Problems with the structure of the former building on upper Stuart St forced Ayers Shoe Repairs out of the store it had been in for a lifetime.
Ayers Shoe Repairs was started in the 1940s as E. P. Williams Ltd.
The store moved to upper Stuart St in 1955 and was taken over in 1974 by Richard Ayers, who died in 2015.
Its current owner, Paul Ayers - Richard’s son - started in the business as an apprentice in 1975 and took over the day-to-day running in 1992.
After being told the building had structural problems, Mr Ayers had only a couple weeks to find a new location.
"The short amount of time we had to get out of the shop left us scrambling a bit but it was very difficult to leave. There was a lot of history there.
"People have known that place for years, we have some very loyal customers.
"Just at that time my mother passed away so we had a funeral between being notified and moving," he said.
A few days after being notified that they had to vacate the Stuart St property, Mr Ayers secured the new shop at Cargills’ Corner in South Dunedin.
"It is going to be a bit different coming out here but there is also some history here as well," he said.
Across the road is where Richard Ayers started as an apprentice shoe repairer and next door to that is Godfreys Bakery, where Paul’s mother, Merle, worked.
"We’ve come in a big circle," he said.
Mr Ayers said the shoe repair business had come full cycle as well.
"It did die off for a few years when all the plastic stuff came in but now, as more people want to maintain better shoes, it has picked up again.
"It is seen as recycling and saving stuff instead of throwing them out straight away," he said.
The store would reopen at its new site in a couple of weeks.
