A Cultural Gem: Fincher’s Book and Gifts

Tom and Dawn Fincher retired and closed the doors to what was known as Fincher's after offering a family-friendly place to shop for decades. While the Fincher's and their trademark name are retired, new owners Mark and Heather McCutcheon will establish their own dynasty in this county cultural gem of a shop.

Fincher’s - the name says it all.

No one asks where it is or what you can purchase there. To some, Fincher’s was a newsstand, others it was a bookstore, a Goderich swag store and still others called it a toy store or model shop.

After nearly 70 years of what had become one of Goderich’s anchor stores on the Square, Fincher’s is about to pass on as one of the area’s cultural gems and enter another era.

On Monday, February 20, 1956, Dennis Fincher ended a 46-year-old commercial legacy when he bought out F.M. Wood’s Tobacco Store and Poolroom at 16 Courthouse Square.

Fincher had originally come to the area in 1940 as an English airman posted to the Port Albert Air Navigation School. He met and married a local woman, Mary McAstocker and moved back to the United Kingdom after the war.

After having lived in Canada and seeing the tremendous opportunities, the Fincher family along with son Eric, returned to Goderich, Canada in 1947.

A further five children were born to the Fincher’s in Canada, which added incentive to Dennis’ need to find good paying employment. Fincher was hired by Air Vice-Marshall Sully to work at his Dominion Roads Machine Company.        

After working nine years for Dominion Roads, Fincher purchased the F. M. Woods and Son Tobacco business and named his new business the Goderich Newsstand.

With Fincher’s son Eric, the Goderich Newsstand carried a wide array of newspapers and magazines. It also operated a coffee bar, tobacco shop and pool hall.

The business thrived because in 1963, the Goderich Newsstand underwent $8,000 in renovations and, in 1964, changed the name to Fincher’s Smoke and Gift Shop where both could be purchased and a game of pool enjoyed.

In an age when smoking tobacco was normative, Fincher’s offered a wide selection of tobacco products and accessories. On occasion, the store held contests where occasionally winners won cartons of cigarettes.

Closing the pool hall in the back in 1972 probably did not help tobacco sales. In 1976, Fincher’s dropped “Tobacco Shop” from the store name and, in 2008, stopped selling all tobacco products.

The year 1972 was also an important year in the store’s evolution as Fincher’s became a bookstore by adding a book section to their store consisting of current hard cover and paperback books.

Tom Fincher, in a recent interview with the Signal Star, remembered that he had been working in the store since he was seven.

“I had a wooden pop bottle crate, and I’d stand on that and ring things through the cashier,” Tom remembered.

“I didn’t think it was weird, and my mom and dad didn’t discourage me.”

In 1973, an unusual notice in the Goderich Signal Star announced that “Fincher’s leather specialist - 12 old year-old Tom Fincher, buyer and merchandiser of Tilley leather goods” would assist customers.

Recalling that time, Tom said it was advertised as a novelty, but he did go to trade shows with his father and selected the leather goods appropriate for the store.

Dennis introduced model airplane, cars and boat kits to the merchandise lineup. Soon Tom was helping to buy the model kits. He liked building models and thought others his age did too.

For the low price of a couple of dollars, many a child went to the Fincher’s model shelves and agonized over which model kit to buy and assemble.

Fincher’s still carried models until Tom retired in December 2025, but the prices have become much higher compared to the heyday of model-building in the 1960s and 1970s.

In November 1976, Dennis Fincher opened Leisure World at the Suncoast Mall where they advertised ‘Books Galore-Hard Cover Books-Paperbacks’ and other hobby supplies.

A Kincardine location on Queen Street was opened in 1978 and another Although the Leisure World store closed in 1983, a new Fincher’s store was opened on Exeter’s Main Street in 1983; the Exeter store closed in 1992 due to a shortage of retail space at the time.

Meanwhile, the Goderich store expanded in 1987, with the removal of the old bowling alley at the lower level.

With new fixtures and concrete floor, Fincher’s was able to expand retail space by 25 per cent. The lower level was given over to toys and children’s books.

Fincher told the Signal Star that “we’ve brought in two new toy lines, Lego and Playskool” and added 30 per cent more children’s books.

As soon as the lower level opened, Fincher’s noticed a jump in the number of customers and added three new employees.

Over thirty years later, the lower level has expanded to include other children’s favourites like Thomas the Tank Engine, and the whole community of Playmobil characters, buildings and vehicles and many sorts of animals.

An integral part of Fincher’s success has always been the family atmosphere fostered by Dennis and his wife, Mary, who worked together in the store.

Tom Fincher recalls that all five of his siblings worked at the store at one time or another. They also hired some great people over the years who feel very much like family. Bernice Kemp worked at the store for 29 years before her passing in 2015; Christine Harkness worked 50 years between the Goderich and Kincardine locations; Erin Greer is a 25-year employee at the Goderich store.

That family tradition continued when Tom married Dawn McDonald in 1994. She became the store’s accountant and merchandiser who expanded the line of Goderich clothing, which proved popular with both visitors and Goderich natives alike. Indeed, Dawn has seen Goderich clothing from Fincher’s all over Ontario.

Since 1972, books, magazines and newspapers have remained a mainstay of the business. Amazingly, in a town of 8,000 people, one may get The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, Model Railroader, The Civil War Times and a host of other specialty periodicals that one would have difficulty obtaining in much larger centres.

Until recently, Fincher’s carried an astounding 400-500 periodical titles, but Tom explained that just a few years ago, the store carried twice as many.

Besides the standard New York Times bestsellers, Fincher’s has been a great promoter of local history. Tom has encouraged many local authors to publish their books.

Gordon Strathdee’s photographic essays Goderich: On the Edge of Huron and Goderich: Tiger’s Legacy, which highlighted the beauty of Goderich were bestsellers.

Other local authors’ works have found a welcome home on Fincher’s bookshelves.

The emphasis on local history has made Fincher’s a cultural capital in the heart of Goderich’s Square. It’s no exaggeration to say that many local authors would not have published if they could not rely on Fincher’s to carry their volumes.

Fincher’s has become so closely identified with the town that Dawn Fincher has said that they receive calls that are more appropriately directed at the Tourist Office.

On one occasion, Dawn even received a complaint from a caller that they did not get their weekly flyers.

As retirement has become reality, Tom and Dawn both have no regrets about selling the business but it is explained that it is a bittersweet melancholy time reflecting on a life time spent in the family business.

Tom Fincher said he will miss the people but it’s time. They’re looking forward to spending more time travelling. Ironically, one of the things Dawn is looking forward to is having more time to read books.

As the time for Fincher’s Books and Gifts has ended, there has been a surge of customers who have come to share 70 years of memories of Fincher’s store.

With the new year of 2026, new owners Mark and Heather McCutcheon are ready to establish their own dynasty in this county cultural gem.