{"id":42988,"date":"2014-10-09T20:57:03","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T00:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/wordpress\/?p=42988"},"modified":"2014-10-09T20:57:03","modified_gmt":"2014-10-10T00:57:03","slug":"fraser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/fraser\/","title":{"rendered":"Fraser MacKinnon: a gentleman businessman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/fraserth.jpg\" alt=\"fraserth\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-42996\" \/>With a farewell to E. MacKinnon and Son <!--more--><br \/>\nby Rhonda Dedyne<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s not often in today&#8217;s world that the word &#8220;gentleman&#8221; is used to describe an individual &#8211; probably for good reason.<br \/>\nFraser MacKinnon was most certainly a gentleman. His personal life and professional career as a businessman in St. Johns stand as a wonderful example of the character traits that the somewhat archaic word implies: integrity, dignity, respect for others.<br \/>\nAs a young girl in the late 1950s accompanying my mother on shopping trips to MacKinnon&#8217;s in downtown St. Johns, I had no way of knowing that decades later &#8220;Mr. MacKinnon&#8221; would become &#8220;Fraser&#8221; to me or that his knowledge and interest in local history would prove invaluable in my newspaper story assignments and community projects over the years. At that young age all I knew was MacKinnon&#8217;s was the place where mom bought fabric and sewing &#8220;notions&#8221; that became skirts and clothing for me &#8211; and aprons that almost every lady I knew in Riley Township wore on a daily basis.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/mackinnon4.jpg\" alt=\"mackinnon4\" width=\"500\" height=\"358\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-42991\" \/><br \/>\nTime, as they say, marches on.<br \/>\nFraser was keenly aware of time&#8217;s march, especially in regard to retail stores and the changing landscape of downtown business districts. He experienced it firsthand at the store his father, Edward, opened in 1935 that became E. MacKinnon &#038; Son in 1950 when he joined the business and operated successfully until its closing in 1984.<br \/>\nFraser&#8217;s understanding of the evolving retail environment is evident in an essay he wrote in 2005 for &#8220;Downtown: The History of St. Johns, Michigan,&#8221; a book project undertaken by Dave Collins in conjunction with the St. Johns Sesquicentennial. I had the very great pleasure of writing portions of the book &#8211; and of working with essayists like Fraser.<br \/>\nDave&#8217;s recollection of time spent with Fraser is equally complimentary. In addition to the book, Dave interviewed Fraser for a documentary series on downtowns that he wrote and produced for WKAR-TV which aired in April 2003.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/frasertv.jpg\" alt=\"frasertv\" width=\"380\" height=\"347\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-42992\" \/><br \/>\n&#8220;I really enjoyed the contact that I had with Fraser,&#8221; Dave recalls. &#8220;I had a high regard for him because he was a merchant who understood the value of a thriving downtown. He saw downtown as a place that was more than a collection of stores &#8211; it was a central location where people could meet friends and catch up.&#8221;<br \/>\nFraser&#8217;s essay is reprinted here. Perhaps it will spark memories for area residents not only of times past &#8211; other retail stores, restaurants, and establishments we frequented not so long ago &#8211; but also for people like Angus Fraser MacKinnon, a true gentleman.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hPIFn9yGLGg?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>The Demise of Small Town Business<\/strong><br \/>\nby A. Fraser MacKinnon<br \/>\nE. MacKinnon &#038; Son 1935 -1984<br \/>\nOwned by Edward MacKinnon and A. Fraser MacKinnon<br \/>\nIn the mid and late 1930s, the downtown of most small towns was the business and social center for the town and the surrounding area. During that period, St Johns had four drug stores &#8211; now, none; three department stores &#8211; now, none; three shoe stores &#8211; now, one; four mens wear stores &#8211; now, one; three bakeries &#8211; now none. This is a small example of how the availability of retail sources has been reduced.<br \/>\nThe Clinton County Courthouse was at the head of Clinton Avenue as it is now. The county jail was located on the southwest corner of McConnell Street and South Clinton Avenue, one block south of the courthouse. The Grand Trunk Depot on Railroad Street was a busy spot handling passenger and freight traffic in both east and west directions. The U.S. Post Office on West State Street was a busy place. Rodney B. Wilson High School, directly south of the courthouse on Cass Street, was a beehive of activity for young people. The three large churches around the courthouse &#8211; St. Joseph Catholic Church, First Congregational Church, First United Methodist Church &#8211; completed the town center.<br \/>\nOne of the weekly occasions in the summer was the band concert that was held in the street in the middle block of Clinton Avenue. Late Saturday afternoon, the center block was closed off and a platform was set up for the band, and benches for the audience were put in place. Large numbers of people showed up and most stores stayed open until 10 p.m. There were many other activities and sales sponsored by the downtown merchants all year long.<br \/>\nMy father, Edward MacKinnon, purchased the F.C. Burk Dry Goods Store in June 1935. Fred Burk had operated the store for 27 years. He also had a grocery store in the next building north. Fred Burk died in 1934 and his widow did not wish to run either store so she put them up for sale. The building was in the middle block of downtown St Johns on the east side at 220 N. Clinton.<br \/>\nMy father did not enter this endeavor without experience. He had spent 19 years working for large department stores in Illinois and Ohio. He was also a partner in Addison Baltz Company in Michigan operating and managing department stores for eight years in Grand Haven and Alma.