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A surge of solidarity for a struggling profession: shoemakers. They are ten times less numerous than 50 years ago. In the Médoc, in Gironde, one of them launched a call for help to cope with their difficulties.
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Jean-Michel Carpentey has been repeating the same gesture for almost 20 years. The Médoc shoemaker remains focused on his machines. And yet, he knows that this artisanal know-how risks disappearing, because his activity has slowed down significantly.. “In 2006, there were a little over 50 pairs per day. I ended up with 20 pairs per week. It was very, very complicated”indicates Jean-Michel Carpentey, shoemaker in Lesparre-Médoc (Gironde).
With 14,000 euros of debt, he has been in receivership for a year. So, to get by, he launched a fundraiser on the Internet: “Save the last shoemaker in Médoc”. More than 8,400 euros were collected on the evening of Sunday, November 2, with many messages of support. The village’s customers are attached to their shoemaker. “It’s useful, we have to keep it above all”proclaims a regular customer. “I was a craftsman too, so I know what it’s like. It’s hard, it’s not easy”sues a second customer.
To explain these difficulties, the shoemaker evokes a new way of consuming shoes. Some sites display, for example, pairs for 17 euros or even 12 euros, while repairing a pair in your store can cost 25 euros or more. “We prefer to buy a pair again than have them repaired”, deplores Jean-Michel Carpentey.
We are far from the essential profession of the 70s. At the time, there was almost one shoe repair shop per neighborhood, 40,000. Then it went downhill: 9,000 in the 80s and finally only 3,500 today. “Repair turnover is in steady decline. And diversifying into what we call multi-service makes it possible to supplement turnover”indicates Jean-Pierre Verneau, president of the French Federation of Multi-Service Shoe Repair.
So much so that 8 out of 10 shoemakers are diversifying to get by. Like in a shop in Puteaux (Hauts-de-Seine), where the boss offers other services than shoe repair. “We are also diversifying with keys, stamps, car license plates“, illustrates Ludovic Letaleur, shoemaker. This represents 40% of his turnover and allows for the loyalty of new customers. A diversification that has become essential for an entire profession.
