Dan Lentz replaces a rubber sole on a shoe at Roy’s Shoe Shop in Portland on March 6, 2025. The shop has been open for 102 years and is owned by Lentz, a second-generation cobbler, and his son Ryan Lentz. Dan’s daughter Liz Lentz works alongside them as well.
Cobbler Steve Foss of Maine Shoe Repair glues a zipper in place on a boot while working in his South Portland shop on March 6, 2025.
Dan Lentz hand-sews a sole a shoe. The shop has been open for 102 years and is owned by Lentz, a second generation cobbler, and his son Ryan Lentz. Dan’s daughter Liz Lentz works alongside them as well.
Ryan Lentz repairs a leather bag at Roy’s Shoe Shop. The shop is owned by Lentz and his father, Dan Lentz, a second generation cobbler. Ryan’s sister Liz Lentz also works with them in the shop. Ryan said he learned most of his skills on the job. “It came very naturally to me,” he said.
A Portland Press Herald article from 1974 about a shortage of cobblers hangs on the wall at Roy’s Shoe Shop in Portland.
Dan Lentz repairs a shoe in the shop on March 6, 2025.
Steve Foss of Maine Shoe Repair sews a zipper into place on a boot using his 102-year-old Singer sewing machine.
A customer enters Roy’s Shoe Shop in Portland on March 6, 2025.
Dan Lentz in his Portland shoe repair shop.
Liz Lentz works alongside her father Dan.
Shoes line the walls at Roy’s Shoe Shop in Portland.
Liz Lentz shines a boot at Roy’s Shoe Shop. Lentz said she started working in the shop shining shoes at 16. “That is how we all start, shining shoes,” she said. Dan Lantz said he remembers coming into the shop after hours with his dad, Stephen, getting a sandwich from Quality Shop across the street and shining shoes.
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