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Helen Wilson Celebrates 80 years in Downtown Oshawa

It’s not often that one can say they have seen it all.

But Helen (Wilson) Sherman smiles when she remembers being told she was in a crib when her father Ed Wilson  opened a used furniture store on Church St. (now Centre St) in the summer of 1934.

 

“Growing up in Downtown Oshawa was fun”,  she said.

“We knew everyone, and everyone knew us.”

 

In 1962, Helen took over the store with her husband Bob Sherman

where they both worked together for over 35 years.

Helen became the main furniture and accessory buyer, and her sense of fashion and design

made many of her creations national best sellers.

“I remember creating some unique sofa designs and fabric marriages that were picked up nationally by Eatons”, she said.

“Our customers loved to see our new designs which were sometimes a year or 2 ahead of other stores”.

 

In November 1984, while Helen and Bob were on a buying trip in the Far East, Wilson’s neighbor,

Chapman’s Automotive burnt to the ground, creating major smoke and water damage to Wilson’s.

“We had no idea that our store was almost destroyed until we came home from the trip” Helen explains.

“Our boys refused to tell us”. Sons Darryl and Jory Sherman were both at university at the time,

but came home to manage the business until their parents returned.

“We are very fortunate to have  parents with a positive vision”, says Darryl Sherman, third generation

in the family business. Darryl credits his parents for starting the  renewal of Downtown Oshawa.

 

“They invested their future in rebuilding a beautiful new store, and insisted on staying in the same location

when no one was investing in Downtown Oshawa. “, he said.

The Sherman Brothers took over the business in 2000.

 

Helen is now retired, although she regularly visits the showroom and critique’s  the displays. She continued to attend buying

Shows until the past few years.

“We have customers come in and ask for mom all the time. “ says Jory Sherman. “ Back then , they weren’t just customers.

They were classmates, and friends.

To celebrate Helen’s 80^th birthday, friends, classmates and customers are invited to Wilson’s this Saturday November 9^th

From 12 noon to 2 pm. Join her for cake and coffee and a walk down memory lane!

 

 

Groundbreaking of Wilson Furniture’s New showroom June 1986

L-R Wilson's Founder Ed Wilson, Helen (Wilson)Sherman, Bob Sherman, Mayor Alan Pilkey