure to retail, and the buy-market-sell routine, hasn't hurt them a bit; especially seeing as they put all the family experience to work in their uptown Gravenhurst Music business, in the former Muskoka Theatre building, opposite the Opera House. There have been more than a few times, in the five years of their enterprise, that we have been criticized, vocally and in print by the local business community, not appreciating our right to shove the "oar in" so to speak. As new business operators, it was expected the boys would be willing partners, and vote with the flow…….whatever that happened to be at the time. What these same folks had neglected to learn, was that these two young lads had been training for their own main street enterprise for many years before actually hanging out their shingle. So when Andrew, initially, began to sense that we could not agree with many of the opinions and adopted policies from the business network, and that trying to change or even influence the group was impossible, there was no other choice than to hunker down, network with business friends we could relate, all over the community (not just on the main street), and try to make rent every month.

There was a time when we did discuss moving the operation off the main street, to free ourselves of the business politics but as Andrew and Robert both adored the location in the old theatre, and its proximity to other places they work part-time, it was decided then, and even most recently, to extend our lease. But nothing has changed, with the formal business governance, and our resolve is as stoic as it was after the first of many unfortunate interactions…..of which established this present, successful course of independence from all local business organizations. The boys exercise their right to select who they network with, and why, and they enjoy the non-controversial day-to-day operation of their business. It's one thing to be burdened by the rigors of retail enterprise, and the shortfalls of the economy, but quite another to be weighed down by endless debate and bickering about the mainstreet business future. We think it's all about free-enterprise, with big emphasis on entrepreneurial gumption. Maybe some folks, who are interested in investing in this main street business corridor, will take it upon themselves to conduct an in-depth investigation of all our businesses, and possibly find something quite hopeful, and uplifting, from merchants who are willing to stick-it-out, despite the set-backs actual and perceived in the future.

When some irritated town councillor, or business community grand-poobah (or something like this), wishes to toss out a critique, or to minimize what our boys have done thus far, well, maybe the first step for these young, bushy-tailed businessmen, is to give them the benefit of the doubt…….and consider the information presented here, as reason they deserve to not only be heard, but be reckoned with, as knowledgeable fellows who love their home town…….and are quite willing, like others, to create opportunities,…..not just waiting for someone else to create them first.

Our boys aren't pursuing their music business to become millionaires. As we Curries are often quoted as saying, "we're still a million dollars shy of becoming millionaires," we're genuine when we suggest, we love what we do……..and that's always been our accrued wealth. So while they, and we as their supporting family members, don't wish to belong to any the formal business networks because of bad experiences in the past, it doesn't mean we don't support, and promote (every single day), the business community at large.

But they sure don't like to hear or read about others who criticize local business opportunities, especially when they are never canvassed for an opinion, about their own optimism that we can not only survive but regain much of the economic stature we once had on the main street. We all like to think that goodwill is the best starting point for every day. Of this, we won't change our opinion.

Fix the attitude and we can all look forward to a much more exciting future. Maintain the pall of doom-saying, and it will be left to the grinders and assorted die-hard optimists, to pave the way forward……as it always has! Town Council need not look too far, or devise complicated strategies for recovery. Businesses will want to locate here, when they sense optimism, and co-operation are ingrained as business strategies for one and all. Renewal is the operative word here. Some would have us believe, it is far more complex and impossible to attain, than actuality shall eventually prevail. Of this we are confident, or we wouldn't continue to invest in our main street.