Marg's Shoe Store to close in April

Jeff Green | Feb 04, 2010

The shoe store when it was housed int eh building that is presently the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy. The truck is carrying their float for the Sharbot Lake parade.

There has been a shoe store in Sharbot Lake for almost 80 years, but that will change on April 15, 2010 when Marg's Shoe Store closes.

The shoe store has been located near the government dock on Sharbot Lake, across from the Central Frontenac Township Office for the past few years.

It was opened by Mrs. Fair in 1932, and she ran it out of her house, which is now the home and office of realtor Mimi Antoine.

The business was eventually sold to Herb Duffy, who moved it across the street to his house. The house, and the business, were bought by Bill and Marie Robertson in 1959, and sold in 1966 to Marg and Len Desroche.

It has been called Marg's Shoe Store ever since.

In 1972, Marg moved the store to the building across from the grocery store on Elizabeth Street, which had originally been a bank, and was at that time a restaurant owned by Mrs. Gibson. The building, which now houses the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy, was the home of Marg's Discount Shoe Store for 14 years.

Marg maintained a close relationship with the Brown Shoe Company, which had a factory in Perth for many years. She would pick up shoes that had been returned to the factory because of a variety of minor flaws. She would bring them back to her store, look them over and determine if she could fix them or if she needed to bring them to a repair shop in Kingston to be fixed, and eventually sell them as “used” shoes. She also sold seconds from the factory that she would repair or have repaired, as well as first line stock.

Marg's Shoe Store became known throughout a wide region for quality, inexpensive shoes. “People came from all over to buy shoes here, and I mean from all over,” said Marg Desroche when interviewed this week about the 20 years she spent running the shoe store. “We had one lady who would fly in every year or two from Hawaii. She would buy enough shoes to do her family. We also had people from the States who would write to us in the winter and order shoes that they would pick up in the summer.”

Marg says she got the most pleasure when a family “that did not have a lot of money would come in, and by jiggling prices a little bit we would arrange it so they would all get the shoes they needed. At that time some of the shoes were only $2. But the glow in the eyes of the little ones when they got the shoes is something I still remember.”

People would also pick up shoes or sandals or clogs on their travels as souvenirs and bring them to Marg as gifts. “I think I built up a collection of over 600 shoes that way,” she said.

In 1986 Marg sold the store to her son Mike and daughter-in-law Sharon. They moved the store to the Sharbot Lake Retail Centre at the Junction of Highways 38 and 7, and ran it at that location for 16 years.

“We did well at the retail centre,” Sharon said, “because the tourist trade stayed strong and we continued to work with Browns Shoe Factory.”

Eventually the rent became high at the retail centre and an opportunity to buy a building on the waterfront right in Sharbot Lake came up, so the store was moved in 2001.

“Business stayed strong, but in the last couple of years it has slowed right down,” Sharon said when talking about her decision to close the business.

Browns Shoe Factory closed down eight years ago and even though they still distribute shoes that are produced off shore, the “used shoes” and “seconds” are no longer available.

“But the biggest problem we have had is the slowing tourist trade,” Sharon said. “We have always had a lot of local support, people have always supported us, but even if everyone in Sharbot Lake buys a pair of shoes from us each year that is not enough without the cottage and tourist trade, and that has dropped right off.”

The closing of an institution like Marg's Shoe Store is a sad event for Sharbot Lake, but for the next 2½ months it also means the store will be selling off its considerable stock of all shoes at prices between $5 and $70.

So the shoe store’s final days will resemble its early days, with prices that are well below market, except that the shoes are all new.

After the shoe store closes, the Treasure Trunk used clothing store will be moving to its location.