Those who frequent downtown Winslow may have noticed a few less signs in the window of Bainbridge Floor Covering & Supply Inc., traditionally a site of so many entertainment and charitable events posters, as of late. Instead, in their place is a large banner proclaiming that the store is closing and that Steve Shawley and Judy Dulay are retiring.

Though several works in progress will continue to completion, with smaller-scale new jobs still being done, Shawley said that he expects to be completely finished and closed before the end of the year. The business, meanwhile, will operate out of a smaller warehouse location.

Shawley, who moved to the island from Seattle in 1951 with his parents when he was only 8, took over the downtown staple flooring and carpet installation business from Allan Burns McCoskrie, son of the store’s original owner, in 1972.

Dulay, Shawley’s friend from their days together at Bainbridge High School, has been the store’s long-time accountant and general manager.

Though the business would become his life’s work, Shawley said he did not start out with the intent of owning the place when he first came to work there.

“I used to be the bookkeeper here; I was studying to be an accountant,” Shawley remembered.

“I don’t do it any more, I’ll tell you that,” he laughed. “Judy does all that.”

As he quickly found himself more interested in the business than the books, Shawley said he set about acquiring the shop he had become so fond of.

“I bought it out with a couple of investors,” he explained. “Then I’ve since bought them out, so basically I’m the owner. It owns me, I own it. What’s the difference?”

It was the process of construction and refinement, Shawley said, that drew him to the work.

“What I discovered is I like to be involved in the start to the finish,” he said. “So I had to learn the trades. There’s multiple trades here.”

Whether engrossed in the scheduling, the organization, the actual installation or the sales floor (what he calls “the pencil-pushing side of things”), Shawley said his main focus throughout his years of business has been to offer superior quality customer service.

“I think what we have developed is an ethic toward better quality work,” he explained.

“It’s got to be an attitude,” Shawley said, explaining that it was a dedication he learned from local goods manufacturers and craftsmen.

“They taught me what it was to do a little above average,” he said. “It’s an ethic to do a good job. That’s all it is. We’ve tried to fulfill that.”

As they slowly begin to discontinue services, Shawley and Dulay are not yet referencing potential customers to another business.

Dulay is planning to spend more time with her grandchildren, and Shawley said he has no definite retirement plans yet. A lover of puzzles and games, especially Sudoku and chess, he said he is excited to see whatever comes next.

“I’m looking forward to whatever’s out there,” Shawley said. “But, I have no idea what’s out there.”

“You would not believe the amount of people who have come in and thanked us for the years of service,” he added.

After 42 years of successful business, Shawley said that there is no one secret to success except perhaps to surround yourself with the best possible people, as he had, and then keeping the bar raised.

“The real secret is the quality of the installers we have employed through the years,” he said. “All we’re doing is orchestrating them. Now, orchestrating them is a challenge in and of its own. But, the thing is to get the people who have the ability to do better [and] get them to do better constantly.”

“We all have our own talents. I’m just me,” Shawley said. “You just got to be yourself, whatever you are. That’s why I brought up the ethic. The work ethic has basically driven both Judy and I.”

With the impending closing of the store comes a great feeling of accomplishment and excitement, Shawley said.

“I think one of the few constants in life is change,” he said. “Change is life. Yes, we’ve been through a lot of changes and yes, I’ve reacted to some of them better than others. The only big strain is moving out of here, into another place, getting the next few months done. And, the thing that concerns me the most, getting it done right.”