‘If I knew, I would have atempted to fix it because it was a heartbreaker to give up that litle place.’

A veteran of World War II and formerly a successful contractor, Weldon Smith is described by some as a “supersalesman . “ Tall, graying and 61 years old, he is a sturdy, likable man who not long ago lost his boot business--and with it, most of his life’s savings. He and his wife live in a comfortable, unpretentious Poway house near their daughter and grandchildren. He told his story to , and was photographed by, Times photographer Dave Gatley. When I closed the shop, I rode the pony everyday, slept when I wanted to and got up when I wanted to. I didn’t even mow the lawn. I just literally collapsed.

It was frightening to know that Monday morning I wouldn’t have anywhere to go, nothing to do . . . no job. It’s a funny feeling. I don’t know what could have saved the shop. If I knew, I would have attempted to fix it because it was a heartbreaker to give up that little place. My daughter, friends and I shed tears when I walked out of there that last day.

I never looked at being a salesperson until I retired from hard work. My first 20 years were spent building houses.

I was born and raised on a farm, you could call it a ranch, in Oklahoma. I was the 10th child. Nine in front of me and one behind. Five of us boys, and I was the only one that went into combat, in the 8th Army division with Patton in France after D-Day. I went all the way through the war and never had a scratch. It wasn’t my time.

I came home and my dad said to me, “If I were you, I’d leave here because there is no future here for farmers or ranchers. It’s changed since you went to war and came back.”

January of 1946 I went to work for a roofing contractor and worked for him about seven years. Started me at a dollar an hour. About ’61 I got my own roofing contractor’s license.

Could have made it big if I had had a little bit more knowledge, but I was a perfectionist. I wanted to get everything for the people that they paid for. If I had to do all over again, I’d make a lot of money out of it. Anyway, I sold it all out and retired (I was 50 years old), and I said I’d never work again another day in my life.

I had boots and horses all my life. When I went into that Western store in Bellflower, the owner, who I’d known for 20 years, says, “I want you to work for me. . . . You’d be worth a lot of money to me if you’d greet people and talk about anything you want to talk about. In fact, if you never made a sale for me, I’d be happy. . . . I’ll start you off at $13,000 a year.” He said the day you feel like you should be doing sales, just tell me and we’ll get you a pad.

My wife was very ill. In ’72 she had a heart attack, and again in ’73 and ’74. We spent a lot of money there. So, I went home and talked to her and she said, “Fine, we’ll see if you like it.”

I went back in there and said, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll work 90 days and if I’m not the best salesman at the end of 90 days, I’ll quit.” At the end of that 90 days, he said, “You’re the only man that has ever worked in this shop that is a better salesman than me.” I’ve been told many times that I’m a super salesman because I’ve never lost a sale.

In that shop I learned everything. I learned how to buy, and what people to buy from. I met people through that shop that I would have never met otherwise. That’s what made it so easy for me to open the shop in Poway in 1980. At that time I didn’t have to work. I had the home paid for and had put a few bucks in the bank. We had our two grandchildren who had moved down there from Huntington Beach, and my wife was very, very ill. I said to heck with it, I’m going down to Poway and buying me a house and see what it’s like.

We lived here five months before we put in that boot shop. She weighed about 91 pounds when we came down here, and now she’s up to 130 pounds and feels better than she has in 20 years. I’m saying Poway and those grandchildren and Scripps Clinic have done it. The relation of those two kids and their grandma is better than anything I’ve ever seen in my life. I just don’t think three people could love each other more than they do. Taking the loss we were taking by moving here was offset by the improvement in her health. I don’t think we could spend enough money on what has happened to her.

Poway must have been hungry for that kind of a shop. “The Urban Cowboy” movie is what kicked it off, and my place just took off like a forest fire. I sold as many as 18 pairs of boots a day down there. We were just loving it.

Retail business isn’t easy. Some of them boots cost $104 to $120 a pair at cost and that could add up to $100,000 real fast. If you don’t sell some of them boots fast, you start lying awake at night wondering.

In February of ’84 it started to slow down. I don’t know what it was. In the month of April we had eight days and never made a sale. After that I knew something had to be done fast. That’s about the time the bottom fell out. In May we just dropped the prices, started to sell everything, all the merchandise. Saturday, the last day of the sale, this local businessman walked in and said “Weldon, how you doing?” I said: “It’s 4 o’clock and I got 50 or 60 pairs of boots, and I got to be out of here by 6 p.m.”

He said: “I’ll pay you monthly for everything you’ve got.” I was very lucky, we sold it all.

I’m happy. I don’t blame nobody. I’m 61. My wife will be kicked off the insurance when I’m 65. So we signed up for Social Security the first day of September. But I’ve retired before and it didn’t last.