After nearly 50 years, Mark Howarth is setting off onto his next chapter.
Howarth, the longtime owner of Leon’s, formerly Howarth’s Home Centre, in Fort Frances alongside his wife Twyla, has officially retired from the family business he has been running for close to five decades. It’s a significant milestone for a job he started as a teenager, one that has grown over the years right beside him.
“I started after school in high school, I think it was,” Howarth said.
“So it would be 50 years this summer. There’s been a lot of changes. You think back to years and years ago and there’s been so many different changes. Going from the small place on Portage Avenue, the laundromat I guess it is now.”
Howarth shared that it was 1993 when the Howarths opened their doors on Scott Street, the location that hundreds of residents have come to know in the year since. At that time, the store was “mainly into electronics” according to Howarth, meaning that something had to be done to use up the remaining space the larger store offered.
“Everything was over on the one side,” Howarth recalled.
“It was mainly all computers and electronic gadgets and parts and accessories. The company, my mom and dad had furniture in that little laundromat before the Radio Shack franchise we took on in 1975. That’s kind of when the electronics started to get bigger, all the stereos and that. [The old store] was only about 1,200 square feet over there, so it didn’t take long for electronics to push the furniture out. And of course, when we bought here, we had all this room, so we had to do something to fill it up.”
With a move and remodel, the store looked something similar to what it is at the end of Howarth’s tenure, but today’s younger shoppers might not remember the plethora of electronics that the store used to sell in addition to home appliances. Howarth reflected that the store was one of the first partners to TbayTel, noting that cellphones have been one of the technologies he feels has brought about the most change both within the industry and in the wider world.
“Now, they’re kindof taking over, we did cellphones for years as well,” he said.
“We were a TbayTel dealer when they first started, back when they had the bag phones that first came out. I remember I used to have one up at the cabin and you’d have to hold the bag phone up on the picnic table to get a signal. We went through that phase, then we went into Bell cellphones after that. We gave that up not too long ago, probably three or four years ago. And now they’re kindof taking over.”
But as the times change, Howarth said he began to think of doing more outside of the store. Howarth noted he began seriously thinking about stepping away from the business about five years ago, which led to a process that began in earnest two years ago, which has now led to his official retirement.
“Of course, I didn’t know long it takes to actually do it, or I guess I knew, but it drags on,” he said.
“It would be two years ago this summer that I officially announced and started talking to the accountants and all that. Definitely wanted to retire. I stay active, and everything, but you start thinking of doing other things. When you spend your whole life doing this, you don’t have time to do other things, especially when you have two lake properties and the store and warehouse. And we bought the old Kettles building back seven, nine years ago and remodelled that.”
In spite of enjoying the work, especially the customers and staff he said the store has always been lucky to have, Howarth said he’s looking forward to getting back some of his time that has otherwise gone into running the business. The store may be changing hands and name in the near future, but the current staff have all been offered jobs to stay on, meaning the quality Leon’s, and Howarth’s Home Centre before it, have come to be known for will continue on, leaving Howarth and his family plenty more time to enjoy spent together.
“More time for boating, golfing and something else,” he said.
“Golf is kindof hard to do when you’re working and at the lake and everything, so get back into that. More time for fishing. We want to do some travelling before we get too old. Age kindof creeps up on a person, every year it seems to go by quicker. I’m starting to get advice from everyone now.”
But does the storied businessman have any advice to give back?
“No, not yet.”
