 Peter Battistoni, Vancouver Sun / HAMMERING AWAY: Ronald Nijdam says
repairing shoes is still a good, relatively recession-proof business as long as it's run
seriously.
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Quick Cobbler Ltd. owner Ronald Nijdam hit the jackpot last month in Las Vegas without
winning a dime.
Nijdam's Vancouver-based shoe repair business won six awards, including Retailer of the
Year, at the North American shoe repair industry's 36th annual Silver Cup competition.
American judges clearly could not resist clever Quick Cobbler marketing slogans like,
"When it comes to leather and rubber, we dominate."
Nijdam, 41, is a third-generation cobbler and has been in the business since he was 16.
A native of the Netherlands who came to Canada in 1984, he runs a successful, four-man
operation on Denman Street and has no plans to expand into a multi-store chain.
"I had the benefit of running eight stores at one time, for someone else, and it
was no fun," Nijdam said in an interview Monday.
"It's hard dealing with several profitable stores and one or two losing stores
that drag everything down."
He said shoe repair is still a good, relatively recession-proof business as long as you
run it as a serious business.
Quick Cobbler aims for annual revenues of $500,000 at its 1,100-square-foot Denman
Street store.
"Some operators are close to retirement and they don't care if they just work
Monday to Thursday or open at noon instead of 10 a.m.," Nijdam said.
"That hurts everyone because then customers get ticked off with shoe repair in
general and they never go back."
He said the slowing B.C. economy hasn't hurt his business as much as it has hurt
others. About 20 per cent of Quick Cobbler's revenues come from the sale of shoes and shoe
care products while 80 per cent comes from shoe repair.
"What affects us more than anything is the weather," Nijdam said. "If it
is dry and sunny for too long, business slows down a bit. If it is rainy and lousy for too
long, it slows down, too.
"Once the weather changes, people change footwear and that helps us."
He said that while shoe retailers like Payless Shoe Source now sell millions of pairs
of relatively low-priced, low quality shoes every year, there is still a demand for shoe
repair services.
"Some people who buy those kinds of shoes still want us to repair them and we can
do that," Nijdam said.
"But that's not really our main market. Many people still have to pay a decent
price for decent shoes that are worth repairing and those are the people we serve."
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