Might be coming back if we go through a financial downturn. Skills are going to be worth more than dollars.
I still remember my favorite pair of shoes. The year was 1969. If I had known about cobblers back then, I'd have repaired them forever. Never could find another like them. This SAS shoe is close. Round toe. They only want $174.
I remember my parents taking our shoes to the cobbler to have them resoled. No need to spend money on a new pair when the old pair of shoes was fine, except for the worn out soles. My dad would also take a pair of shoes or boots and have them stretched out some. I don’t recall shoe stores having wide width shoes at that time.
I've had dress shoes re-soled. When you spend the money on nice dress shoes, it's what you do. I just looked on the web. There are 2 shoe repair places in the small city up the road from me. One of them also makes "commercial quality nail bags, tool bags and toolbelts for use by the construction tradesman." I guess you gotta diversify to survive.
Absolutely! Especially as a person gets older, you don’t wear out “good” shoes or grow out of them as quickly. I think my grandparents wore the same shoes for years. They would get the soles replaced as needed until the shoe/boot itself was wore out with holes. They did not have a closet full of shoes to choose from. Sometimes if their “church” shoes was being repaired, they would clean up and polish their work shoes on Saturday evening or early Sunday morning before church and wear them there too. I think all the folks of the depression era did that.
There's definitely a market for that around here. Lots of people boarding horses, and a farrier right up the road from me.
I had a pair of Naturals 90s, not cheap but not as pricy as these, I thought the one you put up were a Natural. Looked just like them and very comfortable.
Have you ever wondered how shoes are made? We made a trip to the shoe capital of the Philippines, Marikina City, and found out what happens when they craft a shoe. How Shoes Are Made - 2017