BOTH King and
Brown remember
when the Newells
sold the store in
1969 to John C. Drewry.
By that time, Newell’s was
open 364 days a year from
7 in the morning until 10 at
night in the summertime. The
Newells continued working
at the store for a year to help
Drewry learn the tricks of the
trade. They accompanied him
to clothing shows and taught
him how to order merchan-dise
and manage a staff of 15
employees.
In 2009, Drewry described
Lester Newell as “a good friend
as well as a business associate.
He tried to teach me all the
secrets he knew, just like you
would to a son.”
Drewry marveled at his men-tor’s
success as an entrepreneur.
Lester Newell envisioned a hub
of activity around his store so
that shoppers could park in
one lot and visit the post office,
the bank, the ABC store and
the department store all in one
trip.
When they entered Newell’s,
customer service was a priority.
“When you went in that store,
someone was Johnny Quick
to see if they could help you
find something,” Drewry
said. “It’s not like today when
you see two salespeople sitting
there, one chewing gum and
talking and standing on the
shovel with their foot
propped up saying,
‘One of these days
I’m going to own
this company.’”
Mickey Newell
was also a talented
merchandiser.
Drewry said she
had a clientele of a
few hundred people
she shopped for at clothing
shows.
Before the Drewry family
sold the store to Cecil and
Margaret Seal in 1976, they
added a missy clothing line for
teenage girls inspired by their
daughter, Catherine. They also
continued serving free coffee,
just as the Newells did, so
that a group of about 15 men,
mostly boat captains and retir-ees,
could meet for an informal
coffee club.
Drewry would visit with
the club each morning to talk
about fishing, boating and
local politics. By this point,
the soda fountain had been
replaced by vending machines
for coffee and Stewart
Sandwiches.
28
WBM june 2020
Despite their dedication to
the store, the Drewrys had filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
when the Seals bought it. The
store was still operating but
reorganization was needed.
“Cecil Seal had a long history
of mercantile training,” Drewry
explained. “He had worked for
Roses for years and years.”
That, Drewry said, was
exactly the experience needed
to recover the store.
The Seals continued oper-ating
the store until 1992
when they sold it to Wings,
the beachwear chain based in
Myrtle Beach. In its final year,
Newell’s made more than $1
million in sales and employed
In 2009, Drewry described
Lester Newell as “a good
friend as well as a business
associate. He tried to teach me
all the secrets he knew, just
like you would to a son.”
Left: View of Newell’s
from street side Cause-way
Drive where it
meets Lumina Avenue.
Above: Wrightsville
Beach mayor and
WWII veteran Michael
Corbett Brown and
2-year old son Michael
C. Brown Jr. at Newell’s
in 1949.
BILL CREASY COLLECTION, WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH MUSEUM OF HISTORY
BILL CREASY COLLECTION, WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH MUSEUM OF HISTORY