For the month of February, we’ll visit places of classic commerce, old-school businesses that do a healthy trade, despite a changing world around them. This is our third installment of five. Check back every Wednesday for a new edition, or read some back columns.
There’s something to be said for timing. When asking around about some names for a good, old-fashioned business making it in a changing world, Joe’s Shoe Repair (5402 Magnolia, 314-578-9173) came up not once, not twice, but three different times over the course of a week, usually in the form of something like, “There’s this Italian fella, who works at at a shoe shop on The Hill...”
Sure enough, visiting there proved everything suggested about the place. Giuseppe “Joe” Campieri has been at his trade, in St. Louis alone, for 35 plus years, in a slender, packed-to-the-gills workshop near many of The Hill’s landmarks. It’s safe to say he’s a landmark himself, though he’s not likely to tell you the story, at least not in English.
He figures that about half his clientele speaks English, the other half Italian, the rest uttering a mix of the two. He’s firmly in the third camp, with a strong tilt towards the Old World. No matter the language, all customers will walk into the same small repair shop where his ancient machines churn seven days a week. While I was pretty much unable to ask him anything beyond the basics, going in with someone who needed new soles was the real way to break through any communication gap.
She presented the footwear, a pair of clogs with worn outer soles—her idea was that she wanted something simple to attach to them. He insisted that the whole sole should be cut away and fixed. There was no haggling, the negotiations ended in mere seconds. The shoes were staying, with new soles to come. Dropping in on a busy Saturday this past weekend, he asked if the shoes were desired on Monday, or Tuesday. It was decided that Monday would work. No receipt was given, no price was tendered. Instead the farewell was a simple “Okay, Monday!” and... well, that was pretty much the transaction.
Jeff Avery, a Hill resident, says that he’s been keeping a decade-old wallet alive thanks to Campieri. A gift back then, his old bi-fold wallet’s become a source of pride, with Campieri’s needles running all along the monogrammed wallet’s spine. Avery describes the experience well, waving his hands as Campieri does, noting that there’s never a price mentioned, sometimes not even a time given for pick-up. You drop your item(s) off, know that the man works at this craft every day, and in a short time you’ll have your goods finished and ready for return.
These days, any trip to a strip mall or big-box retailer reminds you that shoes are a disposable commodity, available most everywhere, for cheap. You can buy a pair of functional, everyday, knock-around shoes for $15 or $20. Of course, within a month, you’ll start to feel the wear, the tear. Two months in, you’re likely to be walking on hollowed-out shells. Time for another trip to the store!
But at Joe’s, he keeps a nice pair on the road. In addition to the Italian and American flags on his simple business card, he claims statements like “Make old look like new” and “The best shoe repair service.”
Simple, straightforward, old-school, classic.
If you need the service of Joe’s Shoe Repair, bring your worn-out kicks at drop-off. And some cash at the pick-up. Don’t call up asking about credit cards, don’t inquire about a website and, whatever you do, don’t leave your shoes for more than 30 days. Because if you do, Joe’s selling ‘em for cost—shame on you for making the man wait.
