Sorell department store stalwarts take retirement in their stride

Sorell department store owners Roger and Claire Stride have been selling possum jumpers and quality haberdashery to locals for generations. Now it’s finally time for them to move on to their next chapter.

Claire and Roger Stride in their Sorrell department store. Picture: EDDIE SAFARIK

Walking inside the Sorell Department Store is a bit like entering a time capsule – the stock is quality, the shop is family-owned, and the people at the register are “real salt of the earth”.

There’s a haberdashery section with made-to-measure curtains, old-fashioned dressing gowns that you can’t find anywhere else, and possum fur jumpers that last a lifetime and cost half of what you’d pay elsewhere.

Roger Stride opened the shop in 1984 after helping run his dad’s clothing store Strides at Huonville – but when he moved to Sorell, local pharmacy merchant Claire caught his eye.

Within two years, the couple opened a larger store together before moving into their current Gordon St location in 1991.

Now the Strides have decided to enjoy a well-earned retirement.

Claire and Roger Stride pictured at their shop in Sorrell. Picture: EDDIE SAFARIK

Roger Stride has retired after retailing in Sorell for decades. Image shows Roger's parents at their Huonville Store.

They’ve handed the baton on to their long-term employee Camille and her husband Gary, a Sorell butcher, who will maintain the department store’s old-fashioned integrity.

Sorell Mayor Kerry Vincent attended a surprise party to farewell the Strides last week. He described Mr Stride as “an absolute institution for the town”.

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“It’s a really old-fashioned haberdashery, department store. They’re very tactful in what they stock and handle,” he said.

“They’re just plain lovely people, real salt of the earth people.”

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