Usa business

In 1968 there were 68,000 shoe repair stores dotted across the USA, say one store for every 3,500 of us. Today there are about 7,000 stores, or one for every 43,000 of the population. And the number continues to fall. It's not really surprising. It's a labor-intensive business at the best of times and one that doesn't offer an obvious path to riches for a prospective small business owner. Most of the shops were, and are, small, family-owned and run. Today the scions of the families don't really see the attraction in overseeing a noisy, smelly workshop for a few bucks profit per job. Web design or guerilla marketing are way more sexy and appealing.

Even accountancy can look good if you don't want to be cooped up in a hole-in-the-wall store on dilapidated Main Street, East Armpit. Anyway, the business is more difficult now: it used to be that shoes came in men's black or brown, ladies' various, in 5 styles. Since the 1980s or so shoe styles have mutated like a flu pandemic - lots of new styles, hollow heels, molded soles, the works. Sad to say but probably most of those 7,000 shoe repair outfits dotted around the land could not handle a repair job on a fancy new shoe, and will tell you so (or take the job and mess it up, which is worse).

Many, maybe most, are not particularly skilled at the craft and are not inclined to spend time on a difficult repair job anyway. Furthermore, shoe buyers tend to take a more relaxed view of the expected longevity of their footwear - Christian Louboutin or Manolo Blahniks or Jimmy Choos excepted of course. After a few months of wear, why not abandon those Spigas and pick up another $60 pair at Sims or Macy's sale or whatever? So demand is probably down substantially even if the shoe repairer can handle your project, leading to still more closures of the mom-and-pop stores.

Still, lots of people have favorite shoes that they really would like to keep for another year or two. Especially those fancy and fancy-priced pairs that are just a little down at heel, so to speak. And then there are the leather bags that have met with more or less severe challenges - anything from a wardrobe malfunction (i.e. bust zipper) to the disastrous leather rip. If that's a $9,000 Fendi you really don't want to throw it in the back of the storage closet yet. So what's a concerned shoe and bag consumer to do?

Well, as it happens there are still some craftsmen left in the business, those who actually know the cobbler's art. The trouble has always been that they are not where you are, typically. Fortunately, the internet, as in so many industries, changes the paradigm. At last you can reach across the USA and find the expert who can fix your problem. In fact there are quite a few shoe repair business with websites now, and it pays to check them out. Some are still quite limited in the scope of what they can do, and some are just heel factories that apply a machine rather than loving handcraft to your precious shoes and bags.

Some, however, are different. In some cases under the third generation of family ownership, they will apply personal attention to your requirements - they actually want to talk to you about what you need. You can ship for free and they will handle that difficult repair job. For example there is one company I know of that has undeniable expertise and works for the fashion, movie and TV industries in its home base in New York - and they make it easy for you. Ship your problem to them by USPS and in a week or so you'll have those beloved shoes back on your feet. I was going to say "like new", but of course they're more comfortable than that. That's why you wanted them repaired in the first place.