It’s very easy to say that Covid 19 has interrupted many plans of many people around the world. Lizz and I were in the process of trying to sell our Shoe business. We finally felt that the time had come for us to at least semi-retire. Unfortunately, because of COVID-19, we put that plan on hold for a year. 

It's hard to believe that for over 120 years the Meloney family of North Sydney has been selling footwear to Cape Bretoners for that amount of time. George Meloney, my grandfather, began selling for the Vooght family around 1900 in North Sydney.

 Around 1905 George opened his own shoe store called G A Meloneys Boots and Shoes;  between 1905 and 1928 (when George died), they changed the name to Meloney‘s Shoe Store.  

When George died in 1928, he had three small children, the youngest was three. Jean, his wife, my grandmother, was a woman from Northeast Margaree, she was a trained nurse and teacher. My grandparents were married in 1919, she was 25 and he was 53. In 1928, she was faced with a relatively young business and three small children. Jean immersed herself in the business trying to learn everything she could. She hired a nanny from Newfoundland to look after the children in the daytime and she sought advice from businessmen around town. She had a way of asking people for advice and they were only too willing to say yes to her. Jean continued with the business and she hired a gentleman by the name of Bill Groves who managed the store for her. She drove her own car (unheard of at this time) and would take her children to Margaree every summer to spend time on the farm where she grew up.

My father Sid came back from the war in 1945 and my grandmother asked her son what he was going to do with himself. He said well maybe I’ll come down and hang out at the store for a while.(His exact words he told me) So he went down to the store to hang out for a while and she never came back. She decided that it was time for her to do things she would like to do with her life and that’s how my father get into the business.

In 1947, Dad had the business incorporated and renamed Meloney’s Limited. Bill Groves is still managing the shoe store at this time  And  Dad and my grandmother always said that if it wasn’t for Bill they would never have survived.

My Father Sid and Grandmother Jean(she lived till 103 years old)

In the early 1950s, Dad had become friends with a man, Bill Cooke, who owned National Shoe store down the street from his store. Mr. Cooke suggested to Dad that he buy National from him as he was going to move to Moncton and open up a wholesale business. Dad did just that. He bought a lot of shoes from Mr. Cooke over the years. Now this lower price store really started to takeoff for Dad. Dad had changed the name to Family Footwear Limited and he "inherited" a woman to look after the store who used to work for Mr. Cooke by the name of Marie Lamie. She turned out to be a wonderful and caring manager for my father's store. Dad had a lot of respect for her and she helped make that store what it was.

By now Dad had made a good name for himself and a gentleman by the name of Harvey Webber from Sydney came to see Dad and asked him if he would be interested in opening a shoe store in his store at Smart Shop. He and Mom talked about it (Dad always said Mom made all the right decisions) and decided yes. So, in 1958 he opened the Shoe Bar on the lower level of the Smart Shop. This store gave Dad a chance to be creative and he carried fun fashion shoes at a medium price for women.

In the early 1960’s, my father felt that his business would be more successful if he were right on Charlotte Street, so he moved on Charlotte Street directly across from where Jacobson's Ladies Wear. This location is now where Spinners Men’s Wear is today. Meanwhile Harvey Webber found someone else to take Dad’s place as a shoe store in Smart Shop but after a couple years this didn’t work out and Harvey once again came to Dad and suggested opening another store in Smart Shop but on the main floor. Dad agreed and opened a new shoe store catering to women with mid to high price shoes. He called this store - The Shoe Tree. Having four stores went well but somewhere in the 70s, Dad felt the Shoe Bar wasn’t doing as well as he would like. He felt if he close the Shoe Bar, the Shoe Tree would be a more successful business; which it was. Lizz and I moved home to go into the family business in 1982. We worked mainly out of Family Footwear and after a couple years Dad and I realized that Meloney’s Shoe store (the original) was struggling. By now, the Mayflower Mall had opened with around 13 footwear outlets in it. And there was the North Sydney Mall with 2 to 3 shoe stores. Times were changing and Dad, Lizz and I felt the time had come to close the original store Meloney’s Shoe Store.

In 1986, Lizz and I purchased Family Footwear from Dad. I split my time working at the Shoe Tree and Family Footwear. All was going well until the recession hit in the early 90s, plus a major change happened in Quebec where the law was proclaimed that all businesses had to have a French name first. Many of the old Shoe industries and factories decided that they didn’t like that and two of our major suppliers for Family Footwear closed and several others moved to Toronto. Of course, around 1991, the Internet happened and 'Online Shopping began". Family Footwear was struggling and basically was on the verge of bankruptcy. The Shoe Tree was as well struggling but had potential if we transitioned to a different type of store - a little more upscale, more fashion and add men’s to it. It was at this point we closed Family Footwear decided to focus more on The Shoe Tree. We sought advice from fellow retailers in Halifax who provided us with excellent suggestions; buy less lines and become very important to your suppliers which we did. We began our focus on some of Canada's top lines like Clarks, Romika, Naturalizer, Joe Sanchez, Rockport etc. Business was growing fast, and we started to go to the National Buying Show in Toronto where we were introduced to a line called Rieker. I remember saying to the sales rep we would buy 60 pairs, if they sold well, we would continue to build the line. They did sell well and Rieker and Remonte became a leader in our store.

Four years ago, the owners of Smart Shop Place asked us to relocate as they had plans for the building. With only a month to move, Bruce and Lizz closed out The Shoe Tree at Smart Shop Place and set up a new store in our present location, Rieker by the Shoe Tree.

Amazingly, the Meloney shoe business survived 2 world wars, the Great Depression, 2-3 recessions, the opening of large Malls, Online Shopping on the Internet, and now COVID19. It went from 5 retail stores. 4 footwear and one Ladies Wear store, to just the Shoe Tree in Smart Shop Place. As children in a family business, we all worked in the business at one point.

My father, his brother, Ross and sister Edna both worked in the store. My two sisters, Pat and Karen, plus brothers Ross and Sid all worked in the store. And our children Lynn , Kate and Nic all learned the art of selling shoes. Our business has won and been honored with several awards plus Dad and my Grandmother are in the Cape Breton Business Hall of Fame.

Since I am one of the "elders" on the street, recently I was asked what I thought the future held for Downtown Sydney, I honestly feel that within 5 years the downtown will be bustling again. Factors such as NSCC moving downtown, the second Cruise ship berth will add new life to the cruise industry and thus downtown. One thing that COVID did, was to show the importance of small business in a community. It is my belief that small retail will come back strong and we will see a vibrant downtown. We already see new owners taking over buildings, we see new young people on the street and there’s plenty of room to grow so I believe it’s going to be terrific in about 5 to 10 years. We will see a bustling downtown core. While we would love to be part of it, the time has come for us to shift our focus towards our family and doing the things we would like to do; much like my Grandmother. Now that we are a Branded shoe store with Rieker being one of the leading brands in independent retailers across the country, I believe Rieker by the Shoe Tree will be an awesome anchor business here in Downtown Sydney.