<br \/>\nAfter my father purchased the store the inventory required a great deal of upgrading. Many product lines were added. The second floor was opened and stocked with a full line of carpeting, linoleum, and curtains. As well as attending apparel shows in Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Detroit my father made trips to the wholesale district in Detroit every six weeks bringing back current styles in dresses, coats, handbags, and millinery to keep the stock of merchandise up to date.<br \/>\nOperating a retail store in the &#8217;30s and before was very labor intensive. Dust was a very serious problem, especially in a store with clothing. All merchandise was covered with muslin covers every night and uncovered each morning. Each sale of one or many items was written up on a sales slip and then entered on the cash register. Paper sacks were not available &#8211; or if available, at a very premium price &#8211; so each purchase was wrapped in paper and tied with string, again a very slow and labor-intensive job. Another problem was that much of the merchandise was on shelves behind the counters which made it necessary for the clerks to take it from the shelves to show it to the customer. This was all compounded with a lack of foot traffic, probably the most serious problem, and a small staff to handle the amount of work necessary to run an efficient business.<br \/>\nSome problems were solved by the efficiencies and technology that became available after World War II which gave us new, improved things like programmable calculators, cash registers, and lower prices for supplies produced in quantities. There were some things we had no control over which made it difficult to do business in the downtown area. I have always felt that the lack of parking was a serious problem equal to the problem of low foot traffic. At the same time the large super stores began to appear in the area and eventually in St Johns. These super stores drew a great amount of foot traffic and had an abundance of free parking.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/fraser.jpg\" alt=\"fraser\" width=\"450\" height=\"335\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-42993\" \/><br \/>\nI joined my father in the business in 1950 after graduating from Michigan State University. In 1953 my father and I decided that in order to remain competitive and be able to increase our business it would be necessary to make major improvements; yet making improvements to the building we were renting did not seem to be a good business decision. Several years earlier my father had bought a building, almost directly across the street from the building we were occupying, as an investment. We decided that remodeling that building and moving across the street would be in our best interest.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/mackinnon2.jpg\" alt=\"mackinnon2\" width=\"404\" height=\"362\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-42994\" \/><br \/>\nWe put in a completely new storefront designed for the attractive display of our merchandise. We removed the back 30 percent of the building and rebuilt it with a mezzanine, which increased the space for sales by 25 percent. We replaced the entire floor with the newest tiles and hired Consumers Power to design a new lighting system. We installed a whole store air conditioning system. At that time we probably had the most modern small department store (I preferred to use the older term &#8220;Dry Goods&#8221; store) in Clinton County. In a very short time we installed new counters and new electronic cash registers.<br \/>\nI feel that this remodeling allowed us to stay in business and be competitive until 1984, our 49th year in business. At this time I made a personal decision to retire and I closed the store.<br \/>\nDowntown St Johns has now been reduced to about 10 or 12 retail stores. There are many vacant buildings downtown and the buildings that are occupied are service type businesses. St Johns has not been any different from most other small towns. The wants and needs of today&#8217;s consumers have dictated the change in retailing.<br \/>\nThe closeness that was felt by the people in all small towns and the customer loyalty has disappeared, probably never to return.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/collins.jpg\" alt=\"collins\" width=\"450\" height=\"301\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43069\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Dave Collins working on his Dowtown project.<\/em><br \/>\n&#8220;This has turned out to be a real community project,&#8221; Collins said. &#8220;I received so much help from so many individuals who have a genuine interest in downtowns in general and St. Johns in particular that the video really became a partnership.<br \/>\n&#8220;It\u2019s a community project geared toward educating residents about the history, challenges and changes of not just downtown St. Johns, but any small town in America.&#8221;<br \/>\nCollins spoke with dozens of individuals and collected over 300 images during his research for the video which is divided into three basic parts: a brief history of the development of the town, a condensed story of one family-owned business, and insight into a few of the challenges that merchants have faced on main street.<br \/>\nAlthough the size and scope of the downtown project narrowed considerably from what Collins had initially proposed back in April 2001, the video still provides a wonderful &#8216;snapshot&#8217; of the city&#8217;s downtown business district from its earliest beginnings to the present time.<br \/>\nBecause the scope and actual length of the video project in its final form is much shorter than what Collins had initially conceived, a huge amount of data &#8211; including numerous historical photographs and background information on leaders who helped shape St. Johns in its early years &#8211; is not included in the televised segment. Collins plans to use those photos and other information in a printed booklet which he hopes to compile and distribute.<br \/>\n&#8220;The booklet will offer some perspective on a general view of our nation&#8217;s downtown areas, provide a more detailed look at the development of downtown St. Johns, and include some select images from the past,&#8221; Collins said, adding that he welcomes additional contributions of photographs and written essays from area residents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a farewell to E. MacKinnon and Son<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album","category-features"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42988\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}