Business is still going well at Richard's Shoes, Nick Olivia said, but as he and his partner, Robert Gimon, got older, they decided it was time to close the store
WAYNE -- After 44 years of fitting children in just the right footwear at Richard's Shoes, co-owner Nick Olivia and his partner, Robert Gimon, are shutting down the establishment in Wayne.
It's not that business has fallen at the Hamburg Turnpike store, Olivia says, as the children of the children he fitted years back keep coming into the establishment.
And it's not a question of rent payments, he added, crediting his landlord, Larry Berman, with "being very good to me" over the years.
"My partner is 71 and I'm 65," Olivia said. "It's just time."
Selling the business wasn't an option, he said, because "if it doesn't go well, you have to come back" and help the buyer.
"I wanted a clean break," Olivia said.
So the establishment has announced it is closing at the end of the month and will be having a retirement sale until then.
"The owners invite customers in for a final shoe fitting before they hang up their shoe horns," the store said in its announcement of its closing.
Olivia admitted he has mixed feelings about the closing.
"It's really bittersweet," he said. "The customers feel bad, you feel bad. But everything comes to a conclusion."
Olivia says he will miss the many friends he's made in the store.
"The children who came before bring in their children now," he noted. "It is satisfying."
His wife, Donna, another key figure at the store, said she's "happy and sad at the same time" about the closing.
"It's hard to say goodbye to all the kids," she said.
She added that she will especially miss the special-needs children, who "require a little more attention" and are appreciative when they get it.
"We'll miss our neighbors. It's like a small family here," Donna Olivia said.
But, Nick and Donna Olivia pointed out, the work has gotten harder over the years and they're looking forward to a break.
"It's changed, because a lot of the mothers work today," Nick Olivia pointed out, and can only shop on weekends.
"You used to be open six days a week, now you're open for seven," he said. "We used to be closed on Sunday, now it's a very important business day and you have to work."
"It's going to be nice to have weekends off," his wife agreed.
But other than working longer hours, Nick Olivia said, the children's shoe business has stayed remarkably the same over 44 years. Growing youngsters constantly need new shoes and still like being fitted in person. And the brands have even stayed the same, with Nike, Stride Rite and others remaining big sellers for many years.
The business has had "some ups, some downs," Nick Olivia said. "Basically it's been the same for the last 20 years."
As for future plans, Donna Olivia says that for now, they'll stay at their home in Clifton. "We'll just relax, then we'll probably go down the Shore," she said.
Other key figures at the family-run store in Wedgewood Plaza include Gimon's wife, Linda, who is Nick Olivia's sister; and general manager John Mills.
Ben Horowitz may be reached at bhorowitz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @HorowitzBen. Find NJ.com on Facebook.