D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
July 2009
Sole Satisfaction
Hard times mean customers are beating a path to Escobedo Shoe & Boot Repair. Plus Walgreen's opens, Guzman's consolidates, solar cooking heats up and more business news.
"When there's just no way around it, when it's over, I just try to break it to them gently," says John Escobedo. "People get attached and do all they can to hang onto them, but sometimes you just have to let go."
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Proprietor John Escobedo at the sales counter in his shop. In the background
are boots and shoes he repaired, awaiting pick-up. |
Escobedo is not a funeral director. He's not a veterinarian who has to tell a grieving family that they finally have to let go of their cherished Fluffy or Fido.
No, he's a boot and shoe repairman who sometimes has to break the news that the pair of cowboy boots that have been cherished for years have had their last resoling job, that no amount of saddle soap and polish will bring 'em back.
The owner and founder of Escobedo Shoe & Boot Repair has been repairing footwear for 23 years, long at his business' location on East 11th Street and for the past six months from its new address at 2100 Pinos Altos Road in Silver City, across from Dunn's Nursery and Garden Shop. Escobedo says he moved to the new location because he'd bought the property years before and it better suits the business.
"I've got great exposure here," he says, gesturing out the store's big front window at the cars passing by on Pinos Altos Road. "It was a great move to make."
Escobedo learned the trade of repairing shoes, boots and saddles from hanging out with a good friend in Willcox, Arizona. His son, daughter and son-in-law help him out in the business, but mostly it's just him and the leather, he says. Well, and the morning and afternoon crews of working guys who drop in nearly every day to chew the fat and cast an eye on what Escobedo's been working on that day.
"It's a real social hour, morning and afternoon," he says with a smile.
Around the shop are tables covered with sheets of red-brown leather, saddles on stands, shelves of boots waiting to be picked up and sewing machines that look like something from a bygone era. Escobedo laughs and retrieves a book from his back room, its cover brown with age, the edges and binding nearly falling apart.
"The shoe repair industry started in World War II," Escobedo says with some degree of awe and reverence. "Look at this, right on the cover — October 1945, from the War Department." He points out with amusement a paragraph that outlines how to destroy the specialized sewing machines, lest they fall into enemy hands. He looks over his shoulder at his own war-era sewing machines, joking that "since they were designed by the War Department, they'll probably run forever."
Deep in the history of his industry, he acknowledges that the current tough economic times have given shoe repair a boost.
"Shoe and boot repair was a forgotten craft, but when people realize they could fix their boots for not even a third of the cost of replacing them, well, they realize repair is a good alternative," he says. "And with the price of gas, they're probably walking a bit more, so maybe that brings them to my door a little sooner."
Most of his customers are locals, coming back again and again. Much of his business comes from word of mouth. He's got a good stream of customers who come to his shop from parts farther away, like Safford, Ariz. He says some loyal customers who have moved away still mail their shoes and boots in for repair.
Escobedo says cowboy boots and work boots are the most common items to come in for repair, though more and more ladies are coming in with their high heels, he says. Most common repair requested? Heels and soles.
Escobedo will put new ones on your footwear, fix minor rips and tears in the leather, then polish the pair for $40 or so, turning the job around in about two days.
"Well, unless I don't like you," he adds with an impish smile. "Then I'll make you wait forever!" He laughs heartily. It's impossible to imagine this guy not liking anyone.
Escobedo describes his days in the shop as a "vacation."
"I used to shoe horses for a living, and let me tell you, that's tough!" he says. "This is a vacation every day."
His typical day is peppered with phone inquiries, some walk-in customers with boots or shoes in hand, and then hours in-between of just him and the leather — fixing boots and shoes, building saddles.
"That's a specialty of mine," he says of the saddlery, with some amount of pride. "I build 12 to 18 bronc saddles each year for the rodeo, from bare tree to finished product." That translates into something like "from the ground up," he explains.
Surprisingly, though, Escobedo says he doesn't get much boot repair business from the cowboys and bronc busters.
"They're not in town long enough," he explains. "Hey, I understand. I'm one of those, myself. But the spectators, now that's another story! They want to look good, and a lot of them come in to get their boots looking good for rodeo."
In addition to repairing and building saddles, Escobedo sells some tack and ropes for, well, roping, along with leather oils and polishes.
Asked what he loves most about his business, Escobedo replies with a smile, "All of it! I've never locked my door at the end of the day or opened it up in a bad mood."
He admits he loves the freedom of being his own boss, setting his own hours, the satisfaction of turning out a quality product and his customers.
"I work for great people," he says with a smile. "I love my customers who care about their shoes and keep me in business. After all," he adds with another smile, "they're the ones who've kept me from having to get a job for the past 23 years!"
Escobedo Shoe & Boot Repair, 2100 Pinos Altos Road, Silver City, 538-2271.
Open Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m..
Openings
Goodwill ambassadors, aka employees, from Silver City's new Walgreen's were out giving away goodie boxes to local businesses at the end of June, hoping to plant their company's name and logo firmly in the minds of medical professionals and their patients. The sweet folks handing out the cheery red boxes said the plan was for the store to have a soft opening at the end of June and to be fully open — prescription drive-thru and all — by July 1.
Seems the party never ends at Citizen's Bank in Las Cruces. The company opened the doors to its new branch at 3065 E. University Ave. late last month, welcoming patrons old and new to its drive-thru lanes and drive-up ATM, as well as all the usual banking services. The soft opening happened late last month, and the company plans a grand opening July 1, with a ribbon cutting set for July 8.
After a floor-to-rafters remodel, the Boot Barn at Mesilla Valley Mall has opened. The store used to be Corral West Ranchwear, but the Cheyenne-based company filed for bankruptcy last year. The Boot Barn has stocked its newly renovated shelves with work boots, motorcycle boots, cowboy boots and fine Western and work wear.
A Cricket dealer has opened at 304 Wyatt Dr., Suite 1, in Las Cruces, selling phones and accessories and allowing customers to pay their bills in person. Open seven days. 527-5456.
Community Connection Thrift Store has opened at 111 S. Solano Dr. A for-profit business, the store accepts donations and resells items, donating some of its profits to the Boys & Girls Club of Las Cruces. 524-2125.