Lexington, KY - When it comes to repairing shoes and boots, Jim Chapman of Shoe Doc in the Eastland Shopping Center (affectionately, though not officially, referred to as Dead Man's Shoes) is laced with over 50 years of experience. When he was 10 years old, he worked in his father's shoe repair store in Georgia.
"Of course, I couldn't do much but sweep and take out trash then," Chapman said, "but I watched him wait on customers and listened to what he told them."
Specializing in anything from heels to zipper repair on riding boots, Chapman also sees a lot of footwear come in that's been the victim of naughty puppies - he says sometimes he can fix them, but he definitely doesn't specialize in that sort of repair.
"You'd be surprised. I've had shoes that, honest to goodness, I'd have thrown in the trash," he said. "But they've spent a hundred dollars on a pair of shoes and a pup gets a hold of them -
they don't want to let that shoe go."
In Lexington, Chapman purchased his first shoe repair store in 1982; it was on Mill Street. Through the years, he's opened four different stores, but the Eastland location is the only one now open.
"When I started on Mill Street in '82, there were 16 shoe repair shops in Lexington," he said. "You've got four today."
While many people may opt to purchase new shoes instead of repairing old ones, especially when it comes to cheap, athletic footwear, Chapman says he still sees a considerable amount of business (due to the steady workload, the turnaround time on a repair is about three weeks). He says the consistently good work he and his employees do - as well as the consistent prices - keeps customers coming back.
"To be honest, [heel repairs have] gone up a dollar and a half in the last 30 years. We got $6.50 forever. We had to go up a little on them."