"HARDWORKING CLEVELAND" is WKYC's digital web-series looking for Clevelanders working hard at their careers. Are you a hardworking Clevelander? Email hardworking@wkyc.com "
CLEVELAND - In a small 8x5 closet space located in the IMG Worldwide Center Building, visible from the sidewalks of E. 9th, is a shoe repair shop with a window sign called, "Quality Shoe Repair." The owner is Donald Kilgo, a Cobbler who set up shop at this location 7 years ago. However, he isn't new to being a cobbler. Kilgo has been repairing shoes for 49 years since he learned the craft in high school.
Even with the uptick of mass-produced, low-quality shoes that contribute to the 300 million shoes that are in landfills worldwide, Kilgo still sees a good amount of Clevelanders dropping off footwear for him to repair. Each customer smiles knowing of Kilgo's hard work in his craft.
Donald Kilgo repairs all types of footwear. From heels to boots, Kilgo has repaired unique, top-dollar $5,000 shoes to sentimental $60 shoes. If the shoe is repairable, he'll bring it back to life. During WKYC's visit, Kilgo was repairing boots made from alligator skin estimated to be worth a couple thousand dollars.
At first glance, you wouldn't think Kilgo could get any work done in that 8x5 closet space. But this is the main workspace where he removes glues, presses and nails soles, trims, re-paints, re-glues, sands, and re-polishes the shoes. On the fourth floor of the IMG Worldwide Center Building, is his second office and where his equipment to patch, re-sew, re-stitch, and finish the inside and outside of the shoes are. Many of the machines that help him complete his repairs are centuries-old performing shoe repair techniques that stand the test of time.
Since his children didn't take the mantel of following in his cobbler foot steps, Kilgo is the last cobbler in his family. However he still believes "being a cobbler isn't a dying art. As long as there's shoes that need to be repaired, the art will live on."
Kilgo does wish there were more apprenticeship funds available. He has reached out to many schools to obtain sponsorship for the small percentage of students interested to learn shoe repair. So far, he hasn't been successful. Even though the education isn't there anymore, Kilgo is still willing to teach anyone wanting to learn when they stop by his small shop.
Occasionally when business is low and the clock is free, Kilgo does something to help free the time. There are only a select few homeless folks that know Kilgo by his name. When Kilgo sees them walking E.9th Street, he would have them stop in so he can repair their shoes.
"If I could help them walk another day, why not?" says Kilgo.
