LI Shoe Cobbler Who Struggled In Pandemic Sees Customers Return

RIVERHEAD, NY — A shoe cobbler in Riverhead who saw difficult days during the pandemic said that today, his shop is once again bustling.

March 20 marked 50 years that Fred Ruvolo has owned his shop, The Village Cobbler, in Riverhead. The shop, located at 149 Griffing Avenue, is a step back in time, the walls lined with shoes and dozens of styles of laces, a testament to his years of service to his clientele.

And during the pandemic, he, like so many others, struggled to stay afloat.

Penelope Moore of Shelter Island, who was touched by Ruvolo's plight and posted about his struggle on social media, reported that during a recent visit, the hometown business was one again humming.

Moore brought a harness for her dog Daisy — Daisy, a senior dog, is blind and unable to walk — for repair.

Moore said Ruvolo recognized her right away and noted that Moore's sharing of his story, as well as a post on Patch, had really sparked an uptick in business.

"I asked how business is now, and he pointed to the shelves filled with shoes and said with a big smile, 'I'm inundated,'" Moore said. "He told me how after the story appeared in Patch, a man came into the store and bought a pair of $3.50 shoelaces, handed Fred a $100 bill — and refused to accept the change. 'There are still good people in the world,'" Ruvolo told her.

Speaking with Patch Thursday, Ruvolo said things were "getting back to normal. The courts are back, people are back in Town Hall."

Having been in business for five decades, Ruvolo has weathered storms and seen ebbs and tides, but remained steadfast and devoted to his clientele.

"The customers are happy I'm here. And I'm happy — everything seems to be going really well now," Ruvolo said.

Moore first met Ruvolo when she found an old pair of boots in her basement that needed repair. Unsure of where to even find a shoemaker in today's world, she did an online search and found Ruvolo's business. She brought the boots and when she came back to retrieve them, saw that Ruvolo was sitting in the back of the shop alone, impacted by the long months of the pandemic economic shutdown.

"I said, 'So it's just you and all these shoes?' He said, 'With the pandemic and the courts closed —and sometimes winter is slower than other times of the year — I'm really hurting. I'm kind of worried.'"

Moore, who works in sales, sprang into action, taking photos of Ruvolo and posting about his plight on social media. Her post touched hearts and was shared more than 4,400 times.

Reflecting on his business, Ruvolo said he's owned the shop since he was just 19 years old. He was born in Deer Park and had begun working in shoe repair when he was just 14. When he was in college, he decided he wanted his own business and found the space in Riverhead.

The previous owner had died, he said, and the supplier didn't want to move the machines, "so he gave me the opportunity to sign a note," Ruvolo said.

Ruvolo credited his Riverhead landlord at the time, Fenimore Meyer, for giving him a chance. "He said, 'This town can use a good repairman,'" Ruvolo said. They talked about the rent and Meyer asked him if "$85 a month sounded good. I said, 'I don't know if I can afford that,' and he said, 'Make it $65 until you can afford it,'" he said.

Over the years, the business flourished with customers coming from the North and South Forks and towns across Long Island. A full-service shop, Ruvolo fixes many things besides shoes, including pocketbooks, belts, horse gear, airplane and car parts, tennis nets, trampolines, and even umbrellas.

"If I can do it and do it properly, I will," Ruvolo said. "As long as I can get a good outcome. I will only fix things worth fixing. Some people think I can fix everything but I can't."

Instead, Ruvolo evaluates whether an item can be fixed before he tells a customer he can be of service. "People work hard for their money and I work hard for mine," he said. He doesn't want customers picking up a repaired item only to have it break again right away.

His sense of integrity was instilled by his parents, said Ruvolo, who was one of seven children.
"It was the old school way of doing things," he said. "Your handshake was your bond. If you didn't have anything nice to say, you didn't say anything."

For years, customers have come back to Ruvolo for his workmanship, frequenting the type of small business that is too often fading from the proverbial landscape.

"There are generations of families," Ruvolo said. "Nothing makes you feel older than when someone says, 'My mother used to bring me here in my baby carriage.'" He laughed.

His career path has always been fulfilling, Ruvolo said. "I wake up every morning feeling pretty good," he said. "Being able to say you're in charge of your own destiny, which I have been, my whole life, is a joyful thing. When I was growing up, the American dream was that you would be able to succeed at anything as long as you applied yourself. You weren't looking for a handout, you were looking for a hand up."

Meyer, he said, gave him that hand up. And throughout his life, Ruvolo has remembered those early life lessons.

"I try to treat people the way I like to be treated," Ruvolo said. "I start with treating people with respect and dignity."

Despite the difficult past months, Ruvolo, married for 37 years to his wife Natalie, remained hopeful. "You have to keep going, absolutely. You have to look on the bright side. Things are getting better. People are starting to get the vaccine. One of the nicest comments is when customers walk in and say, 'I feel normal again.'"

And customers who enter find a shop seemingly untouched by time. "It's like a time warp, a time bubble here," he said. "I'm the way it used to be."

As for Moore, she's was thrilled to see Ruvolo doing well. During her recent visit, as he worked on the harness, the two talked about work, ethics, and dogs, she said.

"Fred clearly has a lot of pride in his work; the customers who came into the shop —he addressed by their names," she said.

After he repaired the harness, Ruvolo told her, "This one's on me," Moore said. Although she protested, he was adamant. Tears in her voice, Moore said she told him, "You're a good man, Fred."