Penn Station Shoe Repair and Shoe Shine is a small shoeshining business in New York City. On a recent weekday, customers sat down at the shoeshine business and pulled out newspapers and phones to read while their shoes got shined. The shoeshiners cleaned the footwear and added an oily substance to protect the shoes’ leather material. When finished, the customers paid eight dollars for the work.
宾州车站修鞋擦鞋店是纽约市的一家小型擦鞋企业。在最近的一个工作日，顾客们坐在擦鞋店里，拿出报纸和手机阅读，同时他们的鞋子被擦亮。擦鞋匠会清洗鞋子，并添加一种油性物质来保护鞋子的皮革材料。完工后，顾客们付了8美元。
A sign hanging at the little business reads, “We’re not God, but we do save soles.”
小商店里挂着一个牌子，上面写着：“我们不是上帝，但我们确实能拯救鞋底。”
Shoeshining has a long history in the United States, dating back hundreds of years. But today, the tradition of getting a quick shine is weakening. Shoeshine stands are disappearing in cities and towns across the country.
擦鞋在美国有着悠久的历史，可以追溯到几百年前。但如今，快速擦鞋的传统正在减弱。擦鞋摊正在全国各地慢慢消失。
The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the business decline. More people work from home than in the past. And it has become popular to wear more casual work clothes. All this means fewer customers for shoeshining businesses.
疫情加剧了擦鞋业务的下滑。在家工作的人比过去多了。而且休闲的工作服也变得流行起来。所有这些都意味着擦鞋行业的顾客越来越少。
Nisan Khaimov owns the Penn Station stand. He said his stand would shine 80 to 100 shoes each workday before the pandemic. Now it is between 30 to 50 from Tuesday to Thursday and even fewer on Mondays and Fridays. The work-from-home model that is common across America is hurting his business.
尼桑·卡伊莫夫在宾州车站拥有摊位，他说在疫情爆发前，他的摊位每个工作日都要擦80到100双鞋子。现在，周二到周四是30到50双之间，周一和周五更少。在美国，普遍的居家工作模式正在损害他的生意。
“Until people come back to work, the problems will not be solved,” said Khaimov.
“除非人们回来工作，否则问题就不会得到解决。”卡伊莫夫说。
Rory Heenan is a 38-year-old accountant from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He said as a young boy he would take the train with his father on his way to work one Friday each month and watch him get a shoeshine.
38岁的罗里·希南是一名来自宾夕法尼亚州费城的会计师。他说，当他还是个小男孩的时候，每个月的一个周五，他都会和父亲一起坐火车去上班，看他擦鞋。
“I would just sit here as a little guy, you know, observing,” he said. “And here I am, you know, 30 years later, doing the same thing. So, it’s certainly something that’s passed down over time.”
“我这个小家伙只是坐在这里，观察着，”他说。“30年后，在这里，我做了同样的事。所以，擦鞋肯定是随着时间的推移而流传下来的东西。”
Across town, Jairo Cardenas is also feeling the losses. Business at Alpha Shoes Repair Corporation is down 75 percent from before the pandemic. His business used to shine 60 or 70 shoes a day. Now, on a good day, he shines shoes for 10 to 15 customers.
在城市的另一边，杰罗·卡德纳斯也感受到了损失。阿尔法修鞋公司的业务比疫情前下降了75%。过去，他一天要擦六七十双鞋。现在，运气好的时候，能擦10到15双。
Shoe repairs generally bring in more money than shines. At David Mesquita’s Leather Spa, which operates five shoe repair and shine businesses in the area, the repairs are the major part of its sales. But shoeshines are still an important offering to bring people in as most shoe repair businesses do not have the service.
修鞋通常比擦鞋赚的钱多。大卫·梅斯基塔的皮革修复中心，在该地区经营了五家修鞋擦鞋店，维修是其业务的主要部分。但擦鞋仍然是吸引顾客的重要服务，因为大多数修鞋公司都没有这项服务。
Before the pandemic, Leather Spa had four shoeshine chairs at its business inside New York’s Grand Central Terminal. It employed six shoeshiners. Together, they would complete about 120 shines a day. Now, there are three shoeshiners who do 40 or 50 shines a day at most.
