"Mr. Brooks is fondly remembered by many as a man who was very generous and friendly."
Our HistoryBrooks Shoes & Repair has been in business for over 85 years. Mr. Roy Brooks established the business in 1937 starting by doing shoe repair from a lean-to at the back of his garage. He worked at the local shoe factory and was familiar with how shoes were made and therefore decided he could help people out by fixing their shoes. Since that time the store has been in six locations and has had five different owners.
|
|
Mr. Brooks is fondly remembered by many as a man who was very generous and friendly. He had a mound of shoes that he had repaired, yet he could always find your shoe/shoes in that mound! He would always give the kids a penny for the gumball machine that stood at the entrance to his store. For many years Mrs. Brooks would sit and greet customers and keep Mr. Brooks company.
Mr. Brooks relocated from his home in 1942 to a storefront at the corner of Main & Drummond Street, this is when he started selling shoes as well as doing repair. He was at that location for 2 years, and in 1944 moved half a block up the street to the former Chevy Garage site. In 1947 he moved to a larger location, which most people are probably more familiar with, at 215 E. Main Street (next to City Hall). The store remained at that location until 1994, when it relocated to 316 E. Main Street the former location of Godshall Pharmacy. The current location was purchased and moved into in 2001 by the Schoeffling’s.
Mr. Brooks relocated from his home in 1942 to a storefront at the corner of Main & Drummond Street, this is when he started selling shoes as well as doing repair. He was at that location for 2 years, and in 1944 moved half a block up the street to the former Chevy Garage site. In 1947 he moved to a larger location, which most people are probably more familiar with, at 215 E. Main Street (next to City Hall). The store remained at that location until 1994, when it relocated to 316 E. Main Street the former location of Godshall Pharmacy. The current location was purchased and moved into in 2001 by the Schoeffling’s.
|
Mr. Brooks was the sole owner of Brooks Shoes & Repair from 1937 until 1990 when he sold the business to Lewis Garms. Mr. Brooks continued to work for Mr. Garms along with Ray Bartz from Juneau who also previously owned his own shoe business there. The two of them together would repair shoes for Mr. Garms for many years to come.
|
|
The store was sold in 1999 to Keith & Jackie Schoeffling, who owned the store until 2003. At that time the store was purchased by Nick & Carol Klein who would become the new faces of Brooks Shoes & Repair until 2017.
On November 1, 2017 Gary & Katie DeJager became the latest owners of Brooks Shoes & Repair. They continue to bring in new lines of shoes and boots to keep up with current trends. In the past few years they have added Birkenstock, Brooks Running, and Keen brand shoes to the inventory.
|
|
|
They continue to employ the previous Cobbler (Dan Sallach) that comes once a week to resole shoes, add lifts, and put new heels on boots and shoes. Brooks Shoes & Repair also does many other repairs such as stitching shoes, stretching shoes, applying tuff toe to your work boots, just to name a few.
Gary and Katie are honored to be the 5th owner of Brooks Shoes and Repair and to carry on the friendly hometown tradition of Mr. Brooks. They are excited to be part of the downtown Waupun community.
|
