by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Nagging heel or arch pain, a broken heel or worn out shoes can be a pain in the foot for Downtown workers, especially those always on the go.
The three-block commute to a favorite sandwich shop or walking to that coworker’s office three rooms away can be a painful experience if the dogs are barking.
But one local Downtown shop owner is in the business of correcting those shoe-related pains and flaws, and he’s been doing it all his life.
“I have the knowledge and the equipment here to do any job,” said Nelson Ruales, owner of Ortho Shoe Service on Hogan Street.
Ruales is a master shoemaker and American Board Certified Fitter who opened the Downtown shop in January.
In the time since, he’s handled over 1,000 pairs of high heels, loafers, dress shoes and more for repairs and resoling from normal wear and tear, even offering “shoe repair while you wait.”
Besides normal shoe repairs, he specializes in hand-crafting support soles for orthopedic support in a lengthier but pain-resolving process for customers.
Ruales first takes a foot impression of the achy-footed customer using a shoebox-size container filled with foam, then fills it with plaster and lets it dry.
Once the mold dries, he smoothes the replica foot using a machine and takes a rubbery plastic substance that will become the supportive arch and melds it to the plaster foot. He then peels it off and attaches the sole’s foamy cushion and bottom using a vacuum pump to seal the parts together.
Ruales performs the task on-site for under $100, and he guarantees the product to offer pain-free satisfaction for a year. Creating an orthopedic support isn’t as easy as just a simple shoe repair, though, and it usually takes several days to complete.
“He’s the best around,” said Tatyana Ivanov, a Downtown worker and frequent customer of the shop. “I was just walking by one day and noticed it. I really like him.”
It’s that Downtown walking crowd that Ruales has attracted the most thus far, but he is always looking for new clients. Currently, he said, he averages around five customers a day.
Though he doesn’t sell regular shoes, Ruales will soon offer footwear for diabetic customers from the Dr. Comfort Shoes line. Shoes with diabetic support have extra depth and shoe inserts that help with circulation and nerve problems in the foot that commonly afflict people with diabetes.
Ruales said he will have the shoes within a couple months, but he encourages Downtown workers with pain from shoes to come see him.
“If you have any kind of shoe problem, I can fix it,” he said.
Ortho Shoe Service is open Monday–Friday from 7:30 a.m.–5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m.–2 p.m. For more information, call 301-1424.