Village Squire, 1978-03, Page 9Jack Young shows some of the old tailor's equipment that still comes in handy in his shop.
.Tach: Young
knows his
b uszness
inside out
Though his clothes today
are factory made, he once
made clothing from scratch
Most people from Sebringville travel down the road to
Stratford to do their shopping. But when it comes to one thing,
men's clothing, many people from Stratford reverse the trend
and come to Sebringville to shop. And so do people from Clinton
and Goderich and many other places in Western Ontario.
The reason is Jacx Young, Young the Tailor as his sign reads
on the outside of the little shop on the south side of Highway 8 in
the village. It isn't an impressive shop, inside or out. Certainly it
doesn't compare with the glossy shops of the city, all fancy wood
and chrome. But Jack Young offers something more, the kind of
service that is becoming rarer.
Young the Tailor has been part of Sebringville for more than
70 years, though Jack himself is a young and vigorous man (he'd
just returned from a Quebec ski vacation and was looking tanned
and fit when we met). His grandfather John Young started the
business in 1902 after moving from Wellesley. He ran a tailoring
business above a general store. His son David started in the shop
as an apprentice in 1904. When John retired in 1932. David took
over the business. Three years later Jack began, and he's been
there ever since.
Actual tailoring was carried on in the shop until David's
retirement in 1959. Today Jack has a more conventional business
selling ready-to-wear and made -to -measure suits and other
men's furnishing. The shop is not an ordinary clothing store
however, as one finds if he goes to the back of the shop where
there's a work area that still includes all the equipment for
tailoring. The reason he no longer makes clothes from scratch,
Jack says, is that it's just too expensive. A handmade suit would
be in the $400 class with the present wages and cost of cloth, he
VILLAGE SQUIRE/MARCH 1978, PG. 7.