BOB FULLER NO LONGER BEHIND THE FOOTWEAR AND LEATHER REPAIR BENCH

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- The repair shop in Bob's Shoe Service, 515 Broadway, is lined with wooden drawers and cabinets containing sundry parts and maintenance items. Rows of shelving hold pairs of boots and shoes in various states of repair. A myriad of Singer and Landis sewing machines and binders are ready to mechanically stitch, fasten or revamp customers' footwear.

The main entity of the shop, and of the store, has vacated.

Bob Fuller, who started the cobbling business 38 years ago, is no longer behind the bench. Wade Fuller and Beth Schweer, son and daughter of Fuller and his wife, Betty, have taken over the reins of the business in a newly-formed partnership.

Fuller, 62, said the time was ripe to retire, but not to lull into sedateness. "I do want to rest for awhile," he said. "But I'm a workaholic. I just can't quit. I would like to try something different, something I have not done before." One of his goals is going on some creative jags in his basement woodworking shop.

Looking over his career in shoe repair and leather work in Cape Girardeau, Fuller has seen changes in the business, footwear and the customers. When he started, the Korean War was being fought, Eisenhower was fighting with politicians on Capitol Hill, and the medical field was fighting polio.

"I used to do a lot of corrective work in shoes and leather braces during the polio epidemic," Fuller recounted. "I would get a prescription from the doctor and fit the braces on the children. It was always hard for me."

"It hurt me to see the children like that. I'm too soft-hearted. And we have raised five children ourselves."

He recounts his early days in business in downtown Cape Girardeau, in the 100 block of Independence. Giboney Houck, the well-known Southeast Missouri entrepreneur, was Fuller's landlord and had his business office above the shoe repair shop. Fuller said Houck would generously overlook the rent due some months when business was slow in the early days.

Fuller has witnessed major changes in the cobbling business, in the footwear and in the customers. "There have been major changes in the shoes," he said. "They have gone from all leather to practically no leather at all anymore.

"The quality of shoe manufacturing is way down from what it used to be. Some companies are trying to make something they can market at a low price rather than keep up the quality. You'll get what you pay for." Fuller explained that domestically-produced shoes are overall better quality due to having better workmanship and higher grade leather.

But U.S. leather tanneries, which are producing better leather, are not able to compete with South American tanneries that are government subsidized, he said. The cheaper, lower quality imported leather is resulting in many domestic tanneries going out of business, he added.

Talking of fashion changes, Fuller noted that dress shoes have fallen out of favor in deference to athletic shoes, with the latter sometimes being worn incongruously with business suits.

Although the name of the business is Bob's Shoe Service, Fuller has branched out into other areas in leather work over the years. He produced custom saddles and other tack for several years. As a leather craftsman, he would get unusual requests from customers at times.

"The customers bring everything in the world in here," Fuller said. "I've worked on most everything in leather." Customers needing animal harnesses for unusual applications have come to the shop, sometimes bringing the creature with them. The late Dr. Rusby Seabaugh of Cape Girardeau would bring his hawks and falcons to the shop to be fitted for harnesses and hoods.

Fuller has also made harnesses for quails, ferrets and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs.

Looking to the future, he predicts the shoe repair business will need to continue to change, such as branching more into retail sales. "We have done more and more retail trade," Fuller commented. "You can't do as much hand work. Repair is too labor intensive. A person can only fix so many shoes and boots per day." Supplemental income from retail tends to compensate for the limited revenue from repair. He explained that raising prices for the repair work can be self-defeating if the higher costs discourage the business.

"You won't ever find a rich shoe repairman," Fuller commented. "There's not a lot of money in it." Looking back, he said he would do it over again, having appreciated the opportunity to meet all the customers over the years and to have worked with his children in the business.

"I never made a lot of money, but I'm happy," Fuller said. "I'm fortunate to have been one of few people blessed with enjoying their work."