Edmonton Forum

Wei Mah’s legacy still carries on at store, seven decades later

(Wei Mah opened Wei's Western Wear 70 years ago. (Submitted by Chung Mah))

When Wei Mah came to Alberta in the 1950s from China, few could’ve predicted he would soon open a store that would become a fixture in Red Deer’s western scene.

Now, 70 years later, his family business is still standing tall as a landmark in Red Deer history.



Wei's sponsored events around Red Deer like rodeos. (Supplied by Chung Mah)

“As a community grew, he grew and he had an opportunity, … Red Deer was just the right place,” said his son and current co-owner Al Mah.

After seven decades, the family is celebrating their service to the area, while also keeping an eye on how to keep doing so in the next 70 years.

On the heels of opportunity

Mah was a cobbler in modern-day Guangzhou. In 1956, he opened Red Deer Shoe Renew in Red Deer’s downtown.



Wei Mah was a cobbler by trade, and fixing boots was his passion. (Submitted by Chung Mah)

Initially he gained loyal customers with RCMP members in Penhold.

“They would bring those big show boots to my father … because they were so tall, they would always flop over,” said Al’s brother and co-owner, Chung Mah.

“So my dad developed a way to make the boots kind of stand up by itself, by lining leather inside the boots.”

When Wei Mah immigrated from China 70 years ago, his boots led him to becoming a central part of Red Deer, Alberta. As Lina Elsaadi reports, three generations have hammered away to keep Wei's Western Wear open for decades.

Word of mouth spread. And with central Alberta’s agricultural focus at the time, Chung Mah said several of his customers were looking to repair their cowboy boots.

“My dad noticed that some of these boots weren't very well made. So he thought ‘I can probably buy some better stuff than this.’

“He went down to Mexico and Texas and brought some boots back up, put them in a small shop… he goes, ‘they're selling. Maybe there's something to this.’”



Inside Wei's in its earlier days. (Submitted by Chung Mah)

His son said Wei Mah became something of a local legend.

“He would … just look at his feet and he could size a guy out just like that,” said Al Mah. “Guys have told me that story over and over… your dad would just run to the basement, grab my size and it fit like a glove. It was like magic.”



From left to right, Al, Marilyn, and Chung Mah — all co-owners of the store. (Lina Elsaadi/CBC)

In 1995, the family opened a second location in the town’s north end, run day-to-day by Al.

“I'm trying to carry on that legend,” he said.

Laced with love

Hard work and good customer service is what the Mah family credits for their success, drilled into them by their parents from a young age.

It’s so engrained in their family ethos that it extends beyond blood. Marilyn Mah married into the family through the third brother in the trio, Steve.



Wei Mah came from southern China in the 1950s, and all of his children were born in Red Deer. (Submitted by Chung Mah)

She said hard work was necessary. For Wei and his wife Moon, the language barrier presented challenges. They had to assimilate quickly and learn to run a business, as Wei also supported his family back in China. But it paid off.

“We recognize families by their faces. We know their names. And not just them, but their parents and their children, their grandchildren. So we have multi-generational customers now that shop at the store for all the same reasons — because we care,” she said.



The Mah family has an affinity for bulldogs. A fixture of the shop is seeing Molly, left and Bella, right walking around. (Lina Elsaadi/CBC)

“It's the word of mouth, right? It's like, you should go there. They've got everything, everything that you'll ever need,” she added.

That means a vast selection of inventory spanning in the thousands of boots and hats, including some exotic materials like lizard and snake, which according to Chung many other retailers do not stock due to their high price tags and difficulty to sell — but differentiates them from the crowd.

“We recognize families by their faces. We know their names.”- Marilyn Mah

Solely a legacy

Wei also helped some of his relatives move to Canada and taught them the trade, helping his siblings and nephew open shops in Rocky Mountain House and Stettler.

“Red Deer and the surrounding communities have supported us immensely," said Al. “I don't see it as sacrifice, I see it as just an opportunity just to carry on his legacy.”



Wei's Western Wear has been involved in rodeo culture in central Alberta for decades. (Supplied by Chung Mah)

“They did the hard work of getting everything started. We've got the easy job of just trying to maintain it …this is our way of paying back or saying, ‘Hey, thank you.. for taking care of us,” added Chung.

As for the next 70 years?



The Wei family today. (Supplied by Chung Mah)

Marilyn’s son Nathan “grew up in the store" and was the one who helped them go online, which has seen sales to every Canadian province and territory, every U.S. state, and countries like the Netherlands, Poland, Australia, Singapore and Italy.

Marilyn thinks he could also become the third generation to keep Wei’s alive.

“I'm thinking that he has an interest in continuing the legacy,” she said. “Both Wei and Moon, they would be so proud to see that happen.”

by Lina Elsaadi