Beaufort’s last cobbler finds divine purpose in fixing shoes. ‘It’s an art’
Sparks fly as Stephen Mobley presses the uneven heel of a woman’s dress shoe to a “finishing machine” to refine the shoe’s edges. At a “shoe jack,” where a man’s dress shoe is positioned upside down, he uses a blade to remove the worn-out sole.
In an age of easy online shopping and countless shoe stores, some Beaufort residents still prefer to recycle their footwear. When they do, they turn to Mobley, the city’s well-known cobbler who sees fixing shoes as a gift from God and an art form.
Donned in a purple shop coat, he operates on worn shoe heels, torn stitches, broken zippers — any number of age-related issues. He hammers, plies, cuts, glues, grinds and stretches to restore shoes so they can live another day.
“It’s an art,” Mobley says of his craft. “Just like anything else.”
Couple is community pillar
Mobley and his wife, Mary, have been married for 64 years. They’ve been running Mobley’s Shoe Repair, the last remaining shoe repair business in Beaufort, for about as long.
Working together, the couple has become a pillar of Beaufort, serving generations of residents. The Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce recently honored the Mobleys for their dedication to craftsmanship and customer service. The trusted fixtures in the community opened the shop in 1962.
Local patrons who walk through the door at Jericho Road off Parris Island Gateway are treated like kings and queens, and those who need a prayer will get one along with repaired shoes.
“I can fix it,” Mobley quickly tells Jackie Young of Beaufort, after she pulls dress shoes from a bag and places them on the counter.
“I hate to throw away my nice shoes,” Young says on why she frequents the business.
Customers come from all over
Two big old-timey looking shoes are displayed on the front of the building.
Customers will stick with you if you’re honest and do quality work, Mobley says.
Shoes of all sorts — dress and casual shoes, boots, tennis shoes — sit on chairs and shelves and in boxes, waiting to receive a new lease on life thanks to Mobley’s nimble fingers.
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In Beaufort, Mobely’s skills fixing shoes are well known. But customers seek him out from as far away as New York and Connecticut.
Mobley points out a box of boots. They’ve been sent to him from a customer living over 300 miles away in Virginia. “Once they find out what I can do ... “ he says, explaining his far-flung fans.
Just two remain
Just two cobblers remain in Beaufort County — Mobley’s Shoe Repair and Enzo’s Shoe Repair on Hilton Head Island.
Mobley wears ear plugs and a purple shop coat as he shuffles between machines and the hand tools, grinding and scraping and pausing to look down his nose to check his work.
“I’m punching holes in a lady’s shoe so she can strap it up,” he explains at one point.
He refuses to divulge his age, saying it doesn’t have anything to do with the work he does.
“He’s done over 50 pair just this week,” Mary, his wife, says on a recent Friday morning of her husband’s output.
Customers cared for
The couple often knows the customers who walk through the front door, like Denardi Singleton and Mary Tompkins.
Before Tompkins leaves, Mobley clasps her hands across the counter and prays for her.
“Without them,” Mary Mobley says of the shop’s customers, “we wouldn’t be here.”
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The walk hasn’t always been easy for the Mobleys, who are members of First African Baptist Church.
A large photograph of their son, William, is displayed on the back of a door. He died in 2010. He was 45. For many years, he had been unable to care for himself after being struck by a truck while serving in the Army. Cancer took Darlene, a daughter, in 2021. She was 57.
A gift from God
But Mobley finds joy in repairing shoes because he considers his talent a “gift from Christ.”
“Once you find out what Christ wants you to do,” he says, “you enjoy it.”
He laughs when asked how many shoes he’s repaired. Too many to count. What he does know is the quality of shoes is not what it used to be. A good pair, he says, is worth investing in.
“If you buy a good pair of shoes, they’ll last 50-60 years if you take care of them,” Mobley says.
Customers also ask that their shoes be stretched so they fit better. Zippers are fixed on purses, jackets and luggage. Mary often helps with zipper repair, in addition to keeping the books.
“We do a real full-service shop,” Mobley says.
