In the last 25 years, Gilroyans have seen storefronts downtown
come and go, but one has stayed constant. Wes’ Shoe Repair, set on
Monterey Road midway between 5th and 6th streets, has provided the
city with new use for old shoes since 1982.
By Jen Penkethman Special to the Dispatch
Gilroy – In the last 25 years, Gilroyans have seen storefronts downtown come and go, but one has stayed constant. Wes’ Shoe Repair, set on Monterey Road midway between 5th and 6th streets, has provided the city with new use for old shoes since 1982. Job Camarena, the current owner, has been managing the shop for the last five years. Through that time, he has experienced the good times, and struggled through the bad times, most recently the difficulties resulting from last year’s downtown renovation.
“It was really slow, but it’s better now,” Camarena said. “I still have to make up for some bills. When you lose foot traffic, it makes it a bit of a struggle.”
The construction on Gilroy’s downtown areas began in full last February, and by April the entire area between 4th and 6th streets was closed to vehicle traffic and without a sidewalk. Orange netting around messy concrete discouraged access by foot, and Wes’ Shoe Repair has no rear entrance, so attracting business became more difficult than ever.
“It makes you work harder,” the cobbler said.
To keep business owners abreast of the changes going on, the Downtown Business Association handed out fliers and held weekly meetings. But Camarena, who runs Wes’ Shoe Repair by himself, said the meetings took place on Wednesday mornings, time he needed to spend working.
“I didn’t participate much,” said Camarena. “I’m solo, I basically do everything, and have no one to help me.”
Recently, he says, business has been picking up.
“I have to come in on my days off to pay bills, because I’m so busy,” Camarena said. “That’s a good sign.”
Camarena is carrying on the family shoe repair business. Years ago, his father, Job Senior, met a young man named Wes Stallings in Mountain View, and decided to take him into the family business. Wes Stallings was the one to branch out and set up the store in Gilroy, which opened in 1982.
However, Wes faced a battle with leukemia only six months after opening the store, one that he quickly lost. The Camarena family, still close to the remaining Stallings, decided to keep the business in its previous owner’s name.
The machines in the back room of Wes’ Shoe Repair are the ones that were originally installed in the building: industrial-strength sewing and polishing machines that look almost like something out of a 1940s catalog. Dozens of cans of shoe polish are scattered on an old workbench, while cowboy hats hang on one wall and cowboy boots line shelves along one wall. Stacked above the workbench are shoes, lined up in order of what day they’re scheduled to be finished.
While the businesses surrounding him, such as Gilroy Antiques on the left, and a Halloween supply store on his right, are targeted towards tourists and casual shoppers, Camarena’s business is one of the few service-based ones in the area.
“I think we need more support, as far as having service-oriented businesses,” Camarena said. “Customers come to me specifically to get shoes repaired, and then they can go next door to get their dress altered, or whatever. We need more businesses like this. We have a lot of restaurants, but we could use something like a dry cleaner.”
Now that construction has officially ended, downtown Gilroy has a new shine to it, and a nice bench with an accompanying streetlight grace the front of Wes’ Shoe Repair. The sidewalks are wider – 15 feet instead of 10 – and a bus stops a few feet from the front window.
Camarena says one of the built-in advantages of his spot is that the building had been made with metal rod supports, something that the other buildings in downtown Gilroy lack, and have to be retrofitted with. This is a step in the process that Camarena thinks will bring vitality back to downtown.
“Once they’re retrofitted, there will be more businesses,” said Camarena. “I think downtown is up and coming. In the future, it will be the place to be.”