疫情之前，皮革修复中心在纽约中央车站放着四把擦鞋椅，雇了六个擦鞋匠。他们每天共计可完成大约120次擦鞋业务。现在，只有三个擦鞋匠，一天最多擦四五十次。
But Mesquita is seeing people slowly coming back. His December 2022 shoeshine numbers were up 52 percent compared with December 2021.
但梅斯基塔注意到人们慢慢回来了。与2021年12月相比，他2022年12月的擦鞋业务增长了52%。
“Traffic is slowly coming back in, we’re seeing the commuters come in and everything, but we’re still not back 100 percent of what we were,” Mesquita said.
梅斯基塔说：“交通正在慢慢恢复，我们注意到通勤者开始回来上班，但仍然没有完全恢复到以前的水平。”
He added that shoeshining is not something that will ever fully go away.
他补充说，擦鞋业永远不会完全消失。
“People like to treat themselves,” he said, “whether it’s once a week or twice a week or, you know, once every two weeks. It’s just nice.”
“人们喜欢犒劳自己，”他说，“不管是一周一次，一周两次，甚至是两周一次。这种感觉就是很好。”
I’m Caty Weaver.
凯蒂·韦弗报道。
Penn Station Shoe Repair and Shoe Shine is a small shoeshining business in New York City. On a recent weekday, customers sat down at the shoeshine business and pulled out newspapers and phones to read while their shoes got shined. The shoeshiners cleaned the footwear and added an oily substance to protect the shoes’ leather material. When finished, the customers paid eight dollars for the work.
A sign hanging at the little business reads, “We’re not God, but we do save soles.”
Shoeshining has a long history in the United States, dating back hundreds of years. But today, the tradition of getting a quick shine is weakening. Shoeshine stands are disappearing in cities and towns across the country.
The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the business decline. More people work from home than in the past. And it has become popular to wear more casual work clothes. All this means fewer customers for shoeshining businesses.
Nisan Khaimov owns the Penn Station stand. He said his stand would shine 80 to 100 shoes each workday before the pandemic. Now it is between 30 to 50 from Tuesday to Thursday and even fewer on Mondays and Fridays. The work-from-home model that is common across America is hurting his business.
“Until people come back to work, the problems will not be solved,” said Khaimov.
Rory Heenan is a 38-year-old accountant from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He said as a young boy he would take the train with his father on his way to work one Friday each month and watch him get a shoeshine.
“I would just sit here as a little guy, you know, observing,” he said. “And here I am, you know, 30 years later, doing the same thing. So, it’s certainly something that’s passed down over time.”
Across town, Jairo Cardenas is also feeling the losses. Business at Alpha Shoes Repair Corporation is down 75 percent from before the pandemic. His business used to shine 60 or 70 shoes a day. Now, on a good day, he shines shoes for 10 to 15 customers.
Shoe repairs generally bring in more money than shines. At David Mesquita’s Leather Spa, which operates five shoe repair and shine businesses in the area, the repairs are the major part of its sales. But shoeshines are still an important offering to bring people in as most shoe repair businesses do not have the service.
Before the pandemic, Leather Spa had four shoeshine chairs at its business inside New York’s Grand Central Terminal. It employed six shoeshiners. Together, they would complete about 120 shines a day. Now, there are three shoeshiners who do 40 or 50 shines a day at most.
But Mesquita is seeing people slowly coming back. His December 2022 shoeshine numbers were up 52 percent compared with December 2021.
“Traffic is slowly coming back in, we’re seeing the commuters come in and everything, but we’re still not back 100 percent of what we were,” Mesquita said.
He added that shoeshining is not something that will ever fully go away.
“People like to treat themselves,” he said, “whether it’s once a week or twice a week or, you know, once every two weeks. It’s just nice.”
I’m Caty Weaver.
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Words in This Story
customer –n. one that buys a product or service
sole –n. the part of a shoe on which the bottom of the foot rests.
decline –n. to become less in amount
commuter –n. to travel from home and back on a usual basis for work (often between a suburb and a city)
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