You’ve found your favourite pair of leather booties. After a few years of wear, you’re starting to see seams ripping and soles looking (and feeling) a bit sad. After a few moments of silence and thanking your shoes for their service, you bin them. Your journey to find your new go-to essential becomes the next most stressful thing to do – next to finding your favourite pair of jeans, but that’s a different story.
Merchant 1948 is taking sustainable practices in the footwear industry one step further. The flagship Merchant 1948 store at Westfield Newmarket will be introducing an in-store Merchant Workshop where you can bring any shoe in store to get repaired, giving them a second life.
Steve Monks will be the on-site cobbler, with many years of craftsmanship and experience, you’ll have near-new shoes in seconds. Steve Monks has honed his craft through his work at the iconic shoe repair shop Shoe Sherrif for ten years. Don’t worry, you’ll be leaving your babies in good hands.
“The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters in the world and we’re committed to doing our piece. The next area we’re tackling is packaging and we are trialling a take-back scheme in our 277 store, where unwanted shoes can be passed forward to those in need,” said owner Shane Anselmi.
This service will be open to the public in February 2020.
