Vasilis continues on his merry way; this time he interviewed Arthur Gerakas of Speedy Shoe Repairs in Ashfield. It was Arthur’s brother-in-law, Elias Stavrou, who opened the shoe repair business in the late 1960s, and Arthur took over the shop in 1972, and Arthur’s son, Jim, has run the shop since the mid 1990s. Arthur continues working in the shop for a few hours a day, helping out Jim.
The Gerakas family has seen a lot of changes to Ashfield over forty years; they are now the last Greek-run shop, of the post War generation, left in Ashfiled, as the Greek delicatessen shut shop about seven months ago.
As Vasilis explains, ‘I call Arthur and Jim the dynamic duo; they are are great team..I also love the way the trade has passed down from one generation to the next; in this case, it is passing from Arthur to Jim’s hands, and the trade (and shop) survives to service the community.’
Source: https://www.facebook.com/SYNDESMOS-CONNECTING-PEOPLE-FROM-LESVOS-393246219501/
GREEK WORLD MEDIA 