The Canberra city businesses keeping old-school craftsmanship alive
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Walking through the city right now, it’s hard to ignore the signs of progress – the light rail construction, the cranes building new developments, the evolution of City Walk.
It is a major chapter in Canberra’s growth, bringing new footprints and evolving paths to our central streets. But while the transformation takes shape outside, a humble collection of independent shopfronts tucked into longstanding arcade corners and historic blocks like Bailey’s Arcade continues to do what they have always done best.
We’ve found five Canberra businesses committed to keeping tradition alive – including multi-generational cobblers, master watch repairers, and florists. Step past the temporary hoardings and you will discover the dedicated faces keeping specialist, hands-on skills thriving in the heart of Civic.
FRANCO OF CANBERRA
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Long before it became the multi-generational salon institution it is today, this Canberra staple began with a young Italian immigrant splitting his time between laying Canberra’s concrete by day and cutting hair by night. Franco Calabria arrived in 1952 with a pair of scissors from his uncle’s salon in Italy, eventually opening a modest, two-chair barber shop downstairs at Bailey’s Corner in 1956. By 1961, he broke the mould by transforming it into one of the capital’s first unisex salons.
Today, his son Sam Calabria directs the bustling salon floor, steering Franco of Canberra into a modern era while holding fast to the foundational standard of classic styling. In 2026, the salon hits its 70-year milestone, with the team saying, “This salon was built on connection, charisma, and community. And that spirit still lives here.”
Shop 15 East Row, Canberra City | francoofcanberra.com.au
CIVIC SHOES
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As soon as you enter Bailey’s Arcade, the rich scent of leather guides you to Canberra’s oldest cobbler.Second-generation craftsman Milton Vassiliotis took over the workshop in 2001 from his father, Nick, who established the business in 1973.
While the shop handles high-end restorations using French Saphir polishes, Milton’s true specialty is a rarity across Australia: building bespoke, made-to-measure Italian leather shoes entirely from scratch. He pairs modern foot-scanning tech – a nod to his past life training in radiography – with physical, hand-carved 3D foot moulds that he keeps in storage for regular clients, who range from local political leaders to the international diplomatic corps.
When he isn’t crafting new pairs, the workshop floor functions as a high-end restoration hub, handling specialised repairs and full structural overhauls for heritage staples like classic R.M. Williams boots and Birkenstocks.
Bailey’s Arcade, 143 London Circuit, Canberra City | civicshoes.com.au
JANINE FLORIST
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Before local flower delivery involved online ordering and digital storefronts, the Batley family’s backyard was filled with children playing around their mother’s feet while she wired wedding bouquets. Sensing a gap in the market in 1960, Ken Batley noticed the city centre was completely lacking a florist. Busy running his own record shop on East Row, he encouraged his wife, Elma, to take a floristry crash course in Sydney. She did, and Janine Florist opened that same year inside Bailey’s Corner.
Sixty-six years later, the London Circuit shop operates in that exact same building. Elma’s daughter Janine eventually took the reins, and today her son Pierce – a former dancer who swapped performance for floristry – is leading the family business into its next chapter.
Shop 8 Bailey’s Corner, 143 London Circuit, Canberra City | janineflorist.com.au
KEN COOK MENSWEAR
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Long before Bailey’s Corner became the permanent home for Ken Cook Menswear in the 1970s, the business was already a foundational piece of Canberra’s early retail landscape. Ken Cook opened his first storefront in Manuka back in 1936, eventually expanding into Kingston and Civic to dress generations of local men in fine European tailoring.
Ninety years on, the legacy remains firmly in the family, with Ken’s grandson Mark Cook managing the operations from Sydney while keeping a regular presence on the shop floor. The daily warmth and precise service customers encounter today come from Adolfo, a Salerno native who traded teaching Italian at CIT for the art of tailoring in 2003, working alongside brothers Ali and Mo to keep the city’s longest-standing menswear tradition alive.
Bailey’s Corner, Corner of Petrie Plaza and London Circuit, Canberra City | kencook.com.au
AJ’S WATCH REPAIRS
Founded by Polish-born watchmaker Andrzej Jakubaszek and his wife Stella, A.J. Watch Repairs has proudly served Canberra from Bailey’s Arcade since 1996. Andrzej initially trained as a mechanic in Europe, but a nudge from his grandmother steered his hands away from ice-covered car engines and toward the delicate, microscopic gears of horology.
Today, the family tradition continues through the next generation. After training at the Australian Watchmaking School, Ultimo TAFE and completing OMEGA’s official watchmaker certification and advanced technical training, Krzysztof Jakubaszek joined his father at the bench.
While the glass workshop front lets passersby watch the intricate, steady assembly of springs and gears, the business operates far beyond standard battery swaps.
As an OMEGA Certified Service Centre and an Authorised TAG Heuer Repair Centre, A.J. Watch Repairs specialises in complete mechanical overhauls, factory-standard refinishing and the restoration of fine mechanical timepieces to manufacturer standards.
As the business continues to grow, A.J. Watch Repairs welcomes expressions of interest from those wishing to pursue a professional career in watchmaking and help preserve this remarkable craft.
Shop 33 Bailey’s Corner, 143 London Circuit, Canberra City | ajwatchrepairs.com
