When Reginald Cousin started to do shoe repair in 1961 as an 18-year-old graduate of Howard High School – where he learned the trade in vocational class – downtown Chattanooga had about a dozen businesses that fixed shoes.
Last Friday, Cousin closed the sole survivor, the last downtown business of its kind, Kenton Shoe Repair, which he’s owned and operated for 31 years.
The building at 802 Broad St., where Cousin has leased space for a decade, has a new owner who plans to renovate, Cousin said. And since Cousin doesn’t want to have his business disrupted by the renovation, or find a new location, he decided a month ago to call it quits.
“The building’s been sold, and I don’t want to move again,” he said. “Me, being 73 years old, it’s time for me to retire.”
“Business has been great,” added Cousin, who has one employee, Arthur Ballinger. “I’ve got customers all the way from Monteagle to Gadsden, Ala.”