There is no shoe too beaten, broken or busted for Levon Akopyan to take a crack at.
Malibu’s local cobbler has been in business for 24 years at European Shoe Repair in the Malibu Village shopping center, an anomaly surrounded by retail space where high-end brands often come and go with the wind.
To ask Akopyan for his secret to success is to stump him.
“There’s no secret,” he said. “You just have to treat everybody the way you like to be treated.”
Akopyan comes from a lineage of cobblers: his father and grandfather both practiced cobbling.
He picked up what he calls the “dying business” of shoe repair when he began working in his father’s Montebello shop at age 15.
“He didn’t want me to hang out at home and do nothing,” Akopyan laughed.
However, once he graduated from high school, he seemed destined for a different profession: real estate. Akopyan obtained a real estate license, tried it for two years, then decided he missed the family business.
“Shoes were my passion,” he said. “I had ruined so many, and I knew how to fix them.”
His dad helped him find the right location — he knew it wanted to be “near the beach,” and Malibu seemed like the perfect fit (pun not intended). Nearly two decades later, his 1,000-square-foot shop and repair space are always burgeoning with everything from boots, sneakers and stilettos in need of a patch here, a spruce there or an all-around makeover.
Akopyan, who is of Armenian descent, lives in Woodland Hills with his wife and two daughters, ages 10 and 13. He brings his daughters in to help out on occasion, too.
Exuberant, welcoming and patient with those who come to him for help, Akopyan has developed quite a following in Malibu. He practices cobbling under the theory of taking something apart and repairing it to match the way it was originally made.
Jack Forbes, a Malibu local who designs and sells shoes out of the Canvas store in the Civic Center, is one of Akopyan’s loyal clientele.
“We send everybody here,” Forbes said. “If a customer needs stretching, repair, anything, we always tell them, ‘Levon can do it.’”
“He’s revived a pair of shoes I bought over 13 years ago,” he added.
He even receives the occasional long-distance request, with customers shipping in products they want repaired.
“Don’t ask me how they find out. I have no idea,” he said.
Last week, a woman in the Northern California town of Larkspur sent in her favorite wallet, claiming no cobbler in her area could repair its broken zipper. Akopyan fixed it in less than an hour.
He employs two other repair specialists: Angel Calderon Lobato and Hakop Papazyan. Lobato has worked at the shop for 13 years, while Papazyan has been there five years.
But it’s not just shoes that Akopyan and his team can revive. A tour of the work area in back reveals hundreds of tattered items in need of some TLC: luggage, purses, wallets, horse saddles, leather jackets and furniture.
Despite having no secret to success, he does believe that the Malibu community makes or breaks most local businesses.
“You’re either in or you’re out,” he said. “It’s like a trend. If [customers] don’t like you, you better leave as quick as possible.”
According to longtime customer Freddy Cory, Akopyan has definitely been “in” since he set up shop.
“Levon’s very loved by this community,” Cory said. “He gives a lot of himself and goes out of his way to be of service. Plus, he’s a perfectionist.”
While locals seem to have the most say, Akopyan acknowledged a significant transformation in the type of clientele that frequents the Malibu Civic Center. He started noticing the change in 2007.
“Before you would always see the same faces, same local people. The kids would be taking ballet or going to the pet store or going to the bookstore. This was the place to be. This was the hangout. Now it’s more commercial,” he paused. “A lot of tourists.”
Fortunately, business remains booming for Akopyan. And although he stays busy six days a week at the shop, he still has aspirations to design and sell shoes on his own. Right now, he’s “too busy” with day-to-day operations, but maybe someday it’ll happen. For now, he’s satisfied.
“When you’re doing something you love, it’s always fun.”
European Shoe Repair is located at 3882 Cross Creek Rd., and is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tips from a trusted cobbler:
Levon Akopyan, who owns around 50 pairs of shoes (“Of course, I love shoes.”), offered some quick advice on caring for favorite footwear.
• Any pair of shoes can be kept in good condition as long as they’re cleaned and polished consistently by their owner. (“If you take care of [shoes] from day one, they’ll last.”)
• Always put sole guards in shoes, especially expensive name-brands like Christian Louboutin.
