Сотрудница с 52-летним стажем уходит на пенсию после рекордной карьеры в магазине Swain's

Rinehart to retire after 52 years with Swain’s Published 1:30 am Wednesday, August 26, 2026 PORT ANGELES — When Susan Rinehart arrived in Port Angeles from South Dakota with a girlfriend in 1974, one of the first things she did was look for work. Her first job, at Olympic Laundry and Cleaners, lasted all of one day. Her second lasted 52 years. On Wednesday, Swain’s will throw a retirement party for Rinehart, who now holds the record as the longest-serving employee at a store known for its long-tenured staff. She beat the previous record-holder by two years. Rinehart, 73, started her career at Swain’s on the floor, stocking shelves in the sundry department — toys, seasonal goods, pet supplies and gifts. She later moved into receiving, the job she’s held ever since. “I check in the product, make sure we got it all, make sure it’s ready for the floor, priced, unwrapped, whatever needs to be done,” she said. Rinehart has witnessed the store’s evolution over the past five decades. She remembers when the store carried food, records and cassettes. It once had an entire department devoted to saddles, tack and horse supplies. It even sold and repaired boats. “It was just so different,” she said. Its size and shape have evolved over the years as well. When Swain’s expanded into the space once occupied by Pacific Refrigeration, the store took on a new configuration. “You had to remember different aisles,” she said. “This used to be an aisle seven, and now it’s not seven anymore.” The warehouse where Rinehart works was built 1979 and a storefront addition was completed 2000. Rinehart recalled when the death of Swain’s was predicted, first with the arrival of Pay Less and, later, Walmart. “Big deal,” she remembered thinking when Pay Less opened. “What’s Pay Less going to do? Pay Less didn’t do anything to us.” She said the store’s longevity — it was established by Cliff Swain in 1957 — is largely thanks to the people who have continued to shop there. “I think it’s mostly customers and the nostalgia,” she said. “There isn’t a store in this area like it.” The fact that Swain’s remains family-owned matters, too, Rinehart said. “It’s not a conglomerate. It’s not a chain,” she said. People who work there, she added, “care a little more about the community.” One thing that hasn’t changed is Swain’s famous popcorn, still sold for 25 cents a bag. “I used to make a lot of popcorn,” she said. Customers noticed when the store stopped making it during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It kind of amazed all of us how many people missed that popcorn,” she said. Becky Matthes, who works in the warehouse with Rinehart, said she’ll miss her. “She can be a little gruff when you first meet her, but she has mellowed,” said Matthes, who has been with Swain’s for 27 years. Just don’t touch her shopping cart, which Reinhart customized with padding on the handle. Don Droz, Swain’s general manager, learned that lesson the hard way. “I’ve gotten in trouble for that,” he said, recalling a time he didn’t put it back where it belonged. “She was forgiving, but I certainly knew not to do it again.” Robert Sommers has been with Swain’s for 22 years — 19 of them alongside Rinehart. He’s not sure he’ll be able to match her run. “She taught me a lot,” he said. “It will definitely be a lot less fun without her. We have great conversations.” When someone like Rinehart retires from Swain’s, it’s like losing a family member, Droz said. “She was a part of each stage of success, every decade,” he said. “You can’t replace that.” Rinehart’s generation also has a sense of responsibility that is lacking in younger workers. “It’s sad every time we see one of those older-timers go, because their work ethic and everything — they just took ownership, and you don’t see that as much,” Droz said. Rinehart said she stayed as long as she did because she liked her job and the people she worked with. “You don’t get up in the morning and hate to go to work,” she said. “That’s a big deal.” She finally decided to retire because the toll a physically demanding job has taken on her body. “There’s a lot of walking, a lot of lifting,” she said. “You’re walking on concrete all the time.” She doesn’t have any immediate plans for what she’ll do after retirement. Her husband, Darryl, died a few years ago, and she doesn’t have children or pets, but she knows she isn’t going to be bored. She would like to do some work around her house and perhaps take some short trips to places like Friday Harbor. ”I have some really good friends, I have a nice circle, so I’m not alone,” she said. Although she won’t lack for company in retirement, they already know they’ll miss her at Swain’s. “It’s going to be a bummer to lose her,” Droz said. “But she’ll come in and bug us. She’ll harass us, I’m sure of that.” ________ Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at [email protected].