LAURINBURG — After 44 years of service to Laurinburg, a local tailor will be closing shop. On May 2, Loi Van Pham, 71, will officially close the doors to Loi’s Tailoring Shop located at 213 S. Main St.
But Pham’s story goes far deeper.
Following the Vietnam War in 1975, Pham came to the U.S. under a program that allowed Americans to sponsor Vietnamese people who were looking for a fresh start. He was sponsored by David Stone and Jim Coughenour, who owned Barron Mills Clothing Store at the time.
Coughenour learned of the program after his uncle, who worked at the Ford dealership in town, had recently sponsored one of his mechanics. Coughenour then got the idea to sponsor a tailor who would help around the shop in exchange for room and board before he was able to support himself on his own.
But there was one condition to Pham’s sponsorship. His best friend Chu Con Tron would come with him or he would refuse the offer. Stone and Coughenour reluctantly agreed.
“We really didn’t want to do that because that was more of a burden, we’d have two people instead of one … but it was the best thing that we ever did,” Stone said.
He added that the retention rate of Vietnamese people tended to be higher when they were surrounded by others. For, instead of being lonely, they would embrace a new sense of community that was a common practice to their culture.
With the help of Ann McBride and the First Presbyterian Church, Pham and Tron were taken care of and soon had their own place — which would become a refuge to other Vietnamese people who longed for community.
From there, Pham began work at Barron Mills Clothing Store and Tron joined Waverly Mills Inc., a textile mill in town.
Stone and Coughenour said one thing that stood out the most to them was Pham’s memory.
Customers would bring clothing and a bell would ring to signal Pham to the front. Pham would inspect the clothing and return to the back instead of marking it, which baffled Stone and Coughenour.
“Loi would come out and he’d look at it (the clothing) and say ‘OK’ and walk back (to the back of the store),” Stone said.
According to Coughenour, no matter how high the pile of clothing was in the back, Pham could remember exactly what alteration each item needed.
“His memory was unbelievable,” Stone said.
Another thing that baffled Stone and Coughenour about Pham was how quickly he picked up the language.
Stone said that Pham understood most of the language, but simply struggled to communicate back.
But communication was a challenge from the beginning.
“So we tried to communicate through food,” Stone said of the event following meeting Pham and Tron at the airport. “They didn’t understand us, we didn’t understand them.”
Stone recalled the men’s first encounter with American fast food.
“We stopped at either a Hardee’s or McDonald’s, I don’t remember, but we bought them a hamburger. It was the first hamburger they’d ever eaten and they didn’t eat it,” Stone said with laughter.
Pham’s friend Tron left the textiles and moved to San Francisco with his wife some time before Waverly Mills closed. He opened his own restaurant, but unfortunately passed unexpectedly 10 years ago.
Despite language barriers at the beginning, after accumulating time at Barron Mills Clothing Store, Pham became well-known and respected within the community.
Coughenour said that Pham had more time than work to do, so Stone and Coughenour helped him start his own business — and Loi’s Tailoring Shop was born.
Pham began across the street from Barron Mills Clothing Store, but would soon move to his current location following the relocation of Bob’s Jewel Shop.
After attempting to train and hire someone to help share the load of his business, Pham found himself running the shop by himself.
Pham said that often he would work 12 and 13 hour days, arriving at 9 a.m. and closing at 10 p.m.
Stone and Coughenour described Pham as a man of few words, with a humble disposition who treated everyone fairly.
No matter the color of one’s skin or their class, “everyone had to stand in line,” Stone said of Pham’s business.
Pham was a dedicated hard worker, a fact demonstrated in his decision to stop smoking after hearing complaints of customers who smelled the smoke on their clothes following Pham’s alterations.
“Right away,” Pham said of his decision.
When he retires, Pham hopes to enjoy his favorite pasttime. That means relaxing and “go fishing any day.”
Coughenour said that after all of these years, Pham is still certainly more than a former employee. In fact he considers him a friend and “a good man.”
As for his shop, Pham encourages anyone with outstanding alterations to pick them up within 30 days.
Following the shop’s closing on May 2, a yard sale will be held where the items that remain unclaimed will be sold or donated.
Jessica Horne is a student intern from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. She can be reached at 910-506-3185 or [email protected].
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