Shoe repair shop in Virginia Beach working hard to shine on

Jun 11, 2023

Even though Vincent and Danita Pierce have seen a 75% drop in their business since the start of the pandemic, they continue to put one shoe in front of the other.

"Since this all started, we really haven't made a lot," Danita Pierce said. "As a matter of fact, what we used to make in a day, we make in a week. That's how bad it's gotten, but we’re still here."

The couple, who own George's Shoe Repair in the Fairfield Shopping Center in Virginia Beach, is offering $2.50 shoeshines between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. every Saturday.

"It's so slow now, especially on Saturdays, we can do it and give it back to them the same day," he said.

The Pierces bought the business in 1989, but its roots date back to the late 1930s, when George Bryant opened a shop in Norfolk's Five Points section.

In 1965, Bryant relocated it to Princess Anne Road in Virginia Beach. There were two other owners in between Bryant and the Pierces. The Pierces kept it in that same location until 2001, when they moved it to Fairfield and then in 2006 to a smaller shop where it stands now.

This isn't the first time the Pierces have offered a shoe shining service. In 2008, when the economy took a downturn, the couple offered it for free to anyone in search of work.

"I figured we could do something to help," Vincent Pierce said.

While the Pierces did receive a small loan recently through the Paycheck Protection Program, business has been a struggle.

"I think it could be that they don't think I’m open," Vincent Pierce said. "Plus people are scared, and I don't blame them."

Because the shop does saddle and tack repairs for local mounted police, George's Shoe Repair is considered an essential business.

And they are getting work from local, faithful customers.

"We’ve been here so long, a lot of these folks will bring their stuff in just to support us so we can keep the doors open," Vincent Pierce said.

Holding strong to her faith, Danita Pierce said it's been the grace of God that has kept them in business all these years. The Pierces also faced difficulties when they took over the business, and then when Danita fell ill years ago.

"That's the only thing I have to believe — that it's going to get better," Danita Pierce said. "It's always gotten better, even in the hard times that we’ve had before. This is one of the worse times, but not the first time we’ve had a hard time."

Vincent and Danita Pierce fiercely miss the day-to-day interaction with their customers, but with a smile and a shine they believe that George's Shoe Repair will continue on.

"I tell people all the time: Doing this kind of work, you’re born to do it," said Vincent Pierce who learned the trade in high school in the District of Columbia. "I got to hang in there because I can't do nothin’ else."

Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-222-5356, [email protected]

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