On the outside, there is nothing to distinguish Al’s Shoe Repair from the Cards Unlimited store next to it, or the Thai Station Restaurant and Elena Bridal Couture directly across Merrick Avenue in Merrick, Long Island, all of which have almost identical off-white store fronts and green store signs.
Inside, Al’s Shoe Repair is small, but quaint, and with shoes and purses packed tightly together, pouring over the edge of shelves, the store stays true to its 1977 roots. But the once-indispensable business of shoe repair faces considerable challenges in today’s disposable culture.
“Last winter I bought four pairs of shoes,” says Bianca Rodriquez, 20, who lives in the area and rarely takes her shoes for repair. “I probably wore two of them and then gave the other two to my sister. They’re out of style now anyway.”
Rodriquez is only one of the many Americans who turn to buying new shoes rather than shoe repairs. With the demand for shoe repairs decreasing, many stores, like Al’s Shoe Repair, may soon be out of business.
“It’s a dying trade,” says owner John Morreale, whose family opened Al’s Shoe Repair 33 years ago. It isn’t just a loss of customers that is hurting cobblers like Morreale. He says that the rising cost of supplies, such as rubber, also eats into his earnings. It seems the increasing cost of supplies contributed to the store’s change in prices, which customers say are not the same as they once were in the 1970’s. Today, the cost of a shoe shine starts at $5 and replacing a sole is $30.
The store makes most of its money on repeat customers, such as businessmen who come in with their work shoes to be cleaned and shined. “They work so fast,” says Christopher Washington, a customer. “I went to a place in Garden City and the guy told me it would take a week to fix my shoes, but Al’s fixed it the same day. As long as he fixes our stuff fast, everybody will keep coming back.”
With the onset of cold weather, Morreale says that business is “picking up a little.” But he is still worried.