Albany cobbler set to retire

ALBANY — If one were to walk a mile in Evagelos Ekkizogloy’s shoes, he or she would most certainly end up at his shoe repair shop, Bearfoot Shoes & Repairs off Stuart Ave. The 66-year old cobbler announced he is retiring this fall from the business, leaving big shoes to fill within the community.

For more than 20 years, Ekkizogloy has been one of the few shoe repairmen within Albany, providing what he believes is a dying service.

“It’s like me, I’m not dead, but I’m old,” he said. “So that door of that little store that has been doing so beautifully is going to be closed. Nobody is going to take it over to continue. And the reason for that is, first of all, I didn’t have an apprentice over the years that hung around with me and learned so I could pass it over to them.”

Ekkizogloy noted that cobbling leaves very little room for error, and therefore must be learned in a classroom rather than on the job.

“This business is wonderful, but it’s not good to anyone that doesn’t know what they are doing,” he said.

As intricate and demanding as the job may be, Ekkizogloy still managed to teach himself the trade decades ago when he moved to America from his hometown of Hyrda, Greece.

In Greece, Ekkizogloy was drafted into the Greek navy and met his future wife, and Albany native, Marcia, while she was studying abroad. Marcia watched as the business grew, and while she’s pleased with what he was able to accomplish within the community, she’s glad for her husband to get the break he deserves.

“I am very glad (he is retiring),” she said. “I did not like seeing him working his fingers to the bone. Me, I have a desk job, so I don’t have that constant on my feet, I don’t have to interact with people every day. For me, the longer I’ve been at my job, it’s gotten easier and easier. But for Evagelos, the longer he’s been at his job, more people like him. More, more, more … and he can’t stop.”

Marcia Ekkizogloy said she’s suggested her husband cut back on his workload, but being the man of the people like he is, he finds it impossible to turn people away.

He said his connection with the community is what sustained his business for so long.

“I think being cordial, being fair and being true and being on time [are the keys to running a successful business],” he said. “If you say, ‘I’ll have your shoes done on Thursday,’ you must do everything you can to have them ready Wednesday night.”

That attention to detail when it comes to doing business, coupled with the extra steps he takes to make sure shoes look like new when they’re returned to the owner, is what has helped him garner business from Southwest Georgia to Kentucky and even as far north as Ohio.

Though Ekkizogloy is certain he will have repaired his last shoe come October, he said he isn’t opposed to passing on the craft to those interested, should the colleges in town decide it’s a skill worth offering.

To the community that has allowed him to work for himself, Ekkizogloy said he is grateful and will miss serving the people of Albany more than anything.

“People love me, and the people that come in there, every one of them — not just a few — have been the greatest people that I would ever know,” he said. “They are people who mean a whole lot to me, and I will definitely miss them.”