Shoeshine Businesses Disappearing in the U.S.

Shoeshine Businesses Disappearing in the U.S.

Penn Station Shoe Repair and Shoe Shine is a small shoeshining business in New York City. On a recent weekday, customers sat down at the shoeshine business and pulled out newspapers and phones to read while their shoes got shined. The shoeshiners cleaned the footwear and added an oily substance to protect the shoes' leather material. When finished, the customers paid eight dollars for the work.

A sign hanging at the little business reads, "We're not God, but we do save soles²."

Shoeshining has a long history in the United States, dating back hundreds of years. But today, the tradition of getting a quick shine is weakening³. Shoeshine stands are disappearing in cities and towns across the country.

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified⁴ the business decline⁵. More people work from home than in the past. And it has become popular to wear more casual⁶ work clothes. All this means fewer customers for shoeshining businesses.

Nisan Khaimov owns the Penn Station stand. He said his stand would shine 80 to 100 shoes each workday before the pandemic. Now it is between 30 to 50 from Tuesday to Thursday and even fewer on Mondays and Fridays. The work-from-home model that is common across America is hurting his business.

"Until people come back to work, the problems will not be solved," said Khaimov.

Rory Heenan is a 38-year-old accountant from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He said as a young boy he would take the train with his father on his way to work one Friday each month and watch him get a shoeshine.

"I would just sit here as a little guy, you know, observing," he said. "And here I am, you know, 30 years later, doing the same thing. So, it's certainly something that's passed down over time."

Across town, Jairo Cardenas is also feeling the losses. Business at Alpha Shoes Repair Corporation⁷ is down 75 percent from before the pandemic. His business used to shine 60 or 70 shoes a day. Now, on a good day, he shines shoes for 10 to 15 customers.

Shoe repairs generally bring in more money than shines. At David Mesquita's Leather Spa, which operates five shoe repair and shine businesses in the area, the repairs are the major part of its sales. But shoeshines are still an important offering to bring people in as most shoe repair businesses do not have the service.

Before the pandemic, Leather Spa had four shoeshine chairs at its business inside New York's Grand Central Terminal⁸. It employed six shoeshiners. Together, they would complete about 120 shines a day. Now, there are three shoeshiners who do 40 or 50 shines a day at most.

But Mesquita is seeing people slowly coming back. His December 2022 shoeshine numbers were up 52 percent compared with December 2021.

"Traffic is slowly coming back in, we're seeing the commuters come in and everything, but we're still not back 100 percent of what we were," Mesquita said.

He added that shoeshining is not something that will ever fully¹⁰ go away.

"People like to treat themselves," he said, "whether it's once a week or twice a week or, you know, once every two weeks. It's just nice."

Words in This Story

customer –n. one that buys a product or service

sole¹ –n. the part of a shoe on which the bottom of the foot rests.

decline –n. to become less in amount

commuter⁹ –n. to travel from home and back on a usual basis for work (often between a suburb and a city)

1 sole   

adj.惟一的；独一无二的，专用的；独占的

参考例句：

• She is my sole trust.她是我惟一信赖的人。
• My sole purpose is to help you.我唯一的目的是帮助你。

2 soles   

n.鞋底( sole的名词复数 )；有…底的 -soled；脚掌；鳎（可食用比目鱼）

参考例句：

• The soles are made of leather. 鞋底是皮革做的。
• The grit beneath her soles grated harshly on the wooden deck. 粘在她鞋底的沙砾蹭在木甲板上发出刺耳的声音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 weakening   

v.（使）削弱， （使）变弱( weaken的现在分词 )；消震

参考例句：

• The currency of that country is weakening on foreign exchanges. 那个国家的货币在外汇市场上疲软。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Bad and irregular eating was weakening every function of his body. 吃得又差又没有规律，使他身体的每一个官能都在衰退。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

4 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 decline   

n.衰微，跌落，下降；vt.使降低，婉谢；vi.下降，衰落，偏斜

参考例句：

• I must decline to show favour to any of the candidates.我必须拒绝偏袒任何一位候选人。
• The birthrate is on the decline.出生率在下降。

6 casual   

adj.漠不关心，冷漠的；随便的，非正式的；偶然的，碰巧的

参考例句：

• He earns a living by casual labour.他靠做临时工为生。
• The guests wore casual clothes.客人们穿着便服。

7 corporation   

n.公司，企业&n.社团，团体

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation. 这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• The inflation did the corporation up. 通货膨胀使这个公司破产了。

8 terminal   

n.终端机，终点，末端；adj.终点的，按期的，致死的

参考例句：

• The car has reached its terminal speed and can run faster no longer.这辆车的速度已达到了极限，不能再跑更快了。
• There's a taxi stand outside the terminal.在终点站的外面有出租车。

9 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。