meeting room
Sole Man
Putting More Miles on Eastsider’s Shoes
BY YEKTA AARABI \\ PHOTO BY RACHEL COWARD
S
cott Hays might not look like
the kind of guy who knows
a lot about designer shoes,
but he probably knows more about
Christian Louboutin heels than Kim
Kardashian. Hays owns Totem Lake
Shoe Repair in Kirkland, which is
more than an average shoe repair
shop — it’s a place where customers
go to give their favorite shoes a
second or third life. It’s small,
busy and popular with department
stores, too.
Hays appreciates his craft and
says every shoe holds stories,
and memories.
“Some of my customers have
jokingly said that they love their
shoes more than their spouse.”
Enter the small shop and smell
the sweet scent of cement and
rubber contorted. Shoes sit in
queue ready to be repaired; each
pair has its own personality. Sexy
Louboutin heels (likely sipping a
Cosmo) are side-by-side with a
hot pair of Ferragamo booties that
probably spent many previous days
at the office. A pair of riding boots
just entered the mix — they may
have neighed.
And there’s that one mysterious
customer — the traveling storyteller.
He finds himself at Hays’ store every
now and again after an adventure
around the globe. He sits there
waiting for the soles to be replaced
on his favorite hiking boots that
“Some of my
customers have
jokingly said that
they love their
shoes more than
their spouse.”
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have been just about everywhere,
Hays explains. The traveler always
asks for the old soles back so that
he can write a story and date on the
bottom, to document his adventures.
“His mom keeps a box full of all his
adventures for him, as his life story,”
Hays says.
It was luck that Hays started
fixing shoes. He studied business
administration in college and loved
working with his hands as much as
he did with people. The simple toss
of a coin gave him his fate: Would
he go to Portland or Seattle? The
Longview native landed in Seattle,
where he became a cobbler in
1989 and eventually, after working
at a few shops in Seattle and the
Eastside, bought his own shop
in 2000. His team includes his
daughter Michelle; son-in-law Elliot;
and Cary, who originally owned the
store back in 1976. Hayes says he
will one day be the shoe king, “just
wait and see.”
Hays is the behind-the-scenes
guy who fixes shoes for Nordstrom
in Bellevue and Alderwood,
Beth West Western Shoes, the
Washington State Patrol, Red Wing
Shoes in Bellevue and Tukwila, and
the Fifth Avenue Theatre.
Cheryl Shandera, the office
manager at Beth West Western
Shoes, says Hays knows his craft.
“Everyone seems to be happy with
his work, and his prices are really
good. He’s one of the nicest guys
ever, and he does a lot of the work
that most people don’t.” Alan
Moulds, a sales associate at Red
Wing Shoes in Bellevue, agrees.
“He’s very accommodating.”
This is the place you want to take
your shoes that others have said
they can’t fix. No job is too small or
too big for Hays’ team — they like a
good challenge. Some of the shoes
they have fixed seemed
beyond repair.
You won’t see advertising — all
of their business comes from one
source: word-of-mouth.
They also repair something
else some women love more than
their spouses — handbags. And
motorcycle shoes, braces used by
people with disabilities, vintage
shoes, horse gear, cleats, various
sporting equipment and more.
It seems like no project fazes
Hays and his team. He’s repaired
everything from alligator shoes
(with eyes intact) to a pair of
$4,000 Pradas. They say breaking
up is hard to do, and when it comes
to people and their favorite pair
of shoes, Hays is all about keeping
hearts and soles happy.
Totem Lake Shoe Repair
12553 116th Ave. N.E.
totemlakeshoerepair.com
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