Jul 21, 2017

Photos and text by Barbara Haddock Taylor

: Eugene Gomberg cuts a piece of denim fabric for a pocket that he’ll sew onto an animal carrier at the request of one of his customers. He is owner of ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park and has been a cobbler for 25 years. He has been awarded Baltimore’s Best cobbler many times over the years. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Irene Moses of Baltimore, left, a regular customer, observes as Eugene Gomberg, right, owner of ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park, checks to see if a pair of her sandals can be repaired. “If the shoes are dead, he’ll bring them back. He is the best. I’m not lying!” she said. Mr. Gomberg has been a cobbler for 25 years and has been awarded Baltimore’s Best cobbler many times. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Repaired shoes await customer pickup at ESG Shoe Repair. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg stretches a shoe in his shop. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg stretches a shoe in his shop. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: A woman’s shoe is on a shoe stretcher at ESG Shoe Repair. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg works on a shoe in his shop. He is owner of ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park and has been a cobbler for 25 years. He has been awarded Baltimore’s Best cobbler many times over the years. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: A sign at ESG Shoe Repair encourages customers to buy shoe trees. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg uses a machine called a finisher on a shoe in his shop. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: ESG Shoe Repair is located at 516 W. Cold Spring Lane in Roland Park. Eugene Gomberg is the owner and as been a cobbler for 25 years. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg uses a machine called a finisher on a shoe in his shop. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg, right, uses a machine called a finisher on a shoe in his shop. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg shines the new sole he’s just put on a shoe in his shop. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg positions a heel guard on a shoe in his shop. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg uses a shoe hammer to nail a heel guard onto a shoe in his shop. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg, left, looks at a shoe that customer Rick Beagle, right of Baltimore, wants to repair. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Cans of shoe polish are for sale at ESG Shoe Repair. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg, left, chats with regular customer Jim Williams, right of Baltimore, at the counter. Mr. Gomberg owns ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park and has been a cobbler for 25 years. He has been awarded Baltimore’s Best cobbler many times over the years. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Tools used for repairing shoes sit on a counter at ESG Shoe Repair. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg uses a machine called a finisher on a shoe in his shop. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg, left, and helper Leonid Boryachinsky, right, look at a pair of sandals that need to be repaired. Mr. Gomberg is owner of ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park. and has been a cobbler for 25 years. Mr. Boryachinsky, a friend, helps out when things get busy. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Shoe nails are in a metal dish at ESG Shoe Repair. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg, left, confers with regular customer Clara Carroll, right of Baltimore, at the counter. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Leonid Boryachinsky, left, and Eugene Gomberg, right, look at a pair of shoes that need repair. Mr. Gomberg is owner of ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park and has been a cobbler for 25 years. Mr. Boryachinsky, a friend, helps out in the shop when things get busy. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Lea Puliti, left of Baltimore, picks up a pair or repaired boots from Eugene Gomberg, right, owner of ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg works on a shoe in his shop. He is owner of ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park and has been a cobbler for 25 years. He has been awarded Baltimore’s Best cobbler many times over the years. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg uses a shoe hammer on a pointy-toed shoe in his shop. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg, owner of ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park, uses a knife to remove the sole of a Birkenstock sandal. He has been a cobbler for 25 years and has been awarded Baltimore’s Best cobbler many times. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Eugene Gomberg, left, and helper Leonid Boryachinsky, right, work on shoes in the shop. Mr. Gomberg is owner of ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park. and has been a cobbler for 25 years. Mr. Boryachinsky, a friend, helps out when things get busy. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: A customer looks at the new heels on her shoes at ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

: Dan Doggett, a customer from Baltimore, leaves ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park after dropping off a pair of shoes to be repaired. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/ Baltimore Sun)

“If the shoes are dead, he’ll bring them back. He is the best!” proclaims regular customer Irene Moses of Baltimore as she stood at the counter of ESG Shoe Repair in Roland Park. Owner Eugene Gomberg looked at her well-worn yellow sandals and said he’d see what he could do. In his 26 years of experience, there is usually something he can try.

Gomberg learned the craft of shoe repair under the tutelage of his father-in-law and brother-in-law in his hometown of Odessa in Ukraine. As a young man he was looking for a career after serving in the military, and he knew he liked working with his hands.

When he and his wife Svetlana moved to the United States in 1992, he used his life’s savings of $3000 to buy a car so that he could drive to work, honing his craft in shoe repair shops owned by others. Over the next two years, He saved enough money to buy the equipment to open his own shop.

Since then he’s replaced soles, fixed heels, stretched, sewed, glued, dyed and mended thousands of pairs of shoes, along with restoring and repairing handbags. A steady stream of regular customers keeps the shop busy. Sometimes they’ll drop off shoes and forget to pick them up. “If my regular customers can’t find their shoes at home they call me. ‘Are my shoes in the store?’” he laughs. Gomberg will check his log book and see that they’ve been ready for months.

2 Comments

Lisa Simeone
Jul 22, 2017 @ 06:31:14

Eugene is the best! So glad to see him get his due in this photo feature.

susie in the country
Jul 21, 2017 @ 12:18:59

great to see these kind of stories! keep up the great work Mr. Gomberg:)

Roland Park cobbler wants to save your sole

2 Comments

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