The Country Cobbler in the Dunedin suburb of Mornington is set to close unless Greg Fox can find a buyer for the shop (file picture). Photo: 123RF
A Dunedin cobbler is counting down the days to when he hangs up his tools one last time.
Greg Fox has been repairing shoes, bags, belts and even motorcycle leathers at Country Cobbler in Dunedin's Mornington for the past 25 years.
He has been looking for a buyer for his business and also hoping the owners of the mountain of unclaimed shoes make it back to collect them in time before his door closes.
"The plan is if I can't sell it I'll just pack up and take everything home with me, and that's the sort of finish really of the Country Cobbler."
Fox said he was closing the business because he was 67 and wanted to retire to spend more time with his grandchildren and do some travelling.
Dunedin cobbler counting down to retirement
"Time to go, time to go and enjoy you know the rest of what we've got left and enjoy life."
There were still a few other cobblers in Dunedin, he said.
"It's a dying breed really, there used to be a lot of us years ago but now there's only about three [cobblers in Dunedin] I can count."
One pair of boots belonging to a woman named Talia had been waiting to be collected from the shop for about four years, he said.
He had tried to contact her several times to no avail, but Talia got in touch after spotting an Otago Daily Times story about the shop on the internet, he said.
"Talia contacted us and she's coming in next Wednesday to pick her boots up so it's a good ending to the story."
The boots are knee-high and Talia told Fox she had bought them at an op shop and brought them in to get the heels done.
Anyone who bought the shop would not necessarily have to be experienced from the get-go, he said.
Someone who got a bit of tuition, had steady hands and good eyesight would be able to pick up some of the basic skills reasonably easily, he said.
"If someone had an interest in having a little shop, and they weren't quite sure what to do, you could learn some of the basics you know, it would take a couple of weeks of practice and that and you could sort of offer a limited service, I mean sewing and things like that are a wee bit more involved."