Ayers Shoe Repairs owner Paul Ayers said there had been a big surge in the number of people bringing in old shoes to be repaired rather than throwing them out.
"I have been exceptionally busy, with currently about 100 pairs of shoes waiting to be repaired.
"There certainly has been an increase in workload. It's now taking longer to get things done. Shoes are coming in and going out all the time."
Mosgiel cobbler Ray Wilson said business had not been this brisk since the 1970s.
"I now repair on average 20 [pairs of] shoes per day. It used to be 15 or so pairs a day in the past."
His wife, Judith Wilson, said there used to be five shoe shops in Mosgiel with two doing shoe repairs, but the shops disappeared when The Warehouse, with its cheaper shoes, opened in Dunedin.
"Now, it's just Ray doing shoe repairs here [in Mosgiel]," she said.
She said the reason their business was doing well at the moment was because people were preferring to have their old shoes repaired.
Agencies around Central Otago also sent work to the shop, with 10 pairs of shoes needing repair having just arrived from Cromwell.
In Frankton, Nemo-Wardrobe employee Annie Bishop said the company was incredibly busy remodelling and revamping garments. Coats were the most popular item of clothing being altered.
"People are saving heaps by having their clothes altered instead of buying new ones. For example, it would probably cost them $25 to have a skirt taken in," she said.
Mornington Clothing Alteration owner Brian Choi said he knew business had improved because he was paying more tax this year.
- Michele Ong.
