18 - Wednesday, October 16 1985 - North Shore News

ends Suit. Oct. 20/85
KS the Hait and Stitch Shoppe

Arbutus

Lansdowne Patk Royal
1394-7210

Lynn Valley Centre
278-5236 922-1023 980-2913

NEWS photo Terry Pet

Paul and Corrie Simonis of Paul's Shoe Repair in Lynn Valley Centre present a bright new look to 'the- shoe repair industry.

THE SOLE of the Canadian
shoe repair industry is slowly
moving towards a much-
needed overhaul.

Spearheading this
overhau! are shoe shops such
as Paul’s Shoe Repair Ltd.
in Lynn Valley's Lynn Valiey
Centre Mal! — one of the first
shoe repair shops in the Lower
Mainland to take determined
steps into 20th Century shoe
repair technology. Outfitted
with a $60,000 Power Shoe
machine, the North Van-
couver shop cau repair in 15

-WARDAIR’S

It

per person, round trip
_ Vancouver departures, Nov. 3 - Dec. 15
return before Dec. 26/85
Balmy breezes, smiling faces,
indescribable beauty. And low
prices too. Go ahead, surrender
to. the charm of Wardair’s Hawaii

*Conditions, Limited seats for sale. 20 - 7 days prior.
Min. 1 Saturday night, Max. 30 days.

SEE YOUR

- WARDAIR HOLIDAYS TRAVEL AGENT

Atiynn Travel Ltd.

LYNN VALLEY CENTRE

$80-8301

- says,

minutes what would take the
standard cobbler an hour. _

John Simonis, whose wife
Corrie owns Paul’s, says the
Lynn Valley store is what the
Canadian cobbling industry
is coming to and where the
European cobbling industry
has been for decades.

“Canada is just so far
behind Europe in the shoe
repair business,’’ Simonis
“the Power Shoe
machine concept has been
there since 1963.”’

In Holland, where the
Power Shoe equipment is
manufactured, instant shoe
repair is more popular than
tapdancing in wooden shoes.

Shoe leather runs through
Simonis family veins.
Grandfather Simonis: spent
15 years in the trade. In ad-
dition to his wife, Simonis’s

. son Paul works at the Lynn

Valley shop, while Simonis

himself took the plunge into”

the business back in 1973,
He now sells Power Shoe
machines,

“Approximately 99 per
cent of shoe shops in
Canada are run by people
between the ages of 60 and
70,°” he says, “and these
people are very reluctant to
change. They have no desire
to invest money in $60,000
worth of modern machinery
when the last machine they

bought was probably werth.

$1,200 and the number of
years they have left in the
business is probably five at

_the most.”

But if the shoe repair
trade. is to survive in Canada
it must change, says
Simonis: ‘‘No young guy
wants to work in a poorly-lit
dump, which most shoe
shops still are."

In addition to upgrading
machinery, shoe shops must

‘move from’ the back alleys

and basement locales they
now traditionally occupy to
the modern malls and.mod- .
ern flows ofthe shoe-wear-
ing public, Simonis adds.

Paul’s represents the
bright uppers and springy
soles of the new shoe renew.
where customers can come
in, take’a load and a broken -
instep off their feet and
watch their shoes. being
digested through the con-
volutions. of modern shoe
repair machinery. —

‘Adds his father, ‘“‘When
you can go into a shoe shop
and have your shoes repaired ”
in two minutes. and watch’
the whole operation in a
brightly lit modern shoe’
shop, well, their is just no
comparison. I's a whole
new way of doing things; it’s:
the future of shoe repair.
right now.”’ :

Let’s Celebrate!

DURING OUR SPECIAL SALE, PURCHASE A’

SELECTION

OF BEAUTIFUL HALLMARK

JIGSAW PUZZLES BY SPRINGBOK AT A
GREAT 25% SAVINGS! A VARIETY OF
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SURPRISE A CHILD WITH A GIFT OF
PLUSH. OUR WIDE SELECTION HAS JUST
THE RIGHT ANIMAL FOR THE CHILD YOU
HAVE IN MIND. NOW FEATURED AT A 25%
SAVINGS. SHOP EARLY FOR BEST
SELECTION.

Hatin

Lynn FALey Cenrre

987-9702