Some mornings David Journo is up as early as five o’clock getting ready to come into his studio boutique to fix whatever his customers hold dear. That goes for worn shoes, torn jackets, broken bags and the like. He took over his father’s shoe-mending shop in the late ’90s and has been steady at work ever since.
The front end of the repair shop is small in perimeter yet spacious compared to the back workshop area, which is teeming with metal tools and blades, machines, mechanical equipment, stands, racks and lots of client stock waiting like Corduroy bear to be mended. Parcels containing shoes are stacked on shelves against a wall, ready to be enthusiastically opened and examined.
“The customer will bring in a beat-up pair of shoes, leather rotting with holes, but upon pickup, they will inspect every inch with a magnifying glass to spot flaws,” says David, expressing a subtle pride in his ability to measure up to the high standards of his expectant clientele, who rely on him for repair miracles.
Le cordonnier devait réparer deux paires de bottes (couture et coller la semelle) ainsi que les nettoyer. Il a fait un trou sur lune des bottes et affirme que ce nest pas de sa faute (il a mis après-coup une pièce de tissu à lintérieur). Il y a des traces de colle sur les bottes et le nettoyage laisse à désirer. Jai demandé un remboursement partiel car jai très insatisfaite du service rendu (de façon très polie) et il a refusé, en disant que si je suis insatisfaite, de ne pas revenir.
