In a tiny workshop, nestled in the back of his leather shop, is Arthur Koumian’s favourite place to be.
“For me, I create something, and when people come and like it, it’s a pleasure to me,” said Koumian.
The 70-year-old businessman has been hand-crafting leather coats for the past five decades — a skill he learned from his father.
“Some of his equipment, I have it here, I use it. It must be more than 80 years old.”
He opened up his first store, The Hide Company, in Ontario 45 years ago, shortly after he moved to Canada from Lebanon at 19-years-old. Since then, he has moved across cities and locations, but he’s been operating his shop out of a strip mall in Dartmouth since 2008.
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“How many pieces?” he laughs.
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“It all depends on the year and the season, but you know, I’ve been making coats all my life.”
Koumian says he’s one of the few people left in Halifax still creating custom-made leather coats right out of his store.
“This trend came in from Europe, and a lot of European immigrants, they did this, they are all either old or they passed away,” he said.
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But Koumian is still going strong, with no intentions of slowing down any time soon. His store not only offers custom coats, but hats, boots, belts, alterations and repairs.
“If you like it, you cannot stop,” he said.
“I’m happy with what I built. There is a lot of sweat and tears. As long as I’m able, I am going to go on.”
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