Sunnybrook Plaza was a community landmark for more than 70 years. Scores of retailers operated there – many of them familiar to Leasiders – Power Food Market, Scott Hardware, Ira Berg, Northway, Hunts Bakery, Town Shoes, Morton’s Smoke Shop, Consumers Distributing, Reitman’s, Boots, Radio Shack, Home Hardware, and many others.
One Sunnybrook retailer whose name people also haven’t forgotten is Woodhams Clothiers. A recent post about the store on the Leaside Heritage Facebook page prompted dozens of responses from viewers with warm memories of Bob and his clothing shop – 30 years after it closed its doors.
“Super nice man.” “Had a contagious laugh that put customers at ease” “Bought my first suit there.” “Such a nice gentleman, kind, knowledgeable.” “Great retailer, always enthusiastic.” “He knew the trends [and] loved his work.”
Who was Bob Woodhams?
Bob was born in 1932 and grew up in North Toronto – the son of a securities broker and underwriter. As a young man, he enjoyed doing card tricks and was photographed engaged in this activity by the Toronto Star in 1949. By the early 1950s, however, he had found his true calling – selling men’s apparel. He began as a clerk at Sears and later was a salesman for The Slack Shops, a Toronto clothing chain. In 1954, using $1,500 from the sale of his car, he opened his own store – Bob Woodhams Men’s Wear, at 3281 Yonge St., north of Lawrence Ave. Five years later he relocated to Sunnybrook Plaza in Leaside, where he would remain for the next three-plus decades. Initially, he kept the store’s name the same but soon changed it to the more distinguished sounding Woodhams Clothiers. Through clever marketing, quality service and hard work he built a thriving business and a loyal clientele.
Customer focus
A key to Bob’s success was the unique and valuable shopping experience he created. His store carried quality brands such as Cambridge Suits and Daks menswear, Hathaway shirts and Gant sportswear. Customers could also enjoy coffee, lemonade, cider and cookies, baked by Bob’s wife Jean. The shop featured its own tailoring department, a rental section for formal events, and a lending library that provided fashion books and magazines – as well as games to entertain customers’ children. In addition, Bob kept a file listing the birthdays, anniversaries, and clothing preferences of his patrons to ensure they always received personalized and customized service.
Bob’s success did not come without challenges. In March 1968, thieves cut a hole in the store’s roof, lowered themselves inside, and stole $10,000 worth of men’s suits. But this proved only a minor setback. By 1987 Woodhams Clothiers had become so successful that it was the only men’s store in the area. Almost 30 years earlier, when Bob first came to Leaside, there had been seven other local men’s shops. He clearly had developed a winning retail strategy.
Closing shop
Around the mid-1990s, Woodhams Clothiers exited Sunnybrook Plaza. Four years later, Bob’s wife, Jean, died; he remarried soon afterwards. His second wife was Leaside born and raised, Heather Anderson – herself a successful fashion designer who had operated her own clothing store on Millwood Road. They enjoyed a happy life together until Bob’s death from heart disease in 2005.
Although Bob Woodhams didn’t live in Leaside (he resided in North York much of his adult life), he spent most of his working life here and left an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of his customers, many of whom were Leasiders who still remember him fondly.
