Sparking loyalty, trust since 1896 Three-man operation Mitchell Welding enduring symbol of Osborne Village strength Made in Manitoba
By: Aaron Epp Posted: 5:13 PM CST Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024

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This article was published 21/11/2024 (605 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 116-year-old invoice hangs on the wall at Mitchell Welding.

Dated Oct. 1, 1908, the $8.85 invoice is for work the company, then called John Mitchell Horse Shoer and General Blacksmith, did shoeing horses for Winnipeg’s fire department.

It’s a testament to the origins of the company, which was founded in 1896.

Almost 130 years later, the company still stands in the same place — 471 McMillan Ave. (behind Wild Planet, next to the River Osborne Community Centre and not far from Confusion Corner).

The fourth generation of the Mitchell family owns the company, which specializes in installing and repairing trailer hitches.

“Our business is based on loyalty to our customers,” says owner Ed Nichols, whose wife, Tracey, is John Mitchell’s great-granddaughter. “(People) come in because they trust what we do and they know that we’re not going to sell inferior products to them.

“There’s no way you’re going to last from 1896, since the company’s been here, selling garbage or doing (anything) untoward, right? Winnipeg’s a small city. Word gets around.”

John Mitchell was born and raised in Ireland, where he came from a line of blacksmiths. After his family moved to Winnipeg, he started a company of his own. His son Gordon — who lost his left eye in a workplace accident and acquired the nickname “Lefty” — succeeded him.

Eventually, Lefty’s son Ron took over the business, which had progressed from blacksmithery to offering welding services. By the time Ron took over, the company was manufacturing, installing and repairing trailers and trailer hitches.

Nichols joined the family when he married Tracey, Ron’s daughter, in 1980.

“We don’t do anything to anybody’s vehicle that we wouldn’t do to our own. And that’s why we have the longevity that we’ve had.”–Ed Nichols

He had a background in business administration and was a project manager at a company that built grain elevators when he got a call from Ron in 1983. Mitchell Welding was $250,000 in debt and Ron wanted Nichols’ help.

“I still get emotional because he and I were real close,” Nichols says as he remembers his father-in-law. “He was brilliant. He could weld anything, loved riding his Harley. He could fix anything, could make anything.”

Nichols attributes the debt load to Ron overextending himself with Traveler Trailers, a manufacturing operation he ran on Gunn Road in conjunction with Mitchell Welding.

Every day, after working his regular job from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Nichols headed to Mitchell Welding and worked until midnight to help Ron turn things around.

“It was a baptism by fire,” says Nichols, 66. “I often tell this story and people go, ‘Wow, a quarter-million dollars. That was a lot of money back then.’ You know what? It’s a lot of money now.

“I’m proud that we never burnt anybody. I phoned all the suppliers, let them know what was going on, and we paid everybody.”

Shutting down Traveler Trailers and selling the Gunn Road property went a long way toward paying off the debt. A week after Ron died April 28, 1985, Nichols made the final payment and brought Mitchell Welding back into the black.

By that time, Nichols had made the company his sole focus. He’d taken welding courses at Red River College to learn the trade and he worked alongside the company’s employees, making and installing trailer hitches.

Today, the company sells and installs hitches, wiring harnesses and hitch accessories. It also sells and installs bike racks, and does welding and trailer repairs.

Nichols employs two people: his brother, Mark Nichols, a licensed mechanic who joined Mitchell Welding 14 years ago; and Don Jones, who started working at Mitchell after graduating high school in 1980.

Jones’ longevity with the company and his character have earned him the nickname, “the Legend.”

“(He’s) the most honest person you’re ever going to meet,” Ed Nichols says. “I remember telling a customer that I trust him more than God. So if he says something, that’s gospel.”

There’s no unusual reason why Jones has stuck with the company for 44 years.

“I like the work,” says Jones, 62. “That’s just basic. It’s nothing special.”

Jones and the Nichols brothers enjoy working side-by-side and describe their three-man operation as a family.

When asked if there are things Mitchell Welding has accomplished he’s most proud of, Mark Nichols says: “Every job we do.”

“You’ve got to treat it like it’s your own,” says the 61-year-old. “And you have to enjoy working on the vehicles, too.”

It’s small businesses like Mitchell Welding that make Osborne Village unique, says Zohreh Gervais, executive director of Osborne Village BIZ.

“It’s a diverse and eclectic mix of businesses and I think that’s the strength of the area — it contributes to the vitality when we have this mix of small businesses,” she says.

Small, locally-owned businesses are part of Osborne Village’s DNA, Gervais adds. “They connect us to our historical roots and are a cool reflection of what we need in a community to make it thrive.”

Mitchell Welding saw an increase in business in 2020 and 2021, something Mark Nichols attributes to people wanting to get outdoors and go camping during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

The last two years have been “extremely lean” though, Ed Nichols says, and he wonders about the shop’s future.

If it was turning more of a profit, he would give his brother the business and retire. What happens next with the shop depends on what the next year or two look like.

“I guess I’m kind of at peace with (the idea that) all good things come to an end eventually,” Nichols says. “But then, who knows? Ten years might go by and I’m still here.”

One thing’s for certain: as long as the doors are open at Mitchell Welding, customers can expect quality.

“We don’t do anything to anybody’s vehicle that we wouldn’t do to our own. And that’s why we have the longevity that we’ve had,” Nichols says.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca