HUlUb bUoMI I I tD Woodley s Furs introduced a storage facility for its customers in the 1950s. Arthur 'Bud' Woodley (in photo) looked after its operations.. Exquisite collection of furs STORY BY BENZIE SANCMA FOR THE INTELLIGENCER terrible weight." When Woodley's bought McKeown's drugstore next door and made it into a ladies' wear department, La Vallee said she helped out occasionally. The department sold high quality formal ladies' suits, blouses, skirts and scarves. Ladies' hats were also a big item at Woodley's at one time, she recalled. "Everybody wore hats to church those days. Many people told me that they never went to church on Easter without wearing a hat from Woodley's," she said with a chuckle. "I was once working in the hat department. It was an Easter Saturday around 1950. It was a very busy day. There were people wall-to-wall, trying on hats. Hats were about $2. A $10 hat was a very expensive hat. At the end of the day, the store had sold a $1,000 worth of hats." Till recently, the fourth-generation-run Woodley Furs was located at 2 3 Front Street in the building known historically as the Alberta Block. The ownership of the building changed hands through the decades and the Woodleys bought the building in 1971. The store and storage facility closed its doors early in 1996. You can reach Benzie Sangma at bsangma@cogeco.ca