Small business and entrepreneurship are things Sheldon Manchur is passionate about. A partner of Chuck’s Auto Supply Ltd. since 2016,
Sheldon has been the operations manager since 2008/09.
“I love the opportunity of being in a little more control of the future and the development of what I’m working for. I enjoy having a voice in the direction of a store.”
Chuck’s was started in 1981 by Chuck Moore and Bryan Reid Sr., founder of Pioneer Log Homes of BC.
In 1989 when Sheldon was five years old his dad, Fred Manchur, started working at Chuck’s, becoming a partner a few years later.
From a young age, Sheldon visited his dad at work, already attracted to the automotive industry, and in Grade 10 gave up his paper route with the Efteen to go work alongside his dad.
After graduation he left town to go to university for two eight-month terms, studying general arts and business, but it wasn’t for him and he returned home and began working at Chuck’s again.
To young people he advises them to find something they are interested in for work, more than chasing how much they will make at the end of the year.
“If you have an interest, the work becomes a lot easier. It doesn’t feel like work.”
Life and work balance is something he has learned about over time.
His work days are longer than eight hours because of his commitment to running a business and being prepared for anything, but he still strives to make sure he is enjoying time with his wife Shelby and their three young sons.
Taking vacations somewhere with the family is always a highlight because he does not have to travel far to unwind and turns the cell phone off.
“In the early days of Chuck’s, a six-day work week with 10-11 hours a day was kind of the norm for a lot of people. We made a pretty strong effort to push away from that in the last 15 years to get everybody to a comfortable work week, including the managers and owners.”
There are about 30 people working at Chuck’s, most of them full-time and the store is open seven days a week.
Time with family and outside interests are very important to avoid burn out, he added.
“A person can run a marathon for quite a while but you will burn out eventually. If you want to last long-term, you have to find a way of balancing that.”
It is not an accident he chose that metaphor. Running has been a part of his life since he was a child.
He used to run marathons, but has not in the last five years, however, he enjoys a long run whenever he can.
Attracted to the ‘abundance” of outdoor recreation opportunities in the Cariboo-Chilcotin, living in his hometown also means he is close to ‘tons’ of family. His mom Monika, part of the Seibert family, was born in Williams Lake and his dad arrived in Williams Lake in the early 60s with his parents.
Sheldon’s brother Trent lives and works in Vancouver as an electrician.
On Tuesday, Feb. 22, the company will open its new store at 548 Mackenzie Avenue South in a large, bright building with lots of south-facing windows letting in natural light for customers and staff.
“We will have twice the amount of space we had in the old store,” Sheldon said.
Fred remains a part owner and it was his long-term vision to build a new store, but finding just the right property prolonged the dream from becoming a reality.
Smiling, Sheldon described how his dad built several mock-up stores out of Lego blocks.
“Unfortunately there is not a ton of available land to do what Chuck’s has wanted to do, which was to make a much bigger store in the high traffic area, which is very important,” he explained.
The existing location at 861 Mackenzie Ave. has always been super because it was on the main industrial route of town, and close to the intersection at Highway 20. Sheldon said it took something worthwhile to want to move out of there.
“When these two lots came up for sale, we moved on it quickly because we thought it fit the criteria.”
Inside the new store there is a tree, debarked and polished, that was salvaged from the 2017 wildfires.
Sheldon said it has special significance to him and his father.
Twenty-four hours after evacuating with their families on July 15, 2017, Sheldon and Fred did not feel right just sitting in Kamloops so after getting the necessary permits returned to Williams Lake and along with Tom Good kept the store open so they could supply contractors and others involved with firefighting.
READ MORE: Williams Lake’s Chuck’s Auto Supply Ltd. eyeing new location in the city
READ MORE: Manchur preparing for Boston Marathon
news@wltribune.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on X
