WATCH: It’s been around since World War I and this month Ingledew’s is celebrating a century of selling shoes in Vancouver. Linda Aylesworth reports.
It was an inauspicious start for Ingledew’s Shoes on March 25, 1915.
World War I was ongoing, they only sold dress shoes, and while their location at 666 Granville was prime real estate, Vancouver was nowhere close to the size of city it would become.
But the store’s founder, William Wright Ingledew, was drawn to shoes.
“He came to the west to make his fortune I guess,” says his grandson Bill Ingledew, who now serves as CEO.
“Somewhere along the way he got involved in shoes…and he fell in love.”
100 years later, Ingledew’s is still in operation, now with six stores across British Columbia.
“The world has changed, footwear needs have changed, footwear technology has changed, and anyone that was in the business that didn’t pay attention to those changes isn’t here today,” says Bill.
With none of his children interested in running the business, Bill Ingledew has found a partner, Pierre LeFebvre, to guide the company in the future. He’s confident that whatever happens, his family legacy will stay strong.
“He’s not an Ingledew, but he’s certainly part of the family,” he says.
“This will be a firm to reckon with for some time to come.”
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