BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Back in February the Big Shoe Repair, a well-known store due to its unique design, was hit by a vehicle causing damage to the building.
Felipe Torres, the owner of the Big Shoe Repair, back in February, said he was concerned that he would shut down his store temporarily to have things fixed, but just two weeks ago, repairs were completed.
“Until people start seeing when they are repairing it, people started coming back, and they said oh I thought you guys were closed, no we never closed, but that’s how it looked like,” said owner of Big Shoe Repair Felipe Torres.
Felipe Torres says the major repairs that were done included where the car crashed, and getting a new door, but Torres says his customers and others helped in the process.
“Faithful customers came back. They helped me, they gave me a little donation. Few customers, Few people that are not even customers they came, helped me, and I’m very thankful for that,” said Torres.
Torres says that while the donations helped him, others thought the store was closed, which impacted business. Now months later, he’s happy that things are getting back to normal.
“They came, they told me you know what I saw you on the news, I seen the shoe, and I know it’s going to hurt you because people are going to go someplace else, and they just think it’s going to be closed down because of the wreck it was huge,” said Torres.
Torres says he is worried that another accident could happen again and he would like to find a way to install a barrier in front of the store to protect it.
“The poles they go in the corner like four or five right there, so in case this happens again, don’t come running into the shoe, stop them right there, but I don't know, I don't know if it’s possible to do that,” said Torres.
The Big Shoe Repair store was built in 1947, and Torres has been running it since 2002. He says he does not plan to retire anytime soon because repairing shoes is his passion.
“This is my life. I have been doing this since I was about 12 years old and that’s not the only thing that I know how to do, but this is what is my, what I feel.”
Torres says the only repair that was unable to be fixed was the shoelaces on the outside of the building because he could not find laces in a size 380.
