They’re the longest-standing independent store in Stone Road Mall, and after 42 years, they’re handing over their keys.
If you live in Guelph, chances are you’ve seen George and Shelley Thomas behind the counter of Key Centre Engravables, which has been in the mall since 1981.
George opened his first store in Milton in 1978 with his brother-in-law. He was only 18 at the time, but they had big dreams of opening a store in every mall across Canada.
They managed five, Stone Road being the third. But after realizing franchises had taken all the good spots, they decided to close all but the Stone Road location and the original store, which his brother still runs today.
Shelley began working for George at the store in Milton when she was just 15 and he was 19. Eventually, they started dating, got married and had two kids.
“We’re a true ma’ and pop store,” Shelley said.
It started as a small kiosk outside Kmart. Back then, the mall only had a few dozen stores and no food court. Guelph's population was under 100,000.
Since then, the population, and the mall, have grown significantly. An extra wing was added, as well as a parking garage and the food court. And the Thomas's store has grown along with it.
When the mall owner wanted to add a food court, they needed to redo the flooring.
“I was in their way. So they paid me to move. And instead of moving me once, they did the floor again six months later. I kept moving, they kept paying me,” shuffling the kiosk just a bit further in the mall each time.
Once it was finished, they told him they didn’t want a kiosk anymore, he had to become a store. Since then, they’ve been in three locations, and moved into what they call their “final resting place” in 2016.
All this time, they’ve been the only key engraving store in the mall, he said. When they started the business, just about every mall had a Key Man or Things Engraved in it – Stone Road was one of the few that didn’t.
The manager at the time happened to know George from his store in Milton, and fought to “give these young kids a chance.”
While they couldn’t put in the contract that no other key store would be allowed in the mall, he said they’ve been the only one ever since.
“They stuck with me, and I stuck with them.”
A few years back, one of their biggest competitors went under, closing most of their stores.
“So I outlived everybody,” he said.
The reason being, they kept up with the changing times over the years, when others didn’t.
“They all had one machine. It’s called a diamond drag, and it does pens and lighters and jewellery. But it doesn’t do lasering and it doesn’t do sublimation.”
They, on the other hand, have machines to do all those things, including sublimation (printing pictures onto things like mugs).
They’ve also lasted so long because they put in the hours themselves: the owners are the faces you see, day after day. Because of that, they’ve made connections in the community and have an army of loyal customers – some of whom have been frequenting the store since they opened.
It’s customers like those they’ll miss the most. Shelley even prolonged their retirement until the end of June, to make sure they could supply the Wellington Catholic School Board with engraved awards one last time.
“They’re my favourites. I would do that every day if I could,” Shelley said.
After four decades of working retail though – and every single Christmas Eve and Boxing Day since – they’re ready to move on. If all goes well, new owner Shaw Cui will take over on June 29, and George and Shelley can get started on retirement.
They’re especially looking forward to not working during the Christmas season. Although one question remains: what to gift people after years of gifting engravings?
“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll come back here and discover something new,” Shelley said.