Small Beginnings

When Linda Stinette started working at Moore & Giles in 1958 there were four other employees - Donald Graeme Moore, William Vernon Giles, Martin Paulsin and Jeff Davis in the warehouse. Fresh from her high school graduation from E.C. Glass, Stinette joined the team in June of that summer as a secretary. Moore & Giles originally started as a manufacturing agent for shoes. Her day to day tasks included: taking orders from Craddock Terry for shoe supplies (leather, laces, glues etc..), taking orders to the warehouse, keeping inventory, crunching numbers and dictating for Mr. Giles. She described early days at Moore & Giles as, "very hot!" The original office had no AC and fans were kept on low to avoid sending paperwork flying into the air. She recalled the downtown location on Jefferson St. - a dark stairwell that led to a small office (shared by Moore, Giles, Paulsin, and herself) and a large warehouse. "They always dressed well, " she says. The men wore shirts and ties, she wore high heels and dresses. "I never wore flat shoes, I never wore pants," she emphasizes. When asked about her favorite part about working for Moore & Giles, she quickly replied, "the people." Stinette spent nearly 10 years, from ages 18 to 27, in her position with the company. Not only did she learn and perfect valuable work skills, but she speaks with enthusiasm about many of the life lessons she learned under the mentorship of Mr. Giles. Giles helped Stinette kick her nail biting habit, guided her on how to dress and taught her the value in not chewing gum while speaking on the telephone. She laughs as she remembers the word "erroneously." Stinette easily recites the spelling of the word, a word she learned from Mr. Giles, who made her write the word 10 times to assist her in learning the correct spelling.

She still gets choked up when asked about her favorite memory of Mr. Giles... (answered in the video below)

As she looks around at the now global headquarters that includes 55 offices, 2 conference rooms, a 90,000 sq. ft. warehouse housing more than 3 million feet of leather with 88 employees, she credits much of Moore & Giles' success to the strong roots of its founders. She confidently says, "If you treat your employees with respect (as did Mr. Moore and Mr. Giles), your employees will give 150%." She concluded by saying, "To displease him (Mr. Giles) would have broken my heart." Below is a photo of Mr. Moore's Retirement letter, typed by Stinette.