Are you one of those people who just can’t let your favourite pair of hiking boots go, no matter how battered and broken down they’ve become?
Or, maybe you’re finding your climbing shoes have worn to the point they’ve lost their Spiderman sensitivity – or you’re someone who truly believes in the three Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle).
Should you fall into any of the above categories, there is good news thanks to Kumpfy Shoes and Repair.
Kumpfy is one of those businesses which started as many small operations do – as a hobby, first and foremost. But hobby work, combined with a serendipitous meeting with a mentor, has now evolved and grown into a full-time operation.
It was in 2002 that long-time postie Karel Kumpfmuller (as in Kumpfy) first decided he needed to repair some of his climbing shoes. Luckily a friend’s father, Alberto Mazzucchi, taught him how.
“Unfortunately, he’s passed now,” said Kumpfmuller, “but he was very important to my getting started. He showed me how to do it and I’ve kept it going.”
Kumpfmuller repaired his shoes and, when word got out that he could do so, friends and family started bringing him shoes and Birkenstocks that required repair.
Those first outings, Kumpfmuller admits, required little more than “a Black and Decker belt sander, glue and some new rubber.”
Still, with practice came a level of expertise and he began to look more seriously into the trade, for post post office work.
Kumpfmuller went so far as to approach businesses in Calgary, looking to apprentice and even pay for the training – to no avail.
One day, though, Kumpfmuller walked into Woodbine Shoe Repair in Calgary, “and I talked to a lady there and said ‘I’d like to apprentice.’ She called her husband George out and he said, ‘yes,’ then said, ‘and why don’t you buy it?’ ”
As it turns out, after 30 years George Katayens was looking to retire in a couple of weeks and, because his shoe store was having plumbing problems, he and his wife Maria were preparing to wind down and close the business. Kumpfmuller had to decide three days later.
“It was absolutely serendipitous,” said Kumpfmuller’s wife and partner Wendy Walker. “We moved all the stuff from their store into my brother’s garage in Calgary, and my mom’s basement. It filled the whole garage and we thought, Holy crap, what have we done?”
Some of the equipment included massively heavy mid-1940s stitchers, a sewing machine and a massive grinder/polisher/buffer.
Since that May of 2015, Kumpfmuller and Walker have moved all the shoe repair equipment, and much of 35 years of George and Maria’s stuff, to another garage in Canmore by October, where they started doing some work.
In April 2016, they relocated everything to their current site, #106, 180 Kananaskis Way. The site was at one time a laundry area for Montane Village and part of an Athletic Evolution gym. After dealing with sewage and flooring issues, Kumpfy took over, with official greeter Sunshine (border collie) making customers happy until her passing late in 2016.
Also added are retail sales of products such as Red Wing and Wolverine shoes and boots and Red Chili and Mad Rock climbing shoes, among others.
Not surprisingly, Kumpfy Shoes and Repairs sells only products which can also be repaired at the shop, when necessary.
The shop now features the very latest in shoes, throwback machinery and everything in between, from Vibram soles to glues, snaps, thread, 5.10 rubber, leather, polishes and rivets.
Today, George, a master cobbler who got his start in Italy, and Maria continue to lend a hand with knowledge and further training (Kumpfmuller’s mom remembered working with George at the downtown Calgary Bay 30 years ago), particularly when a difficult repair is needed.
Which is just as well, said Walker. “We’ve had all kinds of crazy stuff come in. We’ve had skates, motorcycle chaps, ski boots, gear bags, climbing shoes, winter boots, sandals, a leather chair slipcover, work boots, goggles; all kinds of things.
“I’ve gone from the non-profit sports business to this and I’m learning all along. It’s refreshing and the longer I’m away from non-profit the more I’m enjoying it. Owning your own business is so different that working in non-profit and taking orders from a volunteer group.
“And it fits in with people wanting to fix or repair items, instead of just throwing them out. A woman brought in a pair of boots to be repaired the other day and she said, ‘I think we all need to get on the bandwagon and fix things instead of throwing them away. We like that.”
By combining new shoes and the repair of shoes, Kumpfy is also embracing a saying of George Katayens’ – “You fix shoes when the economy is bad and you sell shoes when the economy is good.”
“There are always interesting problems,” said Kumpfmuller. “Each shoe is different and can have different problems. You look at it and think, Oh my, what am I going to do with this? It sometimes needs a lot of creativity.”
As word of mouth spreads, said Walker, Kumpfy now finds itself accepting shoes mailed from locations such as Saskatchewan, NWT, Ontario and B.C.
