Route 96 Power & Paddle is the topic for September’s Historical Society Talk

The Candor Historical Society’s Sept. 25, talk will feature Jim Signs, former owner of Route 96 Power & Paddle. Join them as Jim gives a talk regarding the inception, growth, transfer of ownership, and the continuation of Candors’ largest year-round destination store. 

Jim and his wife, Sue, grew the business from a single store on four and a half acres, to a plaza with three unique specialized stores on eighty acres. The first building contains outdoor power equipment including chainsaws and logging supplies, lawnmowers, and landscape supplies.  

The second building’s unique offering is paddle sports, which includes hundreds of kayaks, paddleboards, and rack systems to fit every brand of car or truck. People drive hundreds of miles to Candor because of the huge selection and the ability to test and compare any watercraft six days a week on the test pond.  

The third building is the Shoe Outlet. This sit-and-fit shoe store also attracts people from hundreds of miles. Dozens of podiatrists send their patient’s to be properly fit and purchase their recommended footwear.  

As the plaza and the offerings grew the employment grew along with it, creating many full and part time local jobs. If you would like to hear more about how they grew a business in “small town U.S.A.”, this talk may be for you.

The talk will be held at the Candor Town Hall on Sept. 25 at 7 p.m., and is free and open to the public. For more information about this or Candor’s History, contact President Nancy Riggs by email to nancyriggs189@gmail.com, or visit www.candorhistoricalsociety.weebly.com.