Joe Lynch, owner of Glenn’s Shoe Repair, replaces a band of rubber on a snowcat boot at his shop in Kalispell, Mont.
Around the country, cobblers, tailors, car mechanics and bike, vacuum, watch and television repairers are reporting strong revenues during the recession. Jim McFarland, a third-generation shoe repairman, who owns McFarland’s Shoe Repair in Lakeland, FL has fought many anxiety bouts in his 23 years running the shop. “I’ve spent nights pacing my floor at 2, 3 in the morning, wondering, How am I going to get through this?” says McFarland, who teethed on leather as a baby. “Now I sleep the whole night through,” he says. “I’ve never seen it like this — it’s wonderful.”
