BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A car crashed into the Big Shoe Repair Store in downtown Bakersfield, and now the owner fears the worst.
For decades, the shoe repair store has been a staple in the community, but after this recent damage, owner Felipe Torres fears the business could be shut down for a long period of time as repairs are done. This makes the future of the business unclear.
"That's what the landlord told me, that they are probably going to do that, but he said some people from the insurance are going to come and look at it," said Torres. "They haven't come, so I really don't know what is going to happen."
Torres has been repairing shoes since his father taught him as a child growing up in León, Mexico more than 40 years ago. He says this is all he knows.
"My life," said Torres. "I have been doing this all my life. I haven't done anything else."
Now, Torres is dealing with the aftermath of a vehicle crashing into his shoe store, causing heavy damage to the front of the iconic, shoe-shaped building.
Torres was in another part of the store from where the vehicle crashed, and he says the impact startled him.
"Boom! That was it. Solid. Nothing like, you know when you smash something you hear noises? No, this was only one noise: Boom! That was it," said Torres. "I was scared, but I don't know why I was scared, because I didn't see the danger close to me. It was just the thinking about the what if."
A customer who had expected to be there that day to pick up some shoes, Allen Dials, says he was just as lucky.
"Maybe my angels were looking out for me. I could have been standing at the door at the time that it would be happening," said Dials. "So I was kind of relieved that I wasn't down here at that time."
Dials says he had decided to wait for a phone call from Torres rather than go to the store, and then he noticed something on social media.
"So I scrolled on my Facebook to look at the news and I saw his shop, that it got hit, and that explained why I didn't hear from him," said Dials. "But it is just coincidental it happened the day I was going to be here."
Torres says his biggest worry is the insurance company potentially shutting down his business for a long period of time to make the repairs, risking a significant loss of customers. But he says some of his customers have stepped up to help.
"They offered me donations. They gave me donations in case something happens," said Torres.
Torres says he appreciates the patience from his customers, since it's taking him longer to repair shoes due to the crash.
