Dave,
In two weeks, on April 30th, I will be retiring from the shoe repair (cobbling) business. I began in the summer of 1969 and am ending in the spring of 2022 – about 53 years.
I decided I had better retire while I can still pull my own boots on! We also downsized to an apartment in a suburb of St. Paul, Maplewood MN.
About 10 years ago, I had inquired to RedWing shoes about buying Rogers’s Shoe Repair in Iowa City and bring my machinery down. They said I had to become a full time RedWing dealer to restart his business.
Well, I sold most of my machinery to a shop in Marion, IA, so maybe I can visit my machinery on the way to the next reunion (or not). It’s a big job moving our household and closing my shop in the same month. Hopefully we will find everything we packed to move into our apartment by the time to celebrate our 48th wedding anniversary.
Dave, if you will, please share the link to the article that was published about me closing. By the way, the writer of the article is from a small town south of Mason City, and she wrote the first article about me starting my business, same paper.
A Shoe Story: Gene’s Hartland Shoe & Repair to close after 33 years fixing shoes in the Midway
This video was posted by a fellow cobbler who was visiting shops across America. You will need access to Facebook in order to view it.