Sustainability
Finding trained craftspeople is a problem for the leather goods repair business currently.
cleaning, customisation and repair for leather as well as other materials. Preservation of new items is also booming – applying special coatings to protect iconic coloured soles on shoes, for example, is also a very popular service.
Artisan shortage
As is the case in Italy – and throughout Europe – finding trained craftspeople is a big stumbling block to growing the leather goods repair business. Luxury brands struggle to find and train artisans to create the goods, and at the other end of the chain, repair services are up against tough odds to hire talent.
“The main thing that we do is educate our clients about the possibilities.”
David Mesquita, Leather Spa 5,000
The number of shoe repair shops in the US today.
The Shoe Service Institute of America
12
While the demand for repair is growing rapidly, shoe repair shops in the US have dwindled from 100,000 in the 1930s to 15,000 in 1997 to about 5,000 today, according to The Shoe Service Institute of America. “It’s sad to see the diverging trends… shoe repair shops are not closing for lack of business,” Kelly says. Rather, they are closing because they are overwhelmed with demand and in many cases, the owners are older. When it comes to trained cobblers and repair people, “If I could find four today, I would hire them immediately,” says Mesquita. Many of Leather Spa’s hires come through word of mouth via the employees already working there. Cobblers Direct has its own apprentice programme and more than 100 craftspeople and cobblers on staff.
Once upon a time, most dry cleaners across the US were partnered with a shoe repair shop, which would repair leather items. Now, that is a rarity. Kelly says that Cobblers Direct works to partner with local service providers to take some of the pressure off the small shop and preserve the industry.
Leather purchasing
Repair shops may not come to mind as big buyers of leather, but they indeed are. In fact, Kelly says that the Shoe Hospital group of companies, including Cobblers Direct, is the biggest buyer of leather in the industry. “We buy direct from the tanneries and use mainly North American domestic hides,” he says. Of course, they also use the appropriate speciality leathers as called for. For Leather Spa, “when working on high-end goods, we’re not going to cut corners”, says Mesquita. For those items, all the leather comes from Italy.
As the number of local repair providers has contracted, the internet has allowed a new generation of repair companies to expand their reach. Many shoe and handbag repair services – Leather Spa and Cobblers Direct included – book the bulk of their repairs through the internet. Before and after photos are an essential part of the business and social media plays a big role. Social media in particular has made it easier to show prospective clients the difference that a repair can make.
“The main thing that we do is educate our clients about the possibilities,” says Mesquita. Proper care and maintenance of leather goods can make them last indefinitely. ●
Leather International /
www.leathermag.com
Dragana Gordic/
Shutterstock.com
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