‘It’s time’: 3rd-generation cobbler closing business after 50 years [Video]

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Jim Subacz’s family has been repairing shoes for more than 100 years, but now, he says it’s time to say goodbye to the craft. It’s a decision he says was not easy to make.

“I had one little lady in here, I don’t know, three, four months ago, when she found out…she actually had to sit down and she was crying. It broke my heart,” Subacz told FOX 17.

3rd-gen cobbler says farewell to craft

3928 Portage Street has been home to Ed’s Repair Shop since 1965, when Subacz’s father bought the building. However, the family’s love for repairing shoes started even before that.

“It started with my grandfather in Poland, back in the early 1900s. He took a course there to learn the trade and escaped Poland when the war broke out, came over here,” Subacz explained.

He said, from there, the talent has been passed down from one generation to the …