CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
A recent report by Australian’s Fashion Alliance of Retailers, Consultants, Creatives, Inventory and Textilers (AFARCCIT) has found that the trusted Cobbler inside your local train station has not changed one aspect of his business in 50 years.
He still prefers cash for every transaction, and his shopfront is situated perfectly between three different ATMs in the arcade. However, if this is not possible for customers, he also has some weird bank transfer option – according to the faded BSB and Account Number details on the corkboard behind his head.
On top of this, his prices haven’t really changed at all. And neither has his wildly inconsistent timelines. For instance, the turn-around for a simple re-heeling or re-soling of leather dress boots could take either 12 hours or 12 days – depending on how much he cares about the job.
However, any inconvenience that might come from the local cobbler’s unorthodox practice is heavily outweighed by the quality of work.
In a world of unbridled consumerism, this kind of craftsmanship is becoming harder to find. The train station cobbler can also cut any key you give them, and depending on how well you know each other, he might even help out with one of those keys that are not meant to be replicated.
Not only are these elderly Mediterranean gentlemen the last of their kind when it comes to the endangered art of shoe repair – but they also are the last type of old man that can get away with randomly telling women how beautiful they look.
The report has found that this particular brand of small business is also the last type of workplace that allows the smoking of cigarettes indoors.
Security guards, council representatives and even the police are all expected to look away while the train station cobbler lights a durry and begins puffing away while hammering in shoes nail to the bottom of some corporate footwear.
While the nostalgic aroma of grey-market tobacco makes for a refreshing customer experience, the most endearing feature of a trip to the train station cobbler is the profoundly emotive conversations about modern history, ancient history, international politics and rugby league football. This exciting departure from political correctness can only be topped by the input of another elderly ethnic man who is neither a colleague or customer, but is simply loitering next to the shop to smoke cigarettes and laugh at everything the cobbler says.
