Vidlers Announces 95th Anniversary and Celebration

With all the hoopla about the Hallmark / Buffalo Bills Christmas movie currently filming in WNY, we almost forgot about our anniversary announcement...

 We’ll use any excuse for a party at the store, and we think our 95th anniversary is a good one! We cordially invite you to attend our celebration that will take place on Saturday, June 21.

 It’s our opportunity to thank the East Aurora community and all of Western New York for their support over the years... through the Great Depression, wars, local and national economic ups and downs, Main Street reconstruction, the Great Recession, a global pandemic and the latest economic turmoil. Not to mention the occasional pesky blizzard!

We’ll have our cake-cutting ceremony at approximately 11 AM, have some in-store entertainment, and we’ll be handing out dimes for the kids to take a ride on Sandy, our mechanical horse. By the way, Sandy is still galloping away, and at just 63 years old qualifies as one of our more modern pieces of technology!    

It will actually be 95 years to the day that my grandfather, Robert S. Vidler, Sr., first opened his shop on East Aurora’s Main Street on June 21, 1930. Until the pandemic, looking back we always thought the biggest risk and uncertainty in the store’s history was the very act of opening. Granddad began his business eight months after Wall Street had crashed, and the economy was rapidly tanking at the beginning of what would become the Great Depression. According to family stories, the other Main Street merchants thought the new guy was nuts to start a venture then, and they took bets that he'd be out of business within 6 weeks. Well, it’s almost 4,950 weeks later, and in this era of on-line shopping, big box stores and massive chains – we think Grandad would be quite proud that we have not only survived, but thrived as an independent, 3rd generation family-owned business.

Feel free to call me at the store (716) 652-0481 or my cell, (917) 817-4851 or email me with any questions regarding Vidler’s and our 95th anniversary.

We hope to see you on June 21st ! 

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