Paul Wilson: A Sign Past Its Time – Hendry's of Hamilton saves soles no more

In the world of online sales, the top category for returns is shoes. No surprise there.

I wouldn’t dream of buying that new pair of Rockports without walking around in them first. I circle the store several times – at day’s end, when my feet are fat. When it comes to feet, fit matters. Indeed, it is everything.

And fit is what they sold at Hendry’s Shoes, on Barton Street East for more than 70 years. It’s right there on the sign: Wide | Regular | Narrow.

But that towering neon and sheet-metal masterpiece is now well past its time.

Some independents in the shoe business have made a long living. Think Millers, James North, and now the Mountain. Or Jack Carruth in Westdale.

But others were finally trampled by the chains.

On Ottawa North, next door to Stardust Records, there was Tot & Teen Bootery. Sam Alfano finally shut the door in 1997 after 50 years.

And there was Woolcott’s Shoes, which began at the Delta in 1937. They moved to Concession 20 years later to be near all those young families moving to the new suburbs. And in 2005, they opened a big store on Upper James. A year later they were bankrupt.

Which brings us back to Barton, west of Sherman. Hendry’s, around since 1928, closed suddenly three years ago. The family wouldn’t talk about it.

And on this stretch of street, when a storefront empties out, it stays that way. The sign on the front door, past the guano, says Closed For Inventory. Hendry’s is down for the count.

A Sign Past Its Time pops up regularly on CBC Hamilton. If you’ve spotted an old sign that needs its story told, do let me know.

[email protected] | @PaulWilsonCBC