THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
For Natalie Nickolson, working at Kaeser's Stores in Fort Smith is not just an ordinary job.
That's because she was born into the Kaeser family, which has operated the store in various incarnations for 66 years.
Natalie Nickolson is the assistant general manager at Kaeser's Stores in Fort Smith with special responsibility for the clothing and hardware side of the business. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo |
"I grew up in the business," said Nickolson.
Her grandfather, the late Paul W. Kaeser, started the retail business in 1947.
Nickolson started working at the store when she was 10, beginning by running cash and stocking shelves.
"I would work just down the aisles and come into the store after school," she said.
She then worked in the produce section and helped her father, Paul W. Kaeser Jr., in the butcher shop.
"I can remember making hamburger for him," she recalled. "It was a big thing then. It was like whoever starts at the store got to make hamburger. We were so excited to make hamburger. Now I couldn't touch it."
Nickolson worked at the store through her teen years, but then moved to Nanaimo, B.C., for 10 years - working with Canadian Tire for eight years - before returning to Fort Smith in 2002 and going back to work at Kaeser's Stores.
The 47-year-old is now the assistant general manager and, for the last year and a half, her main responsibility has been the clothing and hardware side of the business, which is basically two side-by-side attached stores. She also helps out with the grocery side of the business.
For the clothing and hardware side, she goes to market twice a year for spring and winter wear, and orders some hardware. Her brother Nick Kaeser, who is the store's general manager, goes to hardware shows in April and October in Saskatoon.
Nickolson organizes the new merchandise and keeps her side of the business staffed.
She enjoys working in retail.
"It's good," she said. "You get to know everybody and they get to know you."
Nickolson said she likes meeting people who come to the store. "I'm a people person and I enjoy the people."
She said she enjoys the whole atmosphere of shopping and making sure things are in stock for customers.
Nickolson is continuing the Kaeser tradition of serving Fort Smith that was started by her grandfather, who was also mayor of the town.
Paul W. Kaeser High School is named in his honour, while Mary Kaeser Library is named in honour of his wife. There is also a Kaeser Canal on the outskirts of town.
"You feel a big responsibility to the community," Nickolson said, explaining she likes to keep customers happy and contribute to the success of the independent Kaeser's Stores, which are only found in Fort Smith.
Her 22-year-old daughter, M'Gee Moran, also works in the clothing and hardware section of the store, the first of the fourth generation of the Kaeser family in the business.
Nickolson said she appreciates the support from the community, which has patronized Kaeser's Stores for decades.
"I feel well-loved, I guess you could say," she said. "I just don't have my family, but I have 2,000 other people as family."
Nickolson said she is mostly working at the store for her father, so he can be semi-retired, for her late-grandfather, and for the customers.
"I'm not one to sit behind a desk or I'm not one to sit at the computer all day," she said.
