Guyanese Henry Prince cannot get over his love for shoes By Dale AndrewsMany would recall him as ‘Bata Boy’ from the days when the name Bata was on everyone’s lips when it came to shoes.And it would seem that Henry Prince has fallen in love with selling shoes, having given it almost 60 years of his life.A Guyanese by birth, Prince is a Branch Manager of the famous American shoe store, Payless.As many put it,Cheap Jerseys 2018, Prince was born to sell shoes. I caught up with him during my recent trip to the United States of America.Guyanese Henry Prince,Wholesale NFL Jerseys China, who still enjoys a successful career in the retail shoe business, poses with one of his countrymen at a function in Brooklyn New York. I had gone to Queens, New York, to visit one of the many shopping malls there and happened to come across the Payless outlet.Up to then I had not met many Guyanese I had known from back home so I was on the lookout for anything sounding Guyanese.My cousin who had accompanied me, introduced me to the Payless store and from the time the manager opened his mouth, I felt my heart jump–this was a Guyanese.After chatting briefly with him,China NFL Jerseys, I soon became aware that he knew some of my relatives both at home and in the United States. After all he was from Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara, the village of my birth.I did not get to talk to him much during that first meeting but he indicated that he would have been attending a function to which I too was invited, so we arranged to meet again.Surely enough, we did meet again and he agreed to share with me some of the challenges and achievements he faced since he left these shores two decades ago.Prince started working in the shoe business at the age of 19 and rose to become a branch manager of the famous Bata Shoe Store at Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara.He subsequently became a District Manager and worked on Regent Street where ironically the now famous Bhena’s Footwear is located.But with competition from all circles squeezing Bata out of business, and in the midst of a crippling economic crisis, Prince migrated to the United States of America in 1985.At first, Prince, a certified accountant, thought that he could have changed his career in the United States but upon arriving there he realised that being involved in the retail business was the way to go.His career there commenced almost as it had started decades earlier in his homeland, and it also took a similar path.He started working as an Assistant Manager with Fayber Shoe Company, which was at that time a famous business in the US but which has since gone out of operation.“I worked with them for 10 years. During that time I subsequently became a district manager for them—I managed 27 stores. Fayber went out of business and I was offered a job with Payless; that was in 1995,” Prince said.“I just enjoy selling shoes and I enjoy working in the retail business,” he added.My experience with him confirmed this.In Queens I visited the store he supervised a few days before I returned to Guyana and judging from his interaction with his staff and customers, I needed no more convincing that he was enjoying what he was doing.In fact, because of his presence there, the Payless store in queens was recommended to me by many of the known Guyanese that I met in the New York area.This did not surprise Prince when I mentioned the news to him.“I always make a path for my countrymen,” he said.He indicated that his position in the United States did allow him to recruit some workers from Guyana, with whom he had worked briefly during a brief sojourn in the local insurance business.Prince has returned to Guyana on a number of occasions, most recently in 2007 and the changes he has seen since he left have been heartening in some cases.However, he is conscious of the vast differences between his adopted homeland and the place of his birth.Before he left Guyana, Prince lived in the South Ruimveldt Park area and he was sure to visit there as well as the East Coast of Demerara.For one,Cheap Jerseys From China, the roads are not like he was accustomed to when he was living here.“I spent most of my time in Georgetown and fortunately there were no blackouts,” he joked.“I still consider Guyana home. My kids would like to know that they are a part of Guyana and I still have my property.”But when I asked him if he would ever live in Guyana again, his response was in the negative.“Honestly, to live full time, no!? Because of health,Wholesale Jerseys Authentic, I mean,wholesale nfl jerseys, medical reasons. But I guess time will take care of that,” he said.But no one calls Henry Prince ‘Payl