A FAMILY-owned shoe repair shop which has traded in town for 70 years is to close today – after being put out of business by trainers.
Roy’s Footwear Repairs in Burrard Street has been stitching, reheeling and resoling since September 1953 – a time when shoes which had seen better days were repaired rather than tossed in the bin.
But current proprietor Paul Journeaux said that changing footwear fashion over recent decades had made the business unsustainable.
‘People don’t wear the same footwear as years ago,’ said Paul, as he pointed out every pair of trainers that passed the shoe shop’s front door. ‘Everyone wears trainers and shoes like them – but they are irreparable. There aren’t so many proper shoes like classic brogues and expensive shoes to repair these days. I still get a fair share, but not quite enough.’
Paul (61) is resigned to the fact that trainers have taken over the shoe world, but it’s something which would have been unimaginable when his father Roy Journeaux (93) set up the business.
Having lived through the Occupation, Roy left for England where he found a job in a shoe factory.
‘Dad worked for nine months in Northampton with one of the most famous shoe manufacturers, George Webb and Sons. It was a huge factory, and it was where he learned the trade,’ said Paul.
‘When dad returned to Jersey in 1952, there were nine or ten shoe repairers in the Island but he couldn’t find a job. So, [the following year] he decided to set up on his own.’
When Paul left school he joined his father in the business in September 1978 where he learned the trade first-hand.
When Roy retired in 2015, Paul continued in the business, but recently decided it was time to close up.
Much of the shop’s general stock has largely been snapped up in the closing down sale.
However, Paul will be keeping most of the shoe-mending machinery – which dates from the 1950s through to the 1990s and is still as good as new – as well as cabinets and original display stands from companies, such as Kiwi shoe polish.
‘It wasn’t my intention to pack up at the end of the lease, in fact it was a good lease, but trade has changed over the last five years and Covid didn’t do us any favours either,’ admitted Paul. ‘When my accountant and doctor say it’s not doing me any good – it’s time to move.
‘I think I’ll miss it dreadfully and I’ve really enjoyed dealing with people, but maybe a couple of months down the line things will be different,’ he said.
‘At the moment I’m investigating all options. It is a shame but there we are, life moves on.’
