After 50 Years, Bradlee Shoe Repair Closes Its Doors

PHOTO: The owners of Bradlee Shoe Repair have posted a note on their door, letting longtime customers know they are closed. Photo by Tuck Schumack, posted to Bradlee Shoe Repair Facebook page

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ALEXANDRIA, VA -- It seems to be the season of closings in Alexandria, for a variety of reasons: Rising rents, competition from online shopping, owners retiring or illness.

Another longtime business, Bradlee Shoe Repair, at 3640 King St., located at Bradlee Shopping Center, has announced that it has closed, due to an illness.

A note on the door states:

“We have closed. Thank you for over 50 years of patronage and friendship.”

A note from owner Joe Johnson adds: “It is with mixed emotions that I prepare to say farewell to my many wonderful and loyal customers, and friends.”

He stated: “It has been a privilege and a joy to be your “Shoe Doctor” for these many, many years.” Read the entire message in the photo above.

Johnson, who comes from a large family and has a large family himself, has been at the location since 1988 and in the business for even more years than that at Blue Ribbon Cleaners at Bradlee.

A message on the shoe repair’s Facebook page states that a new generation of the family may open a shoe repair shop inside the Little Dutch Girl Cleaners, at 4474 King St. in Alexandria.

For anyone who may not have had the chance to pick up a repair before the shop closed, email: shoedoc214@gmail.com.

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