Well-known P.E.I. shoe store owner set to retire after 65 years
Wayne Proude plans to leave the business next month, but his son will carry on
When 81-year-old Wayne Proude began selling shoes while he was in college, he didn't plan to be in the business for as long as he has.
Over the past 65 years, he took on a job at Wright's Shoe Company, then managed and bought out Ellis Bros. in Charlottetown before starting his own store called Proude's Shoes. It's currently located in the Sherwood Business Centre.
Now, he's finally set to retire.
"It's emotional, you know. It's going to be. And the more I talk about it, the more it sinks in that it's finally happening," he said. "It's been a great career."
His son Kevin is gradually taking over the store, but Proude will continue to help customers behind the counter until his last day on May 12, marking his 65th anniversary of selling shoes.
Despite liking sales, Proude said the job hasn't solely been about selling for him. Being out on the floor and helping the people who walked through his doors has kept him around all these decades, he said.
"It's the friendships you make with your customer, you know, over the years. They've been pretty faithful to us," he said.
His relationships with the community have extended outside of the store as well.
That includes his partnerships with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and nursing homes in Charlottetown, as well as his yearly clearance sale in Vernon River, every October.
His wife Judy, who did the business's bookkeeping, said working in the store has been a life journey for both of them, which is adding to the sentimentality of next month's retirement.
"I'll certainly miss the stories he has to tell me," she said.
Carole Doyle, a sales associate who's worked at Proude's Shoes for more than five decades, said she was taught the art of customer service from her very first day in 1971.
"I love working here and I love working with Wayne," she said, adding that she feels like she's working with family.
Proude's advice to new business owners? Keep yourself available to customers, because they are the most important people in the business.
With files from Laura Meader