George Gallego in the new location of his shoe repair shop on Ocean Avenue in Boynton Beach.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Steve Pike
Two days before the May 18 opening of his new shoe shop in Boynton Beach, George Gallego Jr. took a few minutes to relax and reflect. That’s not exactly his style, but Gallego had earned it.
The previous weeks had been difficult. Less than six weeks before, Gallego gave notice to his new landlord that he would move from his George’s Shoe Repair on Southeast Fourth Avenue in Delray Beach after 44 years. For weeks he couldn’t find a suitable location for the business his father, George Gallego Sr., started on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach in 1970.
And in early May, Gallego lost a friend of 45 years. He called it a “death in the family.’’
There was the mourning and the work. Always the work.
Gallego had just passed the last of his business inspections when he sat down inside the new George’s Shoe Repair location at 640 E. Ocean Ave., No. 16, in Boynton Beach. It’s a fitting locale for a shoe shop. His neighbors include a small cafe, a nail salon and a seamstress who also does dry cleaning. “Service companies. Each of them complements the shoe shop,’’ Gallego said.
It’s a new location and a new beginning, of sorts, for Gallego. He had operated the Delray shop since his father’s retirement in 2000 — and worked there alongside his brother Orlando since their days at Delray Beach Elementary School — but the Boynton Beach shop is his alone.
“I hated to leave that place after so many years,’’ said Gallego, 56. “But this one is mine. It’s my baby. My dad (who at age 81 earlier in the day completed painting the sign near the street) is still a big part, but it’s mine. We all like our own space.’’
Space, particularly of the parking variety, is something Delray Beach is running out of, so even before it officially opened, Gallego said the Boynton Beach location had drawn praise from his most loyal customers, many of whom live in the Gulf Stream and Manalapan areas, for being more convenient than the Delray Beach shop.
“In a business like mine, it’s all about reputation,’’ Gallego said. “You’re only as good as your last pair of shoes.’’
Gallego’s reputation is for two things: His leather craftsmanship with everything from motorcycle seats to saddles to belts made out of exotic animal skins; and for sometimes being a bit on the grumpy side.
Each, he admits, is an ongoing project.
“You’re married to this,’’ Gallego said as he looked around his new shop. “You breathe it. It shows in the kind of work you do.
“I’m working on the personality part,” Gallego added with a smile. “I’ve been accused of being a little rough around the edges.’’
Gallego’s work, however, is as smooth as fine leather.
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