Following fire at legendary Vancouver boot factory, owner determined to ‘build something great’

By Denise Ryan

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Article content 1950s photo of C.H. (Charlie) Wohlford, the founder of Dayton Boots, cutting patterns at Dayton Boot Factory. Photo by Dayton BootsArticle content“Wohlford is a German name, and it was not a great time to have a German name so he named the company Dayton, after Dayton, Kansas, where he was born,” said Risk.Article contentIn 1950, Wohlford moved the business to East Hastings, and created boots for other professions: the Driver, with a white heel for milkmen who complained that black boots left scuff marks on their white trucks, service boots for police and firefighters, and the infamous Black Beauty.Article contentThe Black Beauty was a 12-inch riding boot with a steel shank and a hard toe, so good for stomping people in bar fights that Downtown Eastside beer parlours put up signs saying: “No knives, no guns, no Daytons.”Article contentBy the 1990s, their working-class reputation made them a perfect fit for the emerging grunge esthetic. The long bus ride to the Dayton factory became a rite of passage for artists, students and musicians.Article contentArticle contentAfter designing the X-boot for the crew of the X-Files TV show, Daytons become a celebrity favourite, worn by Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Madonna.Article contentEven so, the boot remained stubbornly local, a symbol of being from somewhere at a particular moment, of belonging to a place and its complicated culture, whether that connection was to the forests and its loggers, to the arts underground or to the urban streets.Article contentAt a certain moment, if you didn’t have a pair of Daytons, or long for a pair, you might not have been from here.Article contentRisk recalls that at Eric Hamber Secondary your life might depend on what kind of Daytons you wore.Article content“Only the tough kids wore Black Beauties. If you wore those at Hamber you risked getting rolled for your Daytons by the Riley Park boys,” said Risk.Article contentHe stuck to Drivers and Rebels.Article content 2007. Diane Rees shows off the Dayton Black Beauty boot at the company’s PNE stall with its replica of the Vancouver firm’s original neon sign. The Black Beauty was designed as a riding boot for department store magnate Charlie Woodward but went on the gain notoriety as the ‘stomper of choice’ Photo by Mark van Manen /PNGArticle contentBy the time he walked into the store in 2012, the Wohlford family had sold a controlling interest in the business to Reebok’s former global marketing manager, Stephen Encarnacao.Article contentArticle content“They were in bad shape,” said Risk.Article contentRisk joined the business with Encarnacao, but there were philosophical differences.Article contentEncarnacao wanted to get the boots manufactured in China, Risk wanted to keep manufacturing local.Article contentThings got complicated. Encarnacao sued Risk for the trademark in 2016. Four years of litigation led to a settlement in 2021.Article contentCOVID-19 added more complications, but in 2023, Risk was finally able to take over the business.Article contentRisk brought back Charlie Wohlford’s grandson Ray, rebranded the firm Wohlford & Co. Inc., focused on revitalizing Dayton Boots as a heritage brand, and brought custom-boot manufacturing back to the East Hastings factory.Article contentSome of the more popular boots, which ship out to 40 countries, are manufactured in Winnipeg, and others are created in Leon, Mexico, which is known for its shoe and boot-makers.

Article content“It’s a challenge to find boot-makers here,” said Risk, who started to develop an apprenticeship program for the skills required: cutting, sewing, pattern making, and crafting the sturdy Goodyear welt that stitches through the upper, sole and welt.Article contentHe transformed the Hastings Street factory into an arts hub — the space housed a barber shop, art studios and a recording studio for Juno winners the Snotty Nose Rez Kids.Article content“You could be anything you wanted within our umbrella. We had built a great space,” said Hall.Article contentThen came the fire.Article contentFor the artists, musicians and makers, it was a total loss. Wohlford & Co. lost all its inventory and irreplaceable machines, some over 100 years old.Article contentThe city informed Hall they were issuing a demolition order.Article contentHall fought it — the building was designated in 2012 as one of Vancouver’s Places That Matter by the Vancouver Heritage Foundation.Article contentArticle content“The main floor has 14-by-18-inch posts and beams, the joists are four-by-12-inch old growth fir, it’s amazing stuff. It’s worth saving.”Article contentThe city rescinded the order, but conversations with his insurance providers were grim.Article contentThe fire had been deemed suspicious and possibly criminal by the Vancouver police.Article content“They were trying to void my insurance,” said Hall. “The scale of this disaster was way out of my depth.”Article contentOne morning, the last week of May, he broke.Article contentHe had lost his mother in December, his family was grieving. It was too much.Article content“I was a mess, I wasn’t sleeping. I’ve got two young kids to take care of. I said, ‘I want my mom.’ ”Article contentThe tears came.Article content“I called out to her. I called out to my mom.”Article contentLater that day, Hall finally got the news that the insurance had been approved.Article contentHe can sleep again.Article contentLast week, Corinne Lea, owner of the Rio Theatre, whose art studio next door to the boot factory was flooded out by the fire, organized a fundraiser, Saving Soles, to benefit artisans and makers.Article contentHall hopes to reopen the ground floor of the Hastings Street space in the fall.Article content“I’m very optimistic that we can do a total reset and build something great,” he said.Article contentWhen the doors open again, Hall knows there is only one thing that will help the artisans and shoemakers and apprentices and the brand that made Vancouver famous: “Buy some boots.”Article contentArticle content Circa 1950s. Heel nailing at Dayton Boot Factory. Photo by Dayton BootsArticle content Circa mid 1950s. Sewing room at Dayton Boot Factory. Photo by Dayton BootsArticle content 1950s. Dayton Boot Factory. Photo by Dayton BootsArticle content

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