Their youth-Chae is 39 and Kim is 28-make them a rarity in a field that is rapidly dying out. “We try to be really nice to people: they are the ones who keep the business running.” A lot of people come back, I think a lot of them are return customers,” said Kim. “In the beginning, people were worried about two young kids taking over the business, but Soojin is a really skilled craftsman. The two put customer service and pride in quality craftsmanship at the heart of their work at ODSY. The shop also operates as a retail showcase for their handmade leather and cloth products, including aprons, bags, and wallets. They opened ODSY Workshop in March 2015, offering shoe repair, general leather and soft goods repair. Soojin Chae repairs a high-heeled shoe (Photo: ODSY Workshop) He didn’t just want to sell his business,” says Kim. “He also liked us more because we had passion for the work. “But we saw this place and fell in love with the old machines.” “At first we were joking about it-why don’t we take it over?” explains Chae. “Sometimes Soojin knew more about leather than Paul, especially in baggage repair,” says Kim.Ĭho also considered a competing offer to take over the business from a sushi chef, but in the end, Chae and Kim won out. They also drew on their own experience with making leather and cloth goods with ODSY. Over the course of the three-month apprenticeship, he passed on his knowledge and craft to Kim and Chae. Before taking over the business, they had started ODSY Workshop, making leather and cloth goods as a side project and participating in local craft shows like West Coast Craft and Renegade Craft Fair.Ĭho had been in the business for 27 years, and he was ready to retire. The two already had had an interest in craftsmanship and leather-working. Kim, a freelance illustrator ( whose work we had previously covered ), and Chae, then a manager at My Tofu House, were originally only looking for a studio for their products, but when they saw the post, they jumped at the opportunity. Like many other cobblers in the city, Cho had been looking for an apprentice for years. Cho himself had taken over the business when another cobbler, also named Paul, retired.
The space on Taraval Street has been a shoe repair shop for over 40 years. Back then, it was known as Paul’s Shoe Repair.
The two first got started in the art of cobbling when Kim saw an post on a Korean-language website from Paul Cho, the former owner of the shoe repair shop. This young Korean couple are carrying on a tradition of shoe repair and handmade products at ODSY Workshop at 1417 Taraval St. In a city that always seems to pushing towards the technological future, Soojin Chae and Yina Kim are advancing old-fashioned craftsmanship.
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