03-05 Sumi Ebisuzacki

It was during the war that Dad leased a large area on the second floor at 734 Bay Street for his factory, and it was run by his brother-in-law Jack Young. The offices were at the back of the main floor area where customers had their try-ons. And there was a continuous parade of secretaries coming and going that I recall during that period.
But it was when Dad acquired the area at the upper level at the front of the store in the early 1950s for his new office, that I remember Sumi Ebisuzacki becoming Dad’s bookkeeper and right hand. She did every job imaginable. And she was there until he died in 1980.
If there is anything we can all remember about Sumi working in the office it was her old adding machine. Once I saw Dad adding up the yardage in a huge order from Warren K Cook, and I said to him, “Why not use Sumi’s adding machine?” He then explained how he had studied “SUMS” in school and could do it faster on his own.
It was during the 1960s, when I was at Ryerson just blocks away and working with dad to open two branch stores, that I became such good friends with Sumi. The first photo we found is one with Sumi and Uncle James when James was running the branch operation in North York. Sumi was carefully managing the sales and costs of the branch operations which proved to be very profitable.
I remember working with James on a Friday night and having him comment that our shoes seemed to be the same size. We not only exchanged shoes but our trousers and jackets. Our sizes were identical. He even found that we both had the same low shoulder on the right side.
The store we opened in the west end of Toronto on Bloor Street was run by Grant Thorpe, who started as a cutter in the factory and eventually moved down to the floor to service customers directly. Here’s a great photo of Sumi with Grant. I loved the way Dad brought people out of the factory to become sales people. Salesmen with a difference. Salesmen who knew how to make a suit.
In the 1970s, Dad ran a series of ads that promoted his staff to his customer base, and the ad promoting Sumi made her feel like a real celebrity. She made him tea every day when Dad came back from “Eatons” with sandwiches or salad.
Sumi said she learned a lot about clothing listening to father chatting with his suppliers. Once she said to me, “That’s an Irish twist, not a Scotch tweed.”
One of my greatest memories working at Father’s firm both as a teenager and adult, was the various staff celebrations. They would first clean off the tables then spread out the salads and pastas, the sweets and their own wine. Sumi in the photo is looking almost Italian.
What I loved about Sumi was that she knew everything about the Bulloch family, those we boast about and those we keep quiet about. She knew all about Dad’s personal and business history. And she worried about the same things he worried about. She seemed to be more family than most of our family.
And Dad’s death in January 1980 was as personal a loss for Sumi as for any member of the immediate family. When Peter took over the business, Sumi continued with Peter. And a beautiful photo of Peter and Sumi is attached. Memories, memories.
That is what family businesses are all about. Everything is up close and personal.