LAS VEGAS (AP) – Keith Bryant’s first shift, who was shoeshine on the Las Vegas Strip more than 20 years ago, tipped about $ 150 in three hours.
He loved the hustle and bustle and interacting with the Sahara visitors that weekend evening and was addicted to the profession. He would follow in his father’s footsteps into the industry.
“Sometimes people play with me and ask if I’m going to shine what they’re wearing, but I shine everything,” Bryant, a longtime Select Shoe employee, told the Las Vegas Sun. “I also make a leather wallet or a belt. If it’s faux leather, it doesn’t matter, I’ll do it. I will do what I have to do and adapt to everything. “
As Bryant sat at his booth in the Aria, waiting for his next customer, he couldn’t help but remember another time in the industry. He wasn’t talking about the Rat Pack era – although that was certainly a time when men were more interested in shining their shoes than they are today – but rather about a time in the late 1990s.
“People used to dress up a lot more to come to Vegas, man,” he said. “People are more relaxed now. I recently had a Saturday night when no one sat down. “
Part of the decline is due to the convention industry