'End of an era': Saskatoon Sears employee who was there when it opened in 1968 works final shift

There are likely few people who have invested more time, energy and love in Sears Canada than Saskatoon's Sheila Walters.

We will see what happens, if somebody out there wants to hire someone my age, or not.- Sheila Walters, aged 84, soon to be 85

Walters still remembers the day she started working at the department store in 1968.   

"Oh have I made a mistake here?" she asked herself at the time.

Sears was a different place back then. There was more variety. There was a candy counter and a record department stocked with all the latest hits.

End of an era

The store, a retail anchor at Saskatoon's Midtown Plaza from the day it opened, closed up shop for good this week, the victim of bankruptcy in a cut throat retail environment.   

"It was a sad day that's for sure," said Walters. "The end of an era, and one I'm glad I didn't miss."

Walters' career at Sears lasted nearly 50 years.

"I enjoyed every day I went into work. I enjoyed the customers and had some regular customers and it was just a real nice place for me to be."

In an interview with CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning, Walters looked back on the ever changing world of retail, and a career that saw her serve customers in a number of varied areas including sporting goods, and most recently baby furniture.

"It was a continual changing process, some of it good and some of it not-so-good."

Looking for work

For Walters, Sears was more than a job — it was also a hobby, an opportunity to make some good friends.

In fact, she said that her most fond memories from 50 years on the sales floor, in fact, were forged out on the dance floor in the annual Christmas shindigs the retail giant organized for its employees.

"They had some wonderful parties," she said.

Sears Canada, in its various forms, has existed since 1952. Sheila Walters' time on Earth started earlier than that, and now at the age of 84 (soon to be 85) she is again looking for work.

"I'm hoping to work part-time somewhere else," Walters said.

"We will see what happens, if somebody out there wants to hire someone my age, or not."