Sole repair is art on Academy Road
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This article was published 29/05/2024 (500 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
“I heard a long time ago that if you get into this type of work you would always have work,” Merv Chyz says about shoe repair. Chyz has always had work. For 40 years. There is no end of work.
Chyz grew up in Grandview, Man., about 45 kilometres west of Dauphin, and after graduating from high school, he got into mining for a few years. When he heard about a course in saddle and boot making in Dauphin, he signed up, fell in love with the art, and has been repairing first saddles, then shoes and boots ever since.
Chyz came to own his Academy Road shoe repair shop, The Leather Patch, 26 years ago, when his business partner, Nina Lund, noticed Academy Shoe Rebuilders and went in to see if the proprietor wanted to sell. The shop at 415 Academy had been open since 1929 and had fallen into disrepair at the time he bought it, but that did not deter Chyz. He gutted the place and renovated it but kept the vintage décor. When he and Lund took over, there were 44 shoe repair shops in Winnipeg and more in rural Manitoba. Now there are 10 in Winnipeg, and one in Winkler. People send him repair jobs from all over Manitoba.
Photo by Helen Lepp Friesen
Merv Chyz is pictured in his shop, The Leather Patch, at 415 Academy Rd.
The Leather Patch keeps more than busy repairing boots, shoes, handbags, and belts.
“We can’t keep up with two full-time and two part-time employees,” Chyz said.
Asked what he loves about the shoe repair business Chyz immediately said, “People. I love working with people all day long. You take something that looks terrible and turn it into something that looks really good. Looks like new again. People must have an artistic side to them to do this work. People are so thankful.”
He is concerned for the future of shoe repair businesses because the proprietors are all about the same age – not young anymore. Young people are just not getting into the art of shoe repair but do want footwear repaired and are loath to put shoes in the garbage. There are currently few places to learn the cobbler’s trade, which is necessary to get into the business. Chyz said that people interested in the shoe-repair business, who have some sewing experience and are willing to be trained on the job, welcome to drop off their resumes and meet him at the Leather Patch on Academy.