Early’s grandfather, S.A. Early, started a hay, grain and feed store on 20th Street East, moving it to Wall Street in 1910. He made quite a dramatic impact on the Saskatoon skyline in 1914 when he erected a grain elevator next to the newest of his feed stores at 198 Avenue A South. It was property on what is now called Idylwyld Drive and across from what is now the Saskatoon Fire Department’s main hall.

S.A. Early died in 1962. Spencer’s father, Tom, joined the company in 1936 and became its general manager. He streamlined the system, opened new farm and garden markets and made the major decision in 1982 to move into new facilities on Lorne Avenue. Tom welcomed Joe and John Bloski as the first shareholders outside the family. Tom stayed active until 1995 and died in 2005.

Early joined the company in 1984 and became the president in 1995, with the two Bloskis still vital components of the team. “I didn’t get to know my grandfather well. He had a home on Poplar Crescent, raised a family of six children, but I did get to sample some work in the old elevator which stood until 1983,” Early said. “I got stuck up in a hot room, bagging onion sets, on one of my first jobs.

Another time, after the company had expanded by buying another grain building, I went down into the basement on a flimsy wooden ladder, worked in a place where there was only one light bulb and packaged bamboo canes.” But not even those kinds of memories can distract from the admiration he held for his grandfather’s vision and entrepreneurial skills.

“The Earlys had come over from Ireland in the 1840s and S.A., as he was always called, grew up on a farm north of Toronto. He came out west, homesteaded briefly and was a pioneer in custom harvesting. From the get-go, he was involved in the agriculture businesses. He built that elevator in 1917 and got into seed cleaning and manufacturing livestock feed. He started a hatchery, launched a pig farm just north of Saskatoon, had a grain elevator at Aylsham. He was never a millionaire by today’s standards, but he was ambitious, eager and looking for new enterprises.”

Life took an unexpected turn when one of S.A.’s sons, Allan, was killed in a hunting accident. At that time, Tom, who had a good business sense and was a rather flamboyant character, began working with his father in 1936, the year he was the yo-yo champion of Saskatoon. Some changes started to take place. Some properties were sold. The arrival of Midtown Plaza raised some questions about whether it was wise for Early’s to stay downtown. Products were changing. “One of Dad’s greatest decisions was moving the store to Lorne Avenue,” Early said. “He acquired land which had been used to maintain and fix railway cars.

The decision gave the store lots of customer space, ample parking and the storage facilities because supplies were coming in by the truckloads. The relocation happened on Feb. 23, 1983. “Dad recruited Joe and John Bloski, who came with experience in the seed industry, in the 1960s. Joe became general manager at Lorne Avenue, and John at our satellite store on 51st Street.”

All the while, Early was growing up. He was the senior watch at Nutana Collegiate in 1969, following in the footsteps of his father who held the same honour in 1936. He decided to pursue a career as a civil engineer, studied at the University of Saskatchewan and worked in that industry for 10 years. “The 1950s were lean times in Saskatchewan. Remember the old saying abut the last one leaving Saskatchewan should turn off the lights. I approached my dad and probably shocked him when I said I’d like to join the business. He said he’d give me a shot. I started in the warehouse and began to learn the inner workings of the business in 1984.”

Soon Early’s Farm and Garden Centre, as it is known today, became a major supplier to golf courses like The Willows, Moon Lake and Elk Ridge. At the same time, the new building allowed expansion in garden products as well as opening a pet marketplace along with saddlery and tack. They also distributed greenhouse products for Saskatchewan. “In 1997, a Canadian economist, David Foot, wrote a book called Boom, Bust & Echo, writing about demographics and tracking the trends. He gave highest marks to trends like gardening, pets and golf. We were in all of them,” Early said.

The big box stores became a bit of a challenge, he admitted, “but we had so much product that the big boxes didn’t have and we were always adaptable. We could really do things on short notice. We were flexible and ready for change. We stuck to my grandfather’s philosophy of a commitment to customer service.” The secret of success was the way the two families, the Earlys and the Bloskis, blended into business partners. Joe’s sons, Derek and Kevin, joined the company in 1982 and 1995 respectively. In 2001, Joe and John Bloski sold their shares to Early and his wife, Jan.

John Bloski died in 2012, while Joe retired in 2015. Early remains president, but Joe’s two sons manage the day-to-day operations. The Earlys have given back to the community in various ways. S.A. once served as president of Cosmopolitan International. He was active in the Canadian Seed Trade Association. He served 14 years on city council, was a member of the Collegiate Board and a founding member of the Nutana Curling Club. Tom received an honorary life membership from the Canadian Seed Trade Association, was active in Cosmopolitan and Usadian clubs and a member of the Riverside Country Club. Spencer Early followed his dad into the Usadian club, played on the Saskatchewan water polo team, was a founder of the Krems rugby team (now 40 years in existence), and was on the board of the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival, including a term as president.

-Ned Powers