By Staff
Lu-Henri Shoes has been a landmark since the 1940s
By NIKIE MAYO
News Editor
The sign on the door read “Cash Only” and handmade leather loafers were marked $1 a pair. The gumball machine was tagged $50 and an old yellow sofa waited to be hauled away.
On Tuesday, Lu-Henri Shoes, a Market Street landmark for more than 60 years, went out of business.
So, as customers scrambled to grab men’s boots for $3 or ladies’ heels for $1, the Everettes prepared to close up shop.
His wife, taking care of the cash register, nodded.
A short time later, as though on cue, an elderly woman came in to look at shoes and hats while her husband “parked the car,” she said.
There wasn’t much left.
“All the shoe-repair equipment was sold Saturday before last,” Dale Everette said. “I had to put it on ebay. I tried to sell it locally … and to some of our suppliers, but no one wanted it.
Lu-Henri started out as strictly a shoe-repair shop, in fact. It was owned by Ernest Mercer.
No one knows for sure how long Mercer owned the shop. But Mercer was drafted in World War II, so he sold it to barber Henry Jones and his wife Lucille in 1944.
The Joneses took modifications of their first names, even changing the “y” in Henry to an “i” for the storefront, and Lu-Henri Shoes was born.
The latest husband-and-wife team to man the store say they understand the worries that couple must have had.
Her husband laughed at her.
The Everettes say they aren’t entirely sure what the future holds.
He said he plans to go back to school and to also try Internet sales. She went back to school and became a nurse.