CERVONE & SON SHOES - LAST DAY THIS SAT., 10/23
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CERVONE & SON SHOES - LAST DAY THIS SAT., 10/23
Text:
Check out our final article, which appeared in the 10/20/04 edition of the
Trenton Times:
Heart and sole
Wednesday, October 20, 2004 By KAREN GREEN ALEXANDER
Staff Writer
LAWRENCE - After three generations, Cervone & Son Shoes will close its
Lawrence Road repair and sales business permanently Saturday.
It's very difficult. This place is part of me, said Timothy Cervone, who
had worked in the shop alongside his father, Frank Cervone, who died in March.
Frank Cervone's father and mother, Sophia and James Jimmy Cervone, opened
the business in 1935, Cheryl Cervone, Timothy's sister said.
Jimmy Cervone was a shoemaker, and Sophia Cervone used to pump gas outside
and was a postmistress, Cheryl Cervone said.
Frank Cervone, their oldest son, was the only one to take up his father's
craft, becoming a master shoe cobbler, the daughter said.
As demand for handmade shoes slowed, repaired shoes and anything made from
leather eventually took over the business. People used to say if Frank
couldn't fix it, it couldn't be fixed, Cheryl Cervone said proudly.
A customer still wears a pair of loafers Frank Cervone first repaired more
than 30 years ago - long after her father told him it was time to let them go,
she said.
A Landis polisher-finisher dating to the 1920s dominates the back work area
of the 1,000-square-foot shop, crowded by other shoe repair tools and supplies.
Sales of shoes, boots, laces, polishes and other products was done at the
front of the store.
As customers came in yesterday afternoon, mainly for repair work, the
daughter and son pitched the shoes.
I can sell you a pair just like that for $75, half the going price, Cheryl
Cervone told a customer who wanted a pair of loafers repaired.
The two have sold about half of the 1,800 shoes Frank Cervone had in
inventory, they said.
Timothy Cervone plans to continue selling shoes at Rice's flea market, near
New Hope.
The customer was number one, said Timothy Cervone of his father's sales
technique. There was no rush, Cheryl Cervone added. He thrived on the customer
interaction.
Among his customers was Joe DiMaggio, the Hall of Fame baseball player,
Timothy Cervone said.
I hate to see these stores disappear. The service was always great, said
shopper Josephine Sapio, a Cervone customer for 35 years.
Her husband, Frank Sapio, has lost weight and needed a new notch in his belt,
she said.
So many of the older stores are going by the wayside, lamented Frank Sapio.
There's no personal service anymore.
Years ago, one salesman would stay with you until you left the store. He'd
ask you all kinds of questions. There was the same feeling here, Frank Sapio
said.
Cheryl Cervone said that after Frank Cervone passed away, we were in such a
state of shock, but kept the business open.
There was something healing talking with customers. He really did have an
impact on the community. We were so touched by that, Cheryl Cervone said. But
neither she nor her brother could repair shoes, Cheryl Cervone said.
Timothy Cervone had worked part-time in the business for 11 years and had
assisted Frank Cervone full time after their father was in an automobile accident
five years ago. Timothy Cervone said he is trained in work such as
stretching, dyeing and polishing but not repairs.
The siblings focused on selling the inventory and at the same time tried to
find someone who could repair full time, Cheryl Cervone said.
This was his life and he treated every customer as a fellow human being,
Cervone said.
I felt compelled to do everything to sell it to continue the service. I felt
my dad would be pleased, the daughter said. Unfortunately it's a dying
art.
The daughter and son reached out to local cobblers and professional
organizations, advertised in the tri-state area and on eBay and worked with a business
broker. We really were very hopeful, the daughter said, but they found no
takers.
After the original Cervones came to the location, Lawrence Road at Pilla
Avenue, they added to the property, which is now a small strip shopping center
that was managed by Edmund Cervone, Frank Cervone's brother, until 1999, when the
family sold the entire property, Timothy Cervone said.
Sixty-nine years of history are drawing to a close, Cervone said.
My whole life since birth, it's been Cervone & Son. To see it as something
else will be a hard thing, the daughter said.
But we tried our absolute best. For whatever reason, it was not meant to be
that the legacy continue beyond my father, the daughter said.
In a way, it's a dying craft, said Robert Giaquinto, owner of R. Giaquinto
Shoe Repair on South Warren Street in Trenton.
Shops that have closed in recent years include Sam's Shoe Repair on South
Broad Street and Greco's Shoe Service, which fixed and sold shoes, on Division
Street, both Trenton.
Giaquinto's father started the business, which moved several times to
different downtown locations, in 1947. Robert Giaquinto said he bought it 24 years
ago.
No one wants to learn (the trade), and it's an expensive business to get
into, said Giaquinto. One piece of machinery can cost as much as $12,000 to
$15,000, he said.
Giaquinto makes a good living and has survived by being in a high-traffic
location and providing a mixture of services, he said. In addition to repairing
shoes, he fills prescriptions for orthopedic shoes, dyes shoes, fixes luggage,
makes keys and even sharpens knives, he said.
Giaquinto said he sold shoes for about four or five years but found keeping
the inventory was too expensive.
Cheryl Cervone, who lives in Santa Monica, Calif., and does research for a
Princeton-based money management firm, said he plans to return to her California
home next month.
Timothy Cervone said he will devote more time to his e-commerce business,
marketing products ranging from cereal to cell phones.
We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the community and the countless
wonderful customers who have helped make this the landmark it was, Cheryl
Cervone said.
