The tradition carried on after Leon's death in 1942, with sons Lewie, Tom and Edward and daughter Marjorie eventually taking on managing the company, and other Leon family members taking up various management and middle management positions in the following years.
#Death road to canada furniture store windows
While Leon managed the store himself, his 11 children were also employed working around the store, dusting furniture, sweeping floors, washing windows and serving customers. A part of the plaque can be seen in the historical photo, behind the big sign above the awning. During exterior renovations in 2006, a plaque was found on the side of the structure, with Ablan Leon's name and the year 1914 engraved on it, likely dating the structural expansion around that year. The furniture shop opened at the same location as the dry goods store, and the building was expanded to accommodate the additional department. The deal was sealed, and it was at that moment that Leon decided to go into the furniture business. After offering a price that he thought no one would agree to, Leon was surprised to see it accepted. The story follows that on having bought a mattress as a wedding gift for his son and seeing it delivered to the front of his shop, Leon was approached by a passerby who asked to buy it. The legend behind Leon's expansion into the furniture business is an amusing one, however.
The store's products did not yet include furniture at that point, mostly consisting of items such as pants, blankets, shoes and linens. From the start, Leon became established as a merchant with a reputation of being honest and caring, even going as far as providing store credit to new immigrants if they were having difficulty obtaining it elsewhere. in Welland's working-class area at the time, in which he based his dry-goods store. Having saved up enough capital, he then went into business for himself and bought a small building at 244 King St. Born in 1876, Leon immigrated to Canada from Lebanon in the early 1900s and settled in Welland, beginning his career first working at a factory, then as a door-to-door salesman selling clothes out of a suitcase. The Leon's furniture store chain was started by Ablan Leon in 1909, as a small private venture called the A. As another example of a local business that received its big break from a combination of savvy management, smart location, and most importantly, the good will of its customers, the company known today as Leon's provides an excellent feel-good success story.
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