Mending shoe straps, changing soles, repairing buckles? Jean-Pierre Etienette has been involved in shoe repairs for the last 15 years. He recently took over his father?s shoe-mending shop, La Cordonnerie Etienette on Thomy Pitot Street in Rose-Hill.

This trade has been running in the family from father to son since 1934, when Jean-Pierre?s grandfather opened his cobbler?s shop. His son Lewis took over from him and now it is Jean-Pierre?s turn to manage the shop. ?To start with, I used to come and help after school as a pastime,? he explains. But now he runs the shop and employs one person to help him.

?We mainly repair shoes, but also from time to time there are special orders that we can cater for.? In his old-fashioned workshop, amidst rolls of leather and shelves of soles, Régis is sitting at a table, carefully applying glue to the sole of a shoe. ?I started working here about one year ago but I have been a cobbler for nine years.? Next to him, there is a long cylinder-like machine with various types of brushes and a roll of sandpaper attached to it. ?We use this machine to sharpen our equipment, to brush and to polish the shoes,? explains Régis. They also have an old sewing machine to sew the leather parts of shoes.

Jean-Pierre recalls how, when he was a child, things were different. ?We were a much bigger firm with many more clients.? Because of the proliferation of shoeshops and imported shoes at very low prices, Jean-Pierre has had to move from creating shoes to mending them. But the great amount of packed up shoes, ready to be given back to clients, testifies to the need for a cobbler. ?We still have many clients, but I can?t really see who is going to take over after me.? He indeed believes that craftsmanship jobs are slowly disappearing.