He has had regular customers for decades and tourists have always boosted their business. Nowadays, almost no customers arrive. On a recent morning, customers who came in asked him how he was doing and wished him well.
Chris Burnett, who works in finance, took a trip to Rockefeller Center just to go to Eddie’s. Burnett, 35, used to come to the store often.
“I would bring my boss here when he was in town,” he said, adding that seeing the place so empty was shocking. “There would be eight guys lined up, and we couldn’t even get a spot at times.”
He had come to Eddie’s house because his puppy was chewing on his girlfriend’s black high-heeled shoes, hoping that if anyone could fix the pair, it would be Eddie’s. It’s true, said Burnett, who hasn’t worn dress shoes in nine months.
Ardaix, wearing a mask, bumped his elbows with the few people who passed by Rockefeller Center and used to visit his store. They told him to hold on. But the question of how long it can take remains.
As the end of the year approaches, small businesses like Eddie’s Shoe Repair are in desperate need of some help. Store owners have said they need to cancel their rent, cash assistance and more payroll protection if they want to stay open. The new stimulus bill approved by Congress may be just your last hope.
Before the coronavirus, perhaps the biggest disruption to the shoe shine business in the past decade was when more corporate office workers started wearing sneakers. But the spread of informal startup-style office attire did not stop polishing and repairing shoes from being a good way to make a living at the center, Ardaix said.
Now, that is almost impossible, and the hopeful news about the 2021 vaccine does not suppress much anxiety, as it is not yet clear when and if officers will return to the center.
Near Grand Central Station, Teodor Morcho expects workers to return soon. His shoe and shoe repair shop, Anthony’s, is producing about 5% of what it used to be. He closed the second location of his store in Manhattan after the owner demanded full rent. The only reason his downtown store is still open is because his landlord said he could pay 30% of the rent until the summer.
“Still, it’s too much,” said Morcho, 55. Now, he spends money on food, renting his apartment and shop and nothing else.
When he tried to raise prices to be able to pay the rent, customers were furious. The days are numbered in his 18-year-old store, unless something changes, he said.
Back at Eddie’s, Ardaix flipped through all the coverage his store received on Italian GQ, BBC and The New York Times. He pointed to the pictures on the wall of celebrities who have been customers at one time or another.
“We are really an institution,” he said. “GQ said it was an honor to write about me and that I am in the basement!”
“But now is not the time to talk about achievements,” said Ardaix, “because we suffer”.
