Archive Hour: Helensburgh shoe supremo retired in 2004

Here's how we reported on the end of an era stretching back to the 1850s in the Advertiser on June 24, 2004...

* * * * * * * * * * *

AN ERA is coming to an end when John Hargan retires after a lifetime working in the shoe business.

Four generations of his family have been involved in the shoe industry, going back to the 1850s when his great grandfather had shops in Gourock and Greenock.

The presence in Helensburgh began when his father opened a shop in 35 West Princes Street in 1955, long before the new shops and flats were built in Colquhoun Square.

The current premises further along the road was then a shoe shop called S. Cameron and the Hargans took it over in 1969.

“I went in with my father in 1960 and have been in the shoe business for 44 years,” said John.

“It’s a question of picking the right time to retire.

“I just felt it was time to call it a day and get my golf handicap down,” he joked. “I’ll do some gardening, other odd jobs and take Patricia out on the golf course more.”

Their 27 year-old daughter Claire is a Scottish international golfer, so the sport is well and truly in the Hargan blood.

John said the closing down sale starts today (Thursday) and will run until everything has been sold. “Hopefully that will not be too long and then we can retire.”

Patricia also works in the shop alongside staff Anne Stevens, Pat Lambert and Moira Ward.

John said at its peak there would be in the region of 3,000 pairs of shoes in the shop but the stock was running at a lower level nowbecause of the closing down sale.

John has really enjoyed his career and has some wonderful memories.

He said: “One day, over 20 years ago, this man walked in with two wooden legs in a canvas bag.

“He wanted to get shoes fitted for his wife.”

That was the most bizarre incident over the years.

“The customers like a bit of banter and the personal contact," John continued.

"They like to be able to order shoes and have them fitted. Less and less of that happens now.

“Independent retailers like ourselves are a dying breed and customers have been asking us where can they go for their shoes.”

John first started work in the industry when he was 15.

“I lived in Gourock and used to travel into Glasgow by train,” he said. “I worked in Bayne and Duckett on Argyle Street which is still there as a Clark’s shoe shop.

“I was only 15 - I could not get out of school quick enough."

One thing is for sure and that is John will not have trouble filling his spare time.

He is the junior vice president of Helensburgh Rotary Club, a member of Cardross Golf Club and the Craighelen Tennis and Squash Club.