Shoe repair shops report business is up now that the economy is down. One Wisconsin cobbler reports a 50 percent increase in business. A central Ohio repairman also says people are thinking twice before throwing away a repairable pair.
There's a lot of foot traffic in and out the door at 105 South State Street in Westerville. That's the home of the Doctor Shoe repair shop where people bring their favorite footwear to be revitalized. For some people like John Powell getting shoes resoled-and-heeled is simply routine.
"I love my shoes because they fit so well so I always have them repaired," Powell says. "I put new soles on them; it's something I've done the last 15 years."
But these days many customers are keeping a closer eye on the economy. That means doing all they can to save money. Lloyd Brewton has two daughters ready to start college so he just dropped off a pair of his dress shoes.
"I just decided to get them fixed instead of throwing them out," Brewton says. "They're a good pair of name-brand shoes so there's no need to just go out and buy a pair of new ones. And the way the economy is it's just smart to retrench and just save some money."
Randy Birge runs the small shop along with his shihtszu puppy Sadie. Birge has worked in the shoe repair trade for more than 30 years. He says repairing a pair of shoes will extend their life and help people save money.
"A lot of people, you know, they buy good shoes; $100, $200 pair of shoes," Birge says. "To replace men's heels runs $18. Soles and heels run $49.95. So it's usually a bit of a savings there."
He used to repair between 100 and 200 pairs of shoes a month. But lately, Birge says, he's seen an increase in the number of customers.
"Basically people are trying to save a few bucks. You know I'm seeing more and more right now so it's busier than usual," he says.
Sometimes Birge uses hand tools to work on shoes. Every pair of shoes gets a good cleaning and polishing on his finishing machine.
"Some of them get pretty tore up so I try to make them look as good as possible with just putting the heels on them, I always polish them up," Birge says.
The economic downturn has even sparked a few shoe-related Christmas gift ideas. Sheila Lafferty brought in a pair of exotic skin boots that her husband used to wear.
"They're a pair of Tony Lama boots and they were pricey then when I got them for him and I thought, 'You know what; I'm not buying a new pair.'"
So Lafferty says she'll have the boots redone and she'll surprise her husband this Christmas.
"Got those boots for my husband for his birthday probably 20 years ago and he hasn't been able to wear them for the past 15 years because of the stitching being blowed out on them so I thought, 'You know what, this would be a really neat Christmas present to have them redone.' So that's what I'm doing," Lafferty says.