As part of Global Kingston’s Family Day series, we visited Frameworks on the corner of Princess and Montreal Streets in Kingston, Ont. to see how the father and son-run operation works.
It’s been a downtown fixture since 1982, and is owned Wayne and Colin Morris.
“It was the tail end of a recession and really Kingston didn’t offer this kind of service,” Wayne said about when he first considered opening the store almost 40 years ago. “People thought that we were a little crazy opening a retail operation at that time.”
Despite people’s doubts, the store has been successful in its downtown spot since it opened.
Colin says he has fond memories of growing up in the store.
“I’ve been coming here since I was 12 years old — just visiting mostly, farting around on the computer, but my brother and I always liked being around the environment.”
Now, Colin is part owner with his father.
“Dad’s business partner retired and I entered.”
Colin says he’s happy to keep the business in the family and to have a business partner he knows and loves.
“Working with my dad has been awesome — we get along well and we have different sets of strengths,” Colin said.
“I’m learning from him all the time. He’s really taught me a lot of those tried and true lessons that he’s learned over the 37 years that he’s been running this (business).”
Wayne said it’s comforting to have his son follow in his footsteps, and know that he can leave it in good hands.
“I’m getting old enough now that I’m thinking of moving on and I would really love the business to survive. To sell a business these days to a stranger, you don’t know what you’re going to get.”
As technologies change, Colin says they are currently trying to update their business so that they can keep the family business running for years.
“We’re definitely looking at plans to update and try new things that our market is excited by,” Colin said.
The plan is to keep the store open so that maybe one day, a third generation from the Morris family will be able to run the business.
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