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CHAPTER 10
modern. It wasn’t the typical retail store. They had plants and wooden display units; everything was earthy and natural. They were beautiful stores. The staff I hired was a mixture of young and old so that when customers came in, de- pending on their age, they would have somebody who could service them properly.
The whole thing in retail at that time was customer service. It was long ago, and it’s faded terribly over the years.
I was making about $40,000 a year to work for Holly’s. This is the equivalent to $200,000 in 2024. I was hiring staff, training the managers and giving them my expertise. The work was gratifying.
Holly’s was the leading retailer in Canada as far as image goes. I was more into the merchandising of the stores and hiring. Concerning the job, what gave me the most satisfaction was getting everything in order and making it as perfect as possible. I was right about the people I hired, the store’s look and the clothing selection. I used to buy all the different clothing lines that were presented. I used to deal with all the agents and travel extensively to find them. The latest looks in Europe were adopted into our private label programmes with great success.
I loved the creativity in the fashion business. Every season was a different col- our, and you couldn’t keep repeating.
I’ve been married three times. When I started Holly’s, I was in the process of divorcing my first wife. Unfortunately, the breakup was not a good situation. Thankfully, I met somebody who happened to become the manager of one of the Holly stores. She and I fell in love, and I thought things were on the right track. She loved my children from my previous marriage.
Unfortunately, the owner of Holly’s didn’t particularly like the idea that I was dating a manager of one of the stores. Perhaps he had old-school thinking. He came in one day with a check and fired me because of having a romance with this woman. He gave me a six-month severance. It was a nice chunk of money to leave, and I just went.
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