Thursday, March 27, 1997
Chamber names top small-business owner
By DOUG WILLIAMSON
Business Editor
Earl Williams, owner of The Bootery, was named "Small
Business Person of the Year" Wednesday.
Friends said Williams "is truly an old-fashioned success
story. He worked his way from the bottom to the top."
In presenting the annual honor, Mike Hughes, chairman of the
Abilene Chamber of Commerce, told an overflow crowd at the Abilene
Civic Center that The Bootery has been the only place Williams
has worked, except a two-year military stint.
"He began work as an eighth-grader in 1955, when he worked
part-time as a stock clerk at a time when few, if any, African-Americans
were in this business. (Williams) has now acquired 100 percent
interest in the business," Hughes said.
Hughes said The Bootery "continues to compete effectively
with large volumes of women's shoes and handbag retailers, while
remaining locally owned and managed."
Williams is active outside his workplace. He has been a deacon,
trustee and finance board member at Mount Zion Baptist Church,
where his family was named "Church Family of the Year"
in 1973. Williams and his wife, Wynell, have three children, Rodney,
Michael and Janell.
Williams was named "Kiwanian of the Year" by the
Kiwanis Club of Abilene in 1988. He serves as gumball chairman
for the club and has been a member of the board of directors.
He is a member of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce and Black
Chamber of Commerce.
Williams has been a member of the Public Housing Authority
Board since it began in 1978. For the last several years, he has
been its chairman. In 1981, he was recognized by the city for
his part in obtaining the Housing Board Program for Abilene.
He is obviously active civically. He also serves on the board
of the Juvenile Justice Center, Restitution Center, West Texas
Rehabilitation Center and King's Kids Outreach.
Williams threw the credit off him and onto his employees.
"It is not so much what I do. I have, without a doubt,
the best sales force in this town," he said in accepting
the award. Those sales folks have been with the store from three
weeks to 28-29 years, he said.
About two years into his employment there, he decided he wanted
to own a shoe store.
"I guess I would say that I am dedicated (to the business).
I love it. I do all I can.
"Years ago, when gold shoes were in fashion, I would bring
shoes home when a customer might bring them back in. They have
a tendency to flake. I'd take them into my garage and repair them,"
Williams said.
He encouraged the audience, saying, "You all just keep
on coming (to the store)."
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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