'I feel lucky to be around': Saskatoon shoe store celebrates 40 years on Broadway
For 40 years, Saskatchewan residents have been bringing their shoes into Broadway Shoe Repair for a fix or in search of a new pair of shoes.
“I’ve been coming here, oh god, 15 or 20 years," said Ken Chomyn.
As one of the few remaining shoe repair shops in the city, the store is busy. But not too busy for owner Jeff Wickstrom to do a quick fix on an old customer’s shoe.
“Here’s the problem, here’s the fixing,” said Chomyn. “Don’t need to waste a bunch of energy, of time.”
Wickstrom grew up in his father’s store, in the original location next door.
He spent his high school working in the back and eventually became manager.
“We didn’t live in this neighbourhood, but we definitely grew up here,” said David Wickstrom. “I didn’t know what any of the machines were, but you’d just look at everything and it had that smell of the glue and the leather and everything.”
In 2011, Jeffrey bought the store from his father, Allan. Over the years, he’s continued to build the relationships his dad formed and made new ones.
“He’s like, I remember seeing that person grow up, and every time they walked past the window, they were a foot taller,” Wickstrom told CTV News. “And I’ve seen those stories myself because, in 12 years, some of those kids are almost in high school that I saw being pushed in a stroller.”
Over the years, a key to the store’s success has been a combination of repair and retail. During the pandemic, having an online presence kept them in business.
“I feel lucky to be around,” he said. “I think having the mixture of retail and repair stores carried us. But there’s so few repair shops that were so busy. Sometimes we have to turn people away, we just can’t keep up.”
Another key is selling a good product.
“I’m pretty particular about the stuff we carry,” said Wickstrom. “It’s got to be well built, last long, and if it’s repairable, that’s even better.”
Another key is service.
Wickstrom tells the story of a time his father talked a woman out of the sale of a new pair of boots.
She was in town for a funeral and her old ones were worn and dirty.
While she looked at new boots, Wickstrom took her old ones into the back, cleaned, polished and dyed them, and brought them out to her looking good as new.
But of all the repair jobs over the years, one sticks out for the owner.
“This guy came in and put three boxes on the table and says, I’m with the Beyoncé tour, I need these fixed,” he said. “So I had to fix them very fast, and I ended up getting tickets to the show.”
To celebrate 40 years in business, the store is going back to 1983 with some vintage artifacts and a special gift for the first 40 customers on Saturday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.