"A Toronto cobbler who has been repairing shoes for more than 20 years in Dufferin Mall says he thought he was going to lose business when his patching and stitching machine broke down last fall. Alazar Beyene, owner of Moneysworth and Best Quality Shoe Repair, says replacing the machine would cost $10,000. The machine, which he bought second hand and is more than 60 years old, is used to repair zippers on boots, change buckles on sandals and stitch broken straps on handbags."
"To keep his business on its feet, he has decided to diversify by cutting keys and resizing and repairing watches. "I feel bad because every time people, they bring me the shoes or their handbags to stitch or to patch, I tell them my machine is broke," Beyene said Wednesday. "The shoe repair business is like a dying art right now, so to invest that much money, I felt like it's not worth it.""
A Toronto cobbler with more than 20 years at Dufferin Mall faced a crisis when his patching and stitching machine broke down last fall. The second-hand, more-than-60-year-old machine would cost $10,000 to replace and handles zipper repairs, buckle changes and stitching broken handbag straps. The Montreal-based supplier no longer provides parts or service, leaving replacement as the only option and prompting hesitation because shoe repair is seen as a dying trade. He began diversifying into key cutting and watch repair, and a long-time customer launched a GoFundMe that raised more than $13,000, enough to replace the machine.
Read at www.cbc.ca
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