Legendary Downtown Store Closing!

Since 1933 this store has been in Downtown Rochester with a clientele from Rochester and around the world. And now, the owner is tired, and so is going to retire. Which means goodbye to a legend...goodbye to O&B Shoes!

What's the story? I stopped in and had a GREAT conversation with John Butrum, a part of the team for 30 years! He tells me the owner, Don Hadley, decided to retire...first they closed out their store in the TJ Maxx Plaza, which took about a month, and now they're selling off the stock at their downtown location. John figures it might take about the same time, maybe a little longer.

There's no deadline, they'll close up when the stock is sold out.

During the conversation, I got to mean Jeannine Hadley, Don's wife, and store manager. She and John both told me a bunch of great stories that sound a lot like this one from John. A Senator was in town from Washington, his luggage was missing and John fit him up with shoes, even tho he had no money on him. "Just send me the money when you get home."  The Senator did, adding a letter saying he'd never been treated to that kind of service.

Listen to James Rabe 6a to 10a on Y-105 FM, and 2p to 6p on 103.9 The Doc.