K.C. Jordan, LJI Journalist
Richard and Carolyn Meisner arrived in Shawville in 1973. It was a cold January day, the biting kind of cold that nips the feeling from your fingers.
With a car full of belongings and three kids in tow, the new owners of the Shawville Stedmans prepared to move their whole life into the apartment upstairs.
They got out of the car to stretch their limbs. No sooner had they done so, than had a crowd of people greeted them with a warm welcome and a helping hand, carrying their carload of belongings into the new abode.
“It was certainly a little bit overwhelming,” Carolyn said, adding that the welcome crew were the family’s first friends here.
“Those three people and their spouses just took us under their wing and we had a great social circle with them,” she said, adding that they quickly felt at home in town.
Over the years, the new Stedmans owners would become a fixture in the community, giving thousands of hours back to the town that welcomed them so warmly.
Generations of people came through the front doors at 375 Main St. for back-to-school shopping, to buy a board game, or simply to chat.
But this month, after 51 years of ownership, the couple will be closing up shop for good.
Richard, who had previously owned a Stedmans store in Stellarton, N.S., before moving to the Ontario towns of Woodstock, Trenton and Orangeville, heard the Shawville owner was retiring, so he decided to make an offer.
For him, it was not only a business venture but an opportunity for his family to settle down and find stability.
“It was a chance to get off of the road and spend more time with family,” Richard said.
Over the years, the store endured a fire, an economic recession, the arrival of big box stores and, eventually, online shopping, but it was the COVID-19 pandemic that was the last straw.
The Meisners’ daughter Rhonda, who took over managing the store in 2012, said the pandemic forced some of their suppliers out of business.
“The merchandise we were getting was astronomically priced and the shipping costs were ludicrous . . . all of that impacted us,” she said. “As a small business, you don’t have a vast resource of capital.”
She said their store had always focused on stocking a wide variety of merchandise, and when the pandemic limited the availability of that wide variety, their bottom line suffered.
“It became harder and harder for us to source,” she said, saying their order costs tripled in some cases. “It became very difficult for us to manage our inventory [ . . . ] It was just awful.”
Rhonda said that with an aging population and a declining number of young families in the area, there was no longer enough money around to sustain the business, and the pandemic dealt the final blow.
About two years ago, Rhonda, Richard and Carolyn decided to list the building on a real estate website. It was time to move on from the business, and get what compensation they could in return.
While the trio waited for the building to find its next owners, they started to get rid of their remaining inventory, down to the shelves and shopping carts.
“We were ready to liquidate whatever was left, and get out,” said Rhonda, who said seeing the merchandise slowly emptying from the shelves has been tough.
“It’s still a hard pill. Still you go in there every day and look around and it becomes less and less [merchandise] all the time and it’s hard. It’s sad for me,” she said, adding that she had been struggling with feelings of failure at not being able to keep the store afloat.
“But more a feeling of disappointment, wanting to be able to keep it in the community but not being able to have that happen.”
As the store’s days dwindle, Rhonda said she is going to miss the little chats with her customers.
“There’s always a story, always a minute to talk. Someone’s granddaughter or grandson is playing hockey,” she said, adding that she enjoyed being a part of the town’s fabric. “We’re just your neighbour.”
‘We’ve spent our whole lives here’
Growing up in Bristol, Connie Hodgins frequented Stedmans with her mom, and she said she has some fond memories from the store.
“I remember going in and looking at the cassette tapes every week,” she said, adding that it was where she bought her first-ever Lion King cassette.
“It would be the go-to place for a lot of school supplies,” she said, adding that she is disappointed to see the store close.
“To see a piece of Shawville go, it seems really sad.”
For Jodi Hamilton Peck, who has been working at Stedmans for 41 years, losing the job is like losing a family.
“They’re my adopted work parents,” she said of Richard and Carolyn, who assumed the role of de facto “parents” when Peck’s real mom and dad passed away in the early 2000s.
In addition to missing the Meisners, Peck said she’ll miss the little chats with her regulars, or going the extra mile to lend a hand. She said doing little things, like carrying big jugs of Culligan water out to customers’ cars, is what kept them coming back.
“They’ll be back every week for their water just because you did that,” she said.
She said when people in the community started to find out the store would be closing, they asked her why she didn’t go off and find another job.
“Because I’m not done with this job,” was always her response, adding that she wanted to finish what she started.
As Richard and Carolyn prepare to close the store, they said the feeling is bittersweet.
“We didn’t want to see it go this way, but we also know that it can’t continue either,” Carolyn said.
Richard estimates theirs is one of less than a handful of Stedmans remaining in the country, and while it’s tough to see it go, he is proud of how long they kept the doors open.
What’s the secret to staying in business, you might ask?
“Maybe we weren’t smart enough to get out,” Carolyn said with a laugh.
Humble as can be, the couple didn’t see their 51 years as particularly eventful or dramatic. Stedmans was merely a job, and one they enjoyed doing thanks in large part to the community.
“We never, never once dreaded to get up and go to work in the morning. There was always something going on,” said Carolyn, who added they never wanted recognition or accolades.
“We were just here to provide a service and to make a living.”
Reflecting back on that chilly January day when they first arrived, the couple said they are grateful for the community that welcomed them with open, heavy-lifting arms.
“We’ve spent our whole lives here [ . . . ] This is our home, this is where our kids were brought up, and this is their home too,” Carolyn said.
Richard agreed. “It’s an absolutely fantastic place to raise a family,” he said.
The couple took the opportunity to thank the generations of loyal customers who have come through the doors at 375 Main St. over the years.
“When we first came here, their grandparents shopped here and now the kids and then their kids are shopping here,” said Carolyn, who shared one bit of good news with THE EQUITY.
The sale of the building was finalized last Saturday, meaning a new tenant will move into the space early in the new year.
The Meisners, who expressed gratitude for their loyal customers, were happy to sell the building and are looking forward to a restful retirement.
