In the 49A Street with 44th Street, the shoemakers, organized one place after another, they strive to do a good job so that customers always want to return.
By: Luisa Fernanda Rodríguez
Photos: Omar Portela
The shoemakers feel happy with the locals they occupy in that street because they have gained an identity and prestige before the community.
A short and curved road, located behind the central building of Comfama and the Medellín Club (49th Street with Carrera 44), is the 'street of the shoemakers', a via that was previously the home of street inhabitants and that looked neglected by thesocial dynamics that the above entails.
During the last decade of the last century there was already a footwear renovator there, but the area was not cozy because it was insecure, because of its bad odors and look bad.However, it began to be populated little by little by different shoemakers until you achieve what it is today, a safe place and recognized for the good work of those who work there.
John Jairo López came from Cali, his hometown, to look for better opportunities in Medellín.He settled in a small store in Ayacucho, where he dedicated himself to the repair of jackets and bags, because he knew how to sew a little.He also specialized in opening holes to the straps.After 12 years of having his business, he had to leave that place for the high cost of the lease.
11 years ago, any day began to walk to find the new space and reached the characteristic Curva street, there he found a place that settled for his budget, took it with money borrowed and started almost zero with his business to repair.
“The street was very alone, there was a lot vicious, a lot crazy, a lot of gamin that slept here in the street.Then I started coming early to be able to stop them ... it arrived at 7:00 in the morning, I lifted them in a good way ... I told them not to stay in the street, that they did not consume (drugs).We started doing some cleanliness, not letting them throw garbage, ”recalls the owner of‘ El Caleño repairs ’.
At that time there was a pasture that served as a parking lot and there the buses passed to Buenos Aires."All that was crazy, he added
Enrique Bustos, owner of the Italian footwear renovator, who has been in the unique street for six years.However, he clarifies that the establishment was before another person who bought it and, in total, his premises have approximately 30 years of operation.
Over the years the municipal administration fixed the sector, the road was paved and the parking lot was eliminated;, in addition, the bus route was transferred and “this block became a paradise,” said Zapatero Bustos.
Improvement
The process to improve the environment was not in charge of the mayor's office exclusively, but of the entrepreneurs who also made their contribution.
When John Jairo López arrived at that block there was another shoe store, with almost 20 years of existence.It belonged to some gentlemen "who were friends of the liquor and the women", for which, he said, the money did not reach them and had to sell it.
From that, the Vallecaucano saw that another management could be given to the business and began to organize the methodology to manage the establishment.He acquired software for billing, shoes and other elements that carry their customers put the date and time they are taken to repair, take a photo and thus identify them easily when they must deliver the ready product.
As time passed, the comeback was thriving, so that its owner was renting more spaces in that same block, until reaching a total of six, each with its own accounting and administration, but with the same name and good service.In parallel the environment was improving.
"When I started here my dream was that this street was identified as‘ La Calle del Calzado ’, so I have been getting negotites here, more and more," said the Caleño entrepreneur.
Before the pandemic, there were nine stores in the particular curve, of which six were of one owner; however, the prolonged quarantine forced him to vacate one of these six.In all this route around 25 jobs are generated.
Every November, López and their employees, the premises unemployed, wash them, like the street and external notices.In addition, they paint them on the outside and inside and put the Christmas ornaments, ensuring that their customers' experience is always satisfactory.
A street with vocation
In Medellín there is no other way with the identity that this street has.In the center there are other points where other shoemakers perform as in Palacé, between streets 45 and 47, where there are also fighting, but there they work on the platform and not in organized premises.
In this street all kinds of stories are mixed.There are those who with some experience in this service, which can rarely be achieved in other parts of the city, sought economic independence and managed to add expertise.Enrique Bustos is one of them, because he had previously worked in a footwear renovator and got a place for sale, just as he had dreamed.
También, están Maryluz Jaramillo y su hermano (propietarios de Reparaciones M & M), quienes trabajaban en una importante fábrica de productos de cuero, pero soñaban con tener su propio negocio.
And finally, although not least, there are those who find in this route the repair solution to products that do not want to detach, whether for some romantic value or for the quality of their materials.For Juan Fernando Gómez, a young merchant in the sector, this point is his first option when he must fix a shoe.And although he does not live in the center of Medellín, he moves to the street without inconvenience due to the quality of the service.
And although the shoemakers acknowledged that the mandatory quarantowners of the premises to reopen their doors.
However, even in the most complicated moments of closures in La Candelaria, none wanted to lookand competitive prices in each establishment, which characterizes it as a reference point in commune 10.
Footwear renewal, leather dye, manufacturing shoes and bags, are the main works that are developed there.