The daughter and son hope customers who have not picked up shoes left for
repairs will pick them up before Saturday's closing.
Trenton Times:
Heart and sole
Wednesday, October 20, 2004 By KAREN GREEN ALEXANDER
Staff Writer
LAWRENCE - After three generations, Cervone & Son Shoes will close its
Lawrence Road repair and sales business permanently Saturday.
It's very difficult. This place is part of me, said Timothy Cervone, who
had worked in the shop alongside his father, Frank Cervone, who died in March.
Frank Cervone's father and mother, Sophia and James Jimmy Cervone, opened
the business in 1935, Cheryl Cervone, Timothy's sister said.
Jimmy Cervone was a shoemaker, and Sophia Cervone used to pump gas outside
and was a postmistress, Cheryl Cervone said.
Frank Cervone, their oldest son, was the only one to take up his father's
craft, becoming a master shoe cobbler, the daughter said.
As demand for handmade shoes slowed, repaired shoes and anything made from
leather eventually took over the business. People used to say if Frank
couldn't fix it, it couldn't be fixed, Cheryl Cervone said proudly.
A customer still wears a pair of loafers Frank Cervone first repaired more
than 30 years ago - long after her father told him it was time to let them go,
she said.
A Landis polisher-finisher dating to the 1920s dominates the back work area
of the 1,000-square-foot shop, crowded by other shoe repair tools and supplies.
Sales of shoes, boots, laces, polishes and other products was done at the
front of the store.
As customers came in yesterday afternoon, mainly for repair work, the
daughter and son pitched the shoes.
I can sell you a pair just like that for $75, half the going price, Cheryl
Cervone told a customer who wanted a pair of loafers repaired.
The two have sold about half of the 1,800 shoes Frank Cervone had in
inventory, they said.
Timothy Cervone plans to continue selling shoes at Rice's flea market, near
New Hope.
The customer was number one, said Timothy Cervone of his father's sales
technique. There was no rush, Cheryl Cervone added. He thrived on the customer
interaction.
Among his customers was Joe DiMaggio, the Hall of Fame baseball player,
Timothy Cervone said.
I hate to see these stores disappear. The service was always great, said
shopper Josephine Sapio, a Cervone customer for 35 years.
Her husband, Frank Sapio, has lost weight and needed a new notch in his belt,
she said.
So many of the older stores are going by the wayside, lamented Frank Sapio.
There's no personal service anymore.
Years ago, one salesman would stay with you until you left the store. He'd
ask you all kinds of questions. There was the same feeling here, Frank Sapio
said.
Cheryl Cervone said that after Frank Cervone passed away, we were in such a
state of shock, but kept the business open.
There was something healing talking with customers. He really did have an
impact on the community. We were so touched by that, Cheryl Cervone said. But
neither she nor her brother could repair shoes, Cheryl Cervone said.
Timothy Cervone had worked part-time in the business for 11 years and had
assisted Frank Cervone full time after their father was in an automobile accident
five years ago. Timothy Cervone said he is trained in work such as
stretching, dyeing and polishing but not repairs.
The siblings focused on selling the inventory and at the same time tried to
find someone who could repair full time, Cheryl Cervone said.
This was his life and he treated every customer as a fellow human being,
Cervone said.
I felt compelled to do everything to sell it to continue the service. I felt
my dad would be pleased, the daughter said. Unfortunately it's a dying
art.
The daughter and son reached out to local cobblers and professional
organizations, advertised in the tri-state area and on eBay and worked with a business
broker. We really were very hopeful, the daughter said, but they found no
takers.
After the original Cervones came to the location, Lawrence Road at Pilla
Avenue, they added to the property, which is now a small strip shopping center
that was managed by Edmund Cervone, Frank Cervone's brother, until 1999, when the
family sold the entire property, Timothy Cervone said.
Sixty-nine years of history are drawing to a close, Cervone said.
My whole life since birth, it's been Cervone & Son. To see it as something
else will be a hard thing, the daughter said.
But we tried our absolute best. For whatever reason, it was not meant to be
that the legacy continue beyond my father, the daughter said.
In a way, it's a dying craft, said Robert Giaquinto, owner of R. Giaquinto
Shoe Repair on South Warren Street in Trenton.
Shops that have closed in recent years include Sam's Shoe Repair on South
Broad Street and Greco's Shoe Service, which fixed and sold shoes, on Division
Street, both Trenton.
Giaquinto's father started the business, which moved several times to
different downtown locations, in 1947. Robert Giaquinto said he bought it 24 years
ago.
No one wants to learn (the trade), and it's an expensive business to get
into, said Giaquinto. One piece of machinery can cost as much as $12,000 to
$15,000, he said.
Giaquinto makes a good living and has survived by being in a high-traffic
location and providing a mixture of services, he said. In addition to repairing
shoes, he fills prescriptions for orthopedic shoes, dyes shoes, fixes luggage,
makes keys and even sharpens knives, he said.
Giaquinto said he sold shoes for about four or five years but found keeping
the inventory was too expensive.
Cheryl Cervone, who lives in Santa Monica, Calif., and does research for a
Princeton-based money management firm, said he plans to return to her California
home next month.
Timothy Cervone said he will devote more time to his e-commerce business,
marketing products ranging from cereal to cell phones.
We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the community and the countless
wonderful customers who have helped make this the landmark it was, Cheryl
Cervone said.
The daughter and son hope customers who have not picked up shoes left for
repairs will pick them up before Saturday's closing.
Citation
“CERVONE & SON SHOES - LAST DAY THIS SAT., 10/23,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 2, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/223747.
