Saving Soles

For almost 50 years Danny Catalfumo has been saving people's soles.

Danny is a cobbler, a shoe repairman, a profession once thought to be a dying art form which has seen a sudden resurgence in this tight economy.

"I've seen it come up from nothing getting busier and busier," said Catalfumo. "And the way things are going now, more and more people are repairing their shoes."

Catalfumo says cobbling is in his blood.

His family's been in the business for close to a hundred years.

His brother still works the store their father first opened in Brooklyn.

His daughter, Juliana helps, mind their store in West Palm Beach, Florida.

"I've been helping my dad about a year, year and a half," said Juliana, "And it's crazy busy all the time."

Over the years the cobbling Catalfumos have seen business ebb and flow.

In good times the well-heeled tend to purchase new heels, but in tougher times, they repair and re-shine.

Fran Chase, a customer from Palm Beach Gardens says in this economy, her husband would have blown a gasket if she'd replaced her $500 pair of Kate Spades slippers.

A $32 dollar repair job did the trick just fine.

"I'll still get more milage out of these shoes," said Fran, "I mean, why pick a fight with your spouse? Ha ha!"

It's not just shoes, either.

Belts, purses, wallets, all sorts of leather goods make their way through Danny Catalfumo's skillful hands which have been bent and weathered by years of hard work.

"This is what I work with," he said displaying them proudly. "This is what I get satisfaction from. Doing a shoe, and making it look right."

Some of the equipment in Danny's Shoe Repair looks like it belongs in the Smithsonian.

Big metal machines built in the 1930s and 40s.

For Catalfumo the estimated 30% jump in business is welcomed, but it wouldn't matter, he says.

He's not in it for the money.

Each day he comes to work at 4:30 in the morning, dedicated to his craft.

The number of cobbler businesses in the country is estimated to be somewhere around 7,000.

At their peak there were 120,000.

That was during the Great Depression.