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The St-Henri Cobbler

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The bright red sole of a Louboutin shoe is a rousing image for the world’s most fashionable. For cobbler Dominique Bergeron, the sight of such a delicate and valuable item is the moment when the nerves begin to set in. Inside Carinthia shop in St-Henri, the sound of opera or a Joe Rogan podcast helps keep those nerves in check as he begins the intricate work of resoling shoes.

“I can sit down, put my headphones on and get 40 pairs of shoes repaired in a day,” said Bergeron, who, at 44, believes he is the youngest cobbler in Montreal.

Though, if not for the guidance of his father-in-law, John Rasinger, he never would have made the switch from bike mechanic to cobbler.

“He trained me for three years and taught me how to make shoes, not just repair them,” Bergeron said. “He taught me from the ground up, taught me everything I know.”

Both Rasinger and the shop’s original owner are natives of Carinthia, the southernmost Austrian state. They worked together in Montreal for a decade before Rasinger purchased the repair shop, which was founded in 1940. When Bergeron completed his apprenticeship under Rasinger in 2000, he inherited the business. Rasinger hung his apron then for the final time, retiring after 50 years in the industry.