The Cobbler
having to actually be down there.”
One of things Gerry will miss is his regular customers, who he has all sorts of conversations with.
Gerry said: “I’ve no regrets about doing all this time here. I’ve made a lot of pals, met some really interesting folk.
“I’ve got quite a few folk come in and we’re big on politics, big on the nature of reality.
“How do you go from reheeling shoes to the nature of the universe and quantum physics? Well, I’m game for talking about anything.”
He has also seen a lot of changes in the area since he opened.
Gerry, who married his wife in 1985, said: “Govanhill when I moved in was an honest, working-class place.
“There was a large Asian population and everyone was just doing their best to get by.
“It did go downhill for quite a bit, we just seemed to be hoaching with drug users everywhere.
“They actually stole a lighter from here one time. It was on a chain and I took the guts out of it but it had a picture of me engraved on it.
“Imagine trying to sell that round a pub, people are going ‘And who is this guy? And where’s the rest of the lighter? Totally bizarre.’
But I think the area is on the up. There’s nothing wrong with having a melting pot.
“I definitely think Govanhill’s on the way back up but I won’t be here to see it. Victoria Road seems to be on the up so that’s a good start.”
Having had a successful business for nearly three decades, things took a downward turn four years ago.
Gerry said he came back from his Christmas holidays in 2014 to find renovation work had started with scaffolding, skips and a Portacabin outside the shop.
Customers assumed The Cobbler had closed and, he said, the word spread, which has been impossible to recover from.
He said: “That did it for the place and it’s never recovered. It’s a like a pebble in a pond.
“The rumours spread and people don’t come because they think you’re shut and before you know it, you’re shut.”
Gerry is now going to be a bus driver, and spend more time with his family.
He has two daughters: his eldest is finishing a PhD and his youngest is finishing a Masters degree, both in genetics.
Gerry added: “This year has just been grim. We could hang on til next year as a push but unless it improved dramatically we would be ruined.
“You’re really stubborn because it’s your business and you don’t want to see it going down the tubes but there’s no room for dewy-eyed sentimentalism.
“I will miss the shop but I have no regrets.”