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Soles may wear out and need to be replaced, but as they enter their seventh decade in business, Kenneth and Nancy Burks continue to adapt to changes in the retail landscape.
As owners of the oldest business in Farmers Branch, the Burkses have had a front-row seat to changes in both Farmers Branch and the shoe industry over the last 60 years.
Since they bought Messina Shoe Repair from Kenneth’s uncle in July 1964, the city’s population has tripled, Amazon has dominated retail sales and throw-away shoes have proliferated.
Though he’s 82 years old, Kenneth won’t discuss retirement. Every morning, he unlocks his door in the Farmers Branch Shopping Center and prepares for the day. A steady stream of customers drop off or pick up shoes or shop the assorted purses, jewelry and clothing options.
“He’s never been late,” Nancy said.
“Not if I can help it,” Kenneth replied.
He had a minor case of Covid this winter and stayed home 10 days and said he “about went crazy. Cleaned the pool four times a day.”
Kenneth’s uncle Louis Messina started the Farmers Branch shoe repair store in 1962, as part of a multi-generational family tradition from Sicily after Sam Messina immigrated to Dallas in 1904.
Kenneth learned the craft working for Sam’s youngest son Joe, who owned the Highland Park location when Kenneth was in high school.
Though Kenneth attended school to learn about computers from IBM, he bought the Farmers Branch store in 1964 when Louis Messina decided to test out the waters in real estate.
“I was in love with Nancy,” Kenneth said with a shrug. “I thought, ‘we’ll start making money,’” instead of waiting until I finish school.
The couple never looked back, raising their son and daughter in Farmers Branch, growing the store, carrying shoes and opening a second location in Carrollton.
“I had all the major brands of shoes. I was the first SAS North Dallas dealership,” Kenneth said.
The store was twice its current size, occupying the space where Eagle Postal Express is now.
Everyone needed their shoes repaired.
“The ladies wore high heels to work, and the men had to wear suits,” Nancy said.
Now most people wear rubber-soled shoes that can’t be fixed when they wear out. The seams are for decoration and don’t hold the shoes together.
Kenneth stocks heel caps for ladies’ heels and repairs all-leather shoes. Cowboy boots are frequent visitors for Messina Shoe Repairs because the soles can be replaced as frequently as every eight or nine months if the boots are worn daily.
He said he appreciates the improved technology in the supplies he uses but that quality leather has become more difficult to source.
“We have self-shining creams that are 100 percent better. It dries to a nice polish,” he said.
No-stitch cement means he doesn’t have to stitch soles onto uppers anymore either.
Just as cobblers have become rare, so have the machines Kenneth uses. No one repairs them, and it’s difficult to source parts. He has found one company in New York who still makes parts, and over the years Kenneth has learned to repair the machines himself.
Selling shoes became more difficult when Amazon arrived. Shoes are sold in cases of 18, Nancy said. “In one style, and if it doesn’t sell, you’re hosed.”
Nancy started selling jewelry when a consignment dealer in the 1980s decided to get out of the business and sold her his stock. She’s branched out into purses and clothes, though she said she’s thinking about reducing the amount of clothing she offers because she must carry multiple sizes.
“You have to know who your customers are. We usually have a sale going,” she said.
The shop’s clientele has changed over the years. Older customers have passed away, but young customers are finding their way not only to get their shoes repaired but to buy purses and jewelry.
“We’re getting a lot of customers from the nail shop, I think," Nancy said. "(The stores are) starting to fill back up, and we’re getting walk-by traffic.”
Gladys Work, who grew up in and still lives in Farmers Branch, said she’s gotten shoes fixed and bought capes from the Burkses.
“I like to shop in there. It’s just fun,” she said.
In 1964, Four Corners didn’t exist, and Farmers Branch’s population was exploding from 13,000 in 1960 to 27,000 in 1970.
The location where Messina Shoe Repair is located was an ice cream parlor before Louis Messina bought it, Nancy said.
“We were the only corner,” Nancy said. “There wasn’t Four Corners. The back wasn’t here, where Marshall’s Bar-B-Q is.”
Larry Laferney, a barber at Griffen’s Barbershop, which opened in October 1964 a few storefronts south of Messina Shoe Repair, said he enjoyed the holiday parties the Griffins and the Burkses had. He said everyone knew there would be a huge pot of chili at Griffins Barber Shop on Christmas, and on New Year’s Eve, the Burkses would have butter beans, ham and cornbread.
“It’s stuff like that,” he said. “The pandemic seemed like it messed everything up. We did it for so many years. We’re all getting old.”
The Burkses lived in an apartment where city hall now stands when Brookhaven College was built.
“Farmers Branch has had its ups and downs, but it is the perfect location,” Nancy said. “You can get anywhere in 25 minutes. “
As Nancy reflected on the past, uncertainty clouded her features.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do about the shoe repair,” she said. “I don’t think we could have done it without the Lord Jesus. He’s seen us through some tough times.”
Kenneth grinned. “I think if I quit, where will I get some driving-around money?”
“Kenneth could have gone into computers,” Nancy said. “I don’t know what would have happened.”
Messina Shoe Repair is located at 12895 Josey Lane, Suite 123, next to Eagle Postal Express. They carry an assortment of boots, purses, jewelry, clothing and Texas-themed items in addition repairing leather shoes and boots.
