By Joel Weiner
Lynn Truong doesn’t sleep in Lowertown, but she lives here all the same. That’s because she’s almost always at her shop, Lynn’s Tailoring, on the second floor of 288 Dalhousie Street, where she has been doing business as a seamstress since 2009.
Actually, Lynn’s connection to Lowertown’s needle trade dates back much earlier than that. In 1991, soon after arriving in Ottawa from Vietnam with four young children in tow, she started work at Dworkin Furs on Rideau Street, just east of King Edward. And, except for a short stint at another fur store off Elgin Street, she’s been in our neighbourhood ever since.
“In 1994, I began as a part-time seamstress for Market Cleaners,” Lynn recalls, speaking of the business just downstairs from hers. “Ten years later, I switched to full time for them. And five years after that, I went out on my own.”
Today, Market Cleaners still sends business Lynn’s way. But, over the years, she has developed a broad clientele of her own – as is immediately evident to anyone stepping into her shop and seeing the huge array of clothing hanging neatly on racks, waiting to be worked on or collected by her customers.
Despite this large volume, Lynn delivers on time. “I love my work, so putting in lots of hours is no problem for me,” she says. “I try to leave a bit early on Fridays to spend extra time with my grandchildren, but my customers are like family, too, and I never want to disappoint them.”
May, June and July are Lynn’s most hectic months, when marriages and school proms are at their peak and she is busy with wedding dresses, evening gowns and other fancy wear. Some of this specialized work is done in the evenings, when she takes appointments after 6:00 PM. Her solid background in the fur trade is another forte that is called upon, generally later in the year. However, year-round, Lynn has a steady load of alterations and repairs for men and women alike.
Lynn learned to sew in Vietnam, where her grandmother’s company made table cloths for sale in France, her mother fitted ladies’ garments in her own shop, and an uncle was a tailor. “I learned from all of them, “she explains, but especially my mother because I would help her out after school. I liked the business then and I like it now.”
Before emigrating to Canada, Lynn ran various enterprises in her home town. Her penchants for sewing and commerce eventually merged when she opened Lynn’s Tailoring less than twenty years after she arrived in Ottawa.
“I came here to make a better life for my children,” says Lynn, taking obvious pride in the fact that she succeeded. Today a proud grandmother of five, she delights in her family, her business and her many friends. She’s also a huge booster of Lowertown, patronizing merchants up and down Dalhousie Street and the Byward Market.
“I could get a haircut in Chinatown for $15 but I’d rather support my neighbours” she says. “The same is true for clothing, food, gifts and almost everything I need. Lowertown supports me, so I do what I can to support it.”