By Andy Furman
NKyTribune reporter
They are all gone. Well, not all – but most.
Admit it – you have looked for one – and just could not find any. In fact, they may be harder to find than a winning lottery ticket.
But there is one in Florence – and a good one, too.
Dreana and Bert Hanlin operate Hanlin Shoe Repair — 7834 US Highway 42 to be exact.
“We’ve been here 46 years,” the 68-year-old Dreana told the Northern Kentucky Tribune. “The shop was here, and we bought it.”
That was in 1979.
“Bert’s dad had a shoe repair shop in Huntington, W. Va.,” she continued. “At the time there were two repair shops for sale – one in Charleston, W. Va. and one in Florence.”
Weren’t we lucky?
Hanlin’s operates six-days-a-week and they repair shoes, do shoe dyeing, rebuilding, zipper repairing and replacing, belts, purses, and shoe shining.
“We’re just about the only ones left that do what we do,” she said. “When we started the business, there was repair shops in Newport, Covington and Florence.”
What happened?
“The owners and operators just passed away or retired,” she said.
But business is brisk at Hanlin’s.
“We have long hours, and honestly the work is constant all day long,” she said. The shop operates 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday. “We see many repeat customers, and even second-generations from local families.”
And thanks to area closures, Hanlin’s has become a regional place for repairs.
“We have people come here from as far as Bowling Green, Lexington and Louisville,” Dreana said while hubby Bert was making repairs in the back room.
“Oh,” she quickly injected, “he is stitching a new sole on a shoe. I know what he is doing just by the sound.”
Dreana said there was a shoe repair shop in nearby Lawrenceburg (Ind.) and the owner retired a year-ago.
When the shoe repair shops close – they’re gone – for good. “It’s a family business,”
she said, “you don’t go to school to learn the trade.”
She admits it is a dying business – and one day she claims there will be no such thing as shoe repairs.
“It’s not true, however,” she said, “that people do not get shoes repaired anymore. And we are not seeing less shoe repairs.”
In fact, she claims Hanlin’s repaired about 10,000 shoes last year.
“We buy claim tickets for our customers,” she said. “Last year we purchased 10,000 at one time; and they were gone in about 10-or-11 months.”
And that’s counting mail orders, too.
“Yes,” Dreana said, “we do have people mail, us their shoes.”
Why not – where else could they go?
We live in Texas now… I have thought about the store and the wonderful owners many times since we moved away. They were always so helpful and creative . I am glad to know they are still doing well.
Susan and Mer Grayson
They are artists.I took a pair of Redwings that had the soled wore,toes cut up and stitching unwound.When Handlin’s was done with them they were better than new.They are the best thing since sliced bread.