Mike, Master Cobbler | 52+ Years of Experience

When the time came, Mike decided to work with his hands.

More than 52 years ago, at just 18 years old, Mike returned to Denver from Albuquerque looking for honest, hands-on work. Through a National Association of Small Business (NABS) program that supported skilled trades, he ended up meeting an experienced craftsman named George, who offered to teach Mike in his shoe repair shop on Federal Boulevard. There, under the guidance of George, Mike learned the foundations of traditional shoe repair, the kind that values precision, durability, and doing the job right the first time.

Like many true tradesmen, Mike explored other paths along the way. He briefly worked in an iron and steel foundry, earning a promotion to crane operator within six months, before realizing it wasn’t where he belonged. He later studied automotive repair at community college, but again felt the pull back to shoe repair.

Mike returned fully to the trade, working in several well-known Denver shoe repair shops, including Felts Shoe Service, Frank’s, Dardano’s, and many other neighborhood cobblers. Each shop added to his depth of knowledge, exposing him to a wide range of footwear, leatherwork, repairs, and custom solutions.

In 1995, good fortune – and good reputation – opened the door to ownership. A nearby dry cleaner owner, Dave, had purchased Ford’s Shoe Service when the previous owner’s son chose not to continue the business. Dave hired Mike to work evenings for eight months while Mike continued his daytime work elsewhere. Three months later, they found the location that would become today’s Governor’s Plaza Shoes & Services shop and partnered together.

After four years of working side-by-side and about a year after the business was paid off, Dave turned the shop over to Mike, placing it in the hands of someone who had dedicated his life to the craft. Gratitude can’t fully describe how Mike feels about it.

Today, Mike brings more than five decades of experience to every repair. From basic resoles to complex restorations, orthopedic modifications, leather reconstruction, and specialty work many shops no longer offer, his skill set reflects a lifetime spent mastering the trade. This isn’t mass-production repair — it’s true cobbling, done by someone who has lived it.

When you bring your shoes here, you’re trusting them to a craftsman who learned the trade the old-school way, earned every skill over time, and still believes quality work matters.