Cobbler Paul Kardynal will not repair your shoes while you wait.
To make that message absolutely clear Kardynal has a sign hanging near the front of his Macdonald Street shop stating that fact, accompanied with the warning, “Don’t ask.”
After more than 65 years in the shoe repair business, Kardynal is entitled to make his own rules. Kardynal Shoe Repair is the oldest cobbler shop in the city.
The 89-year-old said a lot has changed in the Arbutus Ridge neighbourhood since he first hung out his shingle in 1948, just doors down from his location today. During an interview this week, Kardynal listed the former and current businesses that once inhabited the tiny retail strip near Macdonald and West 23rd Avenue since he first arrived.
“A butcher, a baker, a fish and chip store, the Red and White store, a TV repair shop and a meat market,” Kardynal listed off. “They’ve all come and gone, but I’m still here.”
The smell of leather hangs heavy in the air of the shop, but it’s not just from the dozens of pairs of shoes and boots waiting repair. Lining the walls and front windows is high-quality footwear for sale, including pairs of Florsheims made from fine Italian leather.
And in time for the holidays, a new shipment of fur-lined Hushpuppy slippers is on display near the front of the store. Urban farmers, the equestrian set and even hipsters might be interested to know Kardynal sells several styles of Muck Boots.
Kardynal’s shoe repair equipment is vintage, with one piece in place when he took over the shop decades ago. He believes the piece is at least 65 years old.
Kardynal said today he sees several generations of repeat customers, many of whom still live in the neighbourhood and just as many who drive in from across the city.
“The other night there were six young boys outside and I heard one of them say, ‘Let’s go in and say hi to Paul,’” said Kardynal, grinning at the memory. “So they came in and we had a nice chat.”
Kardynal grins often, his eyes sparkling when he does. His uniform is a dark lab-style coat over black pants, a checked fedora atop his head.
He was born in Stenen, Saskatchewan, in 1924 and left the prairies for adventures at sea with the Royal Canadian Navy in 1941 after graduating from high school. He served on the HMCS Prince David during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day, retrieving the wounded and dead off the beaches.
After leaving the navy, Kardynal decided he had no future left in Saskatchewan and came to Vancouver. In 1947, he met his soon to be wife at the Royal Bank downtown.
Mary Jane Kardynal passed away in 2004, leaving behind their three children and several grandchildren. Kardynal smiles again when he shows off a photo montage of his great-grandson Sam, including one of the tow-headed toddler cheek to cheek with his great granddad.
