J.E. Letellier finds the right fit

摘要

Ottawa's J.E. Letellier Ltd is one of the oldest independent shoe stores in Canada. Joseph Letellier and his son Ernest opened a tiny shoe repair and sales shop in Levis, Quebec in 1897. In 1900 they moved to Ottawa and set up a men's shoe store at the corner of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive. Ernest subsequently moved it a few doors down, and Marc, father of Jean and Louis moved to 142 Rideau Street. After an ill advised modernization scheme by the city in the 1990s that put a lot of other independents on the street out of business, Jean Letellier and his brother Louis moved the store to number 146.