Marco Dinero's mother always used to say, If it's good to you, it's good to fix.
People who love their shoes are glad that he listened to his mother.
Shoes take you everywhere and are part of your life, he says from his shop at the International Village on West Pender.
Customers come into his shop with shoes that have gone the distance and have huge sentimental value. If you sold them you might not get a penny but to the customer, they're priceless, he says.
Just the other day, a woman who thought her favourite pair of shoes could walk no more let out a big Wow! when she saw what Dinero had done. This is the most happy $10 I've spent in my life, she told him.
Dinero has been a cobbler for 35 years. He learned his craft from Marco Emelio. Marco, like Marco Polo an explorer trying to do the impossible. When Emelio died, Dinero vowed to honour him in the name of his own shoe repair shop. If it's doable, I do it.
He says that if people bring this article into his shop with a ladies' shoe that needs reheeling, he'll do it for $8.50.
Click here to see the full list of winners: http://www.wevancouver.com/news/247278851.html
