by Claire Pfoeffer
The A & A Shoe Store at Riverstone was set up by Alan Steward (a mate from Army days) and run by my brother Allan Pfoeffer. The two were partners in ownership. The A & A Shoe Store was named after the two Allans.
Allan Pfoeffer was a wood machinist and Alan Steward a carpenter. They served together during World War II in one of the workshop units and served most of their time in Queensland.
After the War my brother finished his apprenticeship with Clyde Engineering and then got a job with Chandler’s Timber Company on the Western Highway in the Westmead / Wentworthville area. He worked there for a while and found that the dust was affecting his asthma and the noise of all the machines was affecting his hearing.
He kept in touch with Alan Steward who talked him into learning the shoe trade and going into business. They looked around for somewhere to set up where there was no opposition. In 1954 they bought land in Riverstone next to the Post Office. Alan Steward’s brother-in-law and sub contractors constructed a building on the site. As partners in ownership both men, being carpenters, did the shop fittings themselves. The shop opened for business on the 5th October 1954.
Alan Steward continued to work with his mother at Parramatta, leaving my brother to run the shop at Riverstone. At first he used to go down to Parramatta when the shoe salesmen came, then eventually when he felt that he knew what he was doing they’d call out to Riverstone.
The shop was divided into two sections and for the first few years they leased one shop to a man who ran a small haberdashery business. After he moved they expanded the shoe shop into both parts of the building.
All the girls employed at the shop were local girls, the last one who worked there was Michelle. The two partners in ownership sold the shop and property and the business finally closed its doors on 20th June 1987 after 33 years of trading as the A & A Shoe Store.