Downtown Buzz News from the Downtown Winnipeg Business Improvement Zone SPOTLIGHT


Hue Shoe Repair


Hue Shoe Repair Located at 413 Graham Avenue


M


ost people wouldn’t expect a shoe repair shop to last 37 years in the current retail market – but Hue Nguyen is nothing if not a survivor.


Escaping war-torn Vietnam by boat, Nguyen departed


his country with 400 people onboard, with only half ar- riving at their final destination. With just the clothes on his back, a sleeper, and $14,


Nguyen started his life in Winnipeg, motivated by the desire to send money back to his family in Vietnam. He began working for the shoemaker then located


within Te Bay downtown, and in 1981, opened his own business in the heralded department store. His father, a tailor, instilled in him an appreciation for


the finer trades, though his decision to work as a shoe- maker was originally an act of defiance. “I really loved shoes and leather,” says Nguyen. “(My


father) wanted me to learn to be a tailor, but I wanted to learn to be a shoemaker. “When I was fifteen years old, I learned to make shoes


by hand. No machine – all by hand.” To this day, what distinguishes Hue Shoe Repair is his


attention to detail, and refusal to compromise his craft. “I (work) most of the time by hand, with a knife,” says


Nguyen. “You have to do it by hand so you don’t get scratches


on the leather.” With people bringing in high-fashion shoes like $800


Louboutins, Nguyen can’t bring himself to go to work on them using anything that could leave marks – he uses his


well-practiced knife-wielding to make repairs just like he learned to do many years ago in Vietnam. With his longevity downtown, Nguyen has some pretty


devoted clients – including people who travel from Kenora or Te Pas just to see him and drop off their beloved shoes. “Sometimes they want to keep (shoes) because of some


sentimental value to them,” says Nguyen. “People are happy. Tey like my work – when I work, I guarantee it.” With ongoing customer satisfaction, Nguyen’s been


able to ride the uncertain times of a fast-fashion market. “Most of the time, I’m really steady,” say Nguyen.


“When American people bought Te Bay, they closed all the small businesses. A lot of people expected me not to survive. “I said, ‘What’re you talking about closing? I have to


survive.’” His ability to endure adversity may also have to do with


his perspective. “Just enough food on the table is enough for me,” says


Nguyen. “For me, and my son. “And I had to help my family. Everything I make, I send to them. I still send to them every month.”


D’Ancangelo bought the salon from its second owner, SPOTLIGHT


Mario LaBelle Hairstylists


Mario Labelle Hairstylists Located 261 Kennedy Street


ing at the shop with owner Sally D’Ancangelo for over 25 years, there was another Italian hairstylist who came first – the original owner of the salon, named Mario.


M


ost people think the amiable Italian barber who works at Mario La Belle is the Mario. But really, though Gerry Mariani’s been work-


and the name stuck. Without intending it, the name works pretty well for a


place that is half-barber shop, half-salon. With the barbershop chair facing the storefront, men can


enjoy a classically intimate setting for watching downtown passersby on Kennedy Street while chatting with a barber who’s been on his game for over 50 years. Mariani had his own shop downtown before joining


forces with D’Ancangelo, and finally, reducing to part-time hours at 70 years old. Along with the longevity of the salon and the incredible


combined experience of both stylists, D’Ancangelo and Mariani can credit some longstanding relationships to the bulk of their business success. Some people are so loyal, it runs in their blood. “Some I


do for three generations,” says Mariani, of his most deeply committed customers. As an elderly lady makes her exit, D’Ancangelo advises,


“she’s here every week. We used to have lots of those,” she says of the declining tradition.


downtownwinnipegbiz.com (204) 958-4640


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“Now we have mostly working people that just come for


haircuts. We have enough to get busy, but we want people to know that we’re here.” If not for the competitive pricing or their mastery of the


craft, it’s worth taking a seat at Mario La Belle for a history lesson. “We’ve been here too long,” jokes Mariani, who’s been


cutting hair since he was 16 in Italy, and hasn’t put down the shears since arriving in Winnipeg in 1968. “Being downtown for 50 years, we have lots of stories.


I’ve seen the best and the worst. I think in 10 years, it could look really different,” says Mariani. With retro-leaning storefront signage, plus the pink


leather dryer hoods that have been drying D’Ancangelo’s clients’ perms – her specialty – for decades, the store earnestly roots you in the history of its term downtown, while remaining comfortable and not seeming tired or out-of-touch. Certainly, as with all the best stylists, D’Ancangelo and


Mariani know how to hook people with their warm pres- ence to keep you coming back. (Some for generations.)


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