I drive past this old store every day on my way to work. It looks deserted, abandoned, a candidate for demolition...and each time I drive past I wonder when exactly was the last time there was so much demand for violin repair and restoration in Calgary that it merited a whole store dedicated to these activities?Imagine my surprise when I finished work early one afternoon this week and stopped off on my way home to take a photo of the store and saw that the "open" sign in the window was illuminated! This store is a going concern!
Gough's violin restorer's is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway which runs the breadth of Canada from St. Johns Newfoundland in the East to Victoria British Columbia in the West.....all 7,821km of it. It's the world's longest national highway and as it passes through the north of Calgary it's known as 16th Avenue.
Either folk are prepared to drive a very long way to get their violins repaired of there are a lot of violinists in Calgary! Who knew?
It may be that the person who runs this shop is the only violin repairer/restorer in the whole United States! So, everybody in every orchestra in the U.S. sends him work. He may be so busy he doesn't even have time to put an "Open" sign in his window.
ReplyDeleteNice shot! ;-)
Oh my gosh! I didn't know the TransCanada Highway was the longest in the world! OOPS! I'm always amazed at how much I can learn blogging.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if a person who can repair violins if he/she can also restore other stringed instruments.
What a quaint little store! I wonder how old the building is. I love the arch over the door. It could be that he gets so much business because there are so few people who do this for a living or do it well.
ReplyDeleteI am glad it is still open. Maybe he owns the property and doesn't need to do much to keep it open. I am happy when these character spots survive. Great shot!
ReplyDeleteA living legacy.
ReplyDeleteLong life to that kind of shop!
ReplyDeleteThere are so few little artisan shops, people must know about that store from many miles around!!1
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