END OF AN ERA
By: Brittany Boyd
Loudoun Times-Mirror, VA
Nov 8 2006
Stepping foot inside Arthur’s Shoe Repair shop at 17 N. King St. in
downtown Leesburg is like stepping back decades to a time when life
was slower and simpler.
A bell attached to the front door jingles as customers enter the
weathered store brimming with reminders of the past.
At the back of the shop, Hartoun "Arthur" Varoujanian, 80, moves
slowly among the vintage equipment that’s helped him repair 15 pairs
of shoes a day for the past 34 years.
In shoe-polish-streaked khaki pants, he methodically hammers a new
stud into the heel on a pair of woman’s beige pumps. The shoes are
among the last he will ever repair.
On Nov. 30, Arthur’s Shoe Repair will close its doors for good,
marking the end of an era for a neighborhood shoe store where locals
once gathered for 15-cent shoeshines, and where famous athletes have
been spotted dropping off shoes from time to time.
The space has been a shoe shop since 1920, when Sicilian immigrant
Vincenzo Raneri arrived in Leesburg by the W&OD railroad. There was
no shoe shop in town, the story goes, so he decided to open one.
Varoujanian, an Armenian immigrant from Iran, took over the shop in
1972 and changed the name to Arthur’s, an anglicized version of his
first name.
He continued with Raneri’s tradition of full-service leather repair.
But the four wooden shoeshine chairs attached to a marble platform at
the front of the store have sat empty since he took over. He also put
an end to Raneri’s tradition of making shoes and boots, even though
he’s a second generation shoemaker by training.
"It’s hard to find the real bit of America," said first-time customer
Linda Ross, eying the antique cash register and sign for "cash or
checks only."
She dropped off a Cole Haan wallet and shoe, which she’s been meaning
to have repaired for months. "There’s no cobbler in Haymarket,"
she said. "I’m so sad he’s closing."
After Nov. 30, customers will have to drive to Sterling or elsewhere
for shoe repairs. Arthur’s will be converted into office space.
Over the years, Arthur’s has seen many changes and withstood many
hardships, including the economic recession of the late 1980s, which
caused many shops in downtown Leesburg to close.
Ask Varoujanian why his shop has lasted so long, and he’ll tell you,
"Because I do good work, that’s why. If I’m no good, I no stay this
long anyway."
Varoujanian moved to Fairfax County from Tehran in the early 1970s
to make a better life for his family. He’s lived in CountrySide for
the past 21 years.
His son, an architect, lives in Cascades, and his daughter, a bank
manager, lives in New Jersey.
For a man who began working at the age of 15, you wonder what he will
do with his free time.
"I’m not going to work anyway," he said with a smile. He plans to
relax and spend time with his grandchildren.