“Mr. Benito”—The Heart and Sole of Bernardo Shoe Repair in Sunnyvale

Mr. Benito of Bernardo Shoe Repair has become well known for his quality work that helps bring new life to shoes and other leather goods.

For 30 years, cobbler Benito Melo has put his heart—and many a sole—into extending shoe life for the customers of Bernardo Shoe Repair, 245 S. Mathilda Ave., Sunnyvale.

Melo’s two-room, 550-square-foot shop overflows with footwear awaiting repair or pickup. Peeking through the front windows, you see multiple rows of shoes and boots lined up on the floor, on the counter, behind the counter (if you could see there), and on shelves down the narrow hallway.

“People probably gonna say I have a mess here, but it’s not,” said Melo. “The shoes are in order—ones from last week, ones from a day or two ago, ones done today, and those that need to be done. I’m very, very busy these days.”

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Initially, customers come because Bernardo Shoe Repair is one of the few repair shops around. They return because “Mr. Benito,” as some call him, does excellent restoration work.

Tatiana Koroleva, who came to the U.S. from Moscow ten years ago, is a first-time customer. She did an online search, and Bernardo Shoe Repair was the closest shop to her Los Altos home. On a Saturday morning, she had to wait her turn in a long queue of customers. She dropped off five pairs of footwear, including boots her son brought from Moscow.

“When you have a favorite pair of shoes, you don’t want to get rid of them,” said Koroleva.

Dominico from Sunnyvale is a 20-year customer.

“I come back because Benito does good work, quality-wise and price-wise,” said Dominico.

Customers who moved to Santa Rosa and Alaska ship their shoes to him for orthopedic modification.

Melo learned to be a cobbler growing up in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where he started working in his dad’s cobbler shop when he was about eight.

“Little by little, he taught me. When I did the repairs wrong, he made me redo them until I got them right,” said Melo, one of nine siblings—three brothers, who also became cobblers, and five sisters.

Melo has worked as a cobbler in the U.S. since he arrived in 1980. Eventually, he ended up at Bernardo Shoe Repair at Bernardo Ave. and El Camino Real in Sunnyvale, buying the business from his boss 30 years ago on Dec. 13, 1996.

When his lease ended after four years and the rent doubled, Melo found a vacancy in Town & Country Village, where he stayed until the shopping center was torn down for redevelopment. Bernardo Shoe Repair has been at its present location for 20 years.

“If I have to move from here, I may choose to retire,” said Melo, now 61. “Units in new buildings are bigger than I need and the rents are so high.”

“I’m not getting rich, but I have a comfortable life,” he continued. “I have to work hard, but one of the best things is that I don’t have anybody telling me what to do.”

Unable to afford Sunnyvale, Melo bought a house in the Central Valley about 13 years ago and commutes.

“I have to get up very early to start working to have everything ready on the day I promised,” he said.

Some days, he gets up at 4:30 a.m. to make the one-hour drive (in good traffic) to Sunnyvale, arriving about 6 a.m. After the shop closes, he sometimes stays a few hours longer to complete repairs. He listens to YouTube programs on his cell phone on the commute.

“My father didn’t leave me property, but I learned this trade from him,” said Melo, whose son and daughter chose a different career path.

“I feel good about what I’ve done to provide for my family. My two kids can live a better lifestyle and not work as hard as I do.”