Because of a stitch the shoe was saved!

A few weeks ago my wife gave me one of her shoes and instructed me to find a cobbler.  It had a seam tear along one side – not too long of a separation – but it was the first indication that eventually a good pair of shoes would be discarded if not repaired.

I have been up and down Hillgrove in La Grange quite literally a hundred times but I never had a reason to enter the shoe repair store that is just west of the Grapevine.  The business, called , looks as if it has been there for no less than two decades.  I am not clued in on the history but there are many tales to be sure.

Upon entering I was greeted by the door signal and amused at a sleeping man in a chair in the very small entrance area.  The signal clued the owner that he had a customer.  The man was there for a reason known to the man.  He was enjoying his prolonged nap.

I showed the shoe to ‘Anthony’ – the suspected name of the person that arrived from the backroom.  I would hope that that is his name since the shop is named for someone with that first name.  (In Latin Anthony means “worthy of praise”).  After inspection, the authority figure assured me that he could sew it.  He said seven dollars, wrote a 7 on the stub and asked when I needed the shoe.  We agreed on later in the afternoon.

When I returned two days later than the promised date, the door signal sounded after I had pushed it in about three inches.  The buzzing did not wake the previously sleeping man who was now awake playing crossword puzzles.  A lady that does alterations let ‘Tony’ know he had a customer.

I presented the stub to the man waiting on me and after moving some shoes and important things, he presented me with one shoe in a clear plastic bag.  My stub matched the affixed tag.  I was holding the left of a pair.

“That will be $7,” he said. 

I paid cash, he thanked me, and I left with the item that would keep a battle from occurring.  I had actually gotten my wife’s shoe fixed.  Ok, I had the shoe in my car for three weeks but sometimes you can’t find a repair place when you need one.

My little story is but one of hundreds of stories of how our area merchants serve us well each day of all the weeks in the year.  Without them we could not do many of the things we think are important if we had to do them ourselves. 

Keep shopping locally.  Even if all you need is a nail.