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Etc.
Last updated
July 12, 2010 |
Newsletter
Don Segal
emailed me in March of 2008. He wrote about his father, Ely Segal, and
his involvement with the start of Towers back in 1960. You can read
about Don and Ely
here.
In his email, Don attached images of a remarkable document - the Tower
Times - an employee newspaper. Click
here to view it, or scroll down to view bits and pieces of it.
Enjoy!
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July 1962 |
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Towers' "National Employee Of The Month"
Maintenance with a smile. Everyone around the Dixie store knows Bill
Wright, the friendly fell in the Maintenance Department who gives
everyone a hand. There is still a bit of brogue in him speech and
blarney in his smile. (Bill came to Toronto from Northern Ireland as a
lad of 14) although he his now a grandfather with gardening as a hobby.
A loyal employee since the opening of the store. Towers is proud to hail
Bill as the winner of the $50 "National Employee of the Month" award. |
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TOWERS TOP
MANAGEMENT TEAM
TIE-UP TORONTO TRAFFIC AT THE
GRAND OPENING OF 11th STORE |
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Sunny skies and the rousing music of a band set a
festive mood for the greatest smash-opening yet as Towers threw open the
doors of their first discount department store within the city limits of
Toronto on June 14. Over 62,000 shopped passed through the entrances in
the first twelve hours to shatter existing opening-day attendance
records.
A plane's-eye view of the parking lot at Towers High Park shows one
means of transportation which brought record-smashing crowds to the
grand opening on June 14. Thousands came by TTC. By evening traffic was
tied up for several blocks around the store.
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The invocation was given by Rev. M.R. Sanderson of Emmanuel United
Church, following which members of the platform party and Towers
officials were introduced. Ald. Mary Temple spoke on behalf of the
Corporation of the City of Toronto. After a brief address, President Ben
Rosenberg cut the tape and declared open for business the eleventh link
the lengthening chain of Towers stores.
As the crowds surged inside, the disparity between the number of cards
on the parking lot and the number of customers being clock in was
quickly noted said Manager |
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION |
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Little Christmas Tree
I came across this remarkable
Christmas story at
Quizmas.net. Here's the source
web page. I've reproduced it here.
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Little Christmas Tree
written by
Vivienne Maitland |
It was their first year in Canada. It
was Christmas Eve, and they had no tree. So the husband went out for a
walk and returned with...well, read the story.
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It was Christmas 1969 and I was due to give
birth shortly. We had only been in Canada for a year and so we did not
plan on doing much Christmas decorating. On Christmas Eve at about 7 pm
my husband left the apartment to go for a walk. It was cold and crisp so
I decided not to accompany him. He returned in an hour with a Christmas
gift for me that I have to this day.
My husband walked from High Park Avenue to Dundas Street West, where
there was a Towers department store. In those days, Towers was the only
store that opened until 10 p.m. The store was closing and the few
remaining sales people were preparing for Boxing Day sale. He asked them
if he could purchase a Christmas tree but was told that they were all
sold out.
Suddenly he saw a small tree in a corner, wearily blinking: on, off, on,
off. It was cheaply decorated and looked rather tired. He asked if he
could purchase it but found out that it had been part of the store
decorations and was destined for the trash. My husband offered them $10
for the tree as is and the deal was made.
He unplugged the tree and holding the plug in one hand and the tree in
the other, he walked along Bloor Street, slipping and sliding all the
way. Every now and then one of the glass ornaments would crash to the
ground and shatter like an egg. When he got home there were no more than
a dozen balls left on that little tree. He then plugged it in and it
started to blink once again: on, off, on, off. Over the years my
daughter - the expected baby from 1969 - and I have made many
hand-crafted ornaments for that little tree.
Today is December 15th, 2009 and I am alone now but I have just put up
that little tree and in a second it brought back memories of my first
Christmas in Toronto. The little lights are blinking: on, off, on, off.
And I remember an old Nat King Cole song about an unwanted little
Christmas tree:
Little Christmas Tree
No one to buy you, give yourself to me
You're worth your weight in precious gold, you see
My little Christmas tree [Transcribed by Kristine Maitland, the January
1970 baby.)
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Certificates
Can't believe the number of
workshops and seminars I attended when working at Towers. We always got one of
these at the end:
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Financial Analysis Workshop
This certifies that ___ understands the purpose of,
and is effectively able to use, Towers/Bonimart
financial reports |
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Towers Department Stores
This is to certify that ____ successfully completed
Training Skills
and now has the knowledge & skills necessary
to carry out on-the-job training |
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towers
Customer Service Policy
We pledge to ensure total customer satisfaction
in a courteous friendly shopping atmosphere.
At Towers, customer satisfaction
is Priority One. |
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towers
This is to certify that
_____
has completed the "Flex Leadership" Program
aimed at maintaining an effective team |
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towers
This is to certify that
______
has successfully completed
Towers Leadership Workshop,
aimed at building an effective team |
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Visual Presentation
Certificate
This is to certify that
_____
has successfully completed the course
on Visual Presentation and
Merchandising Techniques |
Photographs
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Inventory training
photographs taken around 1979 |
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Note from webmaster:
Thanks to
Mike Burke for sending this along!
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Note from webmaster:
This photo of an actual Towers trailer was sent in by
Arron
Outram. Thanks! |
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Teddy Sac |
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I was in the Woodstock,
Ontario Zellers (645 Dundas St.) last month and noticed the sign from
the pharmacy still used the Towers script. I guess they never bothered
to change it. - Jamie (July 3, 2010) |
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Towers Westside |
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Cash register receipt from September 19, 1974.
For those who remember, it was from a Sweda cash register. |
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Misc. |
-
 Excellent
article
here about Sayvette. You'll note
Towers peppered here and there at the beginning of the article.
Great read about other retailers in the early days. I worked in the
Towers Malton store for awhile and remember a huge Sayvette logo
floor mat recessed into the floor at what must of been the main
entrance to the store. Now I know why -- it was previously a
Sayvette store that was closed the summer of 1975.
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