Go back

Inside Riff’s with Mary Kelly.

Black and white archival photograph. Street view. Building visible across railway tracks. Sign across building reads RIFF’S and below that HUGE SAVINGS NOW. Male and female manikins are visible in the front windows. P.F. Kearney’s shop is to the right.

Photo: Exterior view of Riff’s on Main Street.

Recorded audio interview with Mary Kelly completed by Terra Barrett with the Heritage NL.

You went in the front door and the offices were upstairs and when you went in the men’s department was on the left and the women’s department was on the right. Originally when I was a kid they had a lunch counter upstairs. You could also go and get a lunch at Riff’s and they also had Christmas. When they would bring in their Christmas stuff it would be upstairs and that was the thrill of going in around Christmas time was going up into this Christmas wonderland where they had their Christmas stuff all set up. The offices for the clerical staff were upstairs as well and the washrooms so you would have to go through to get up and see her and stuff like that. Like I said back then the neat thing about those stores is you could take stuff home -on not on commission but on – take it home, try on the stuff and then go back with what you either wanted or didn’t want, right? They let you take it home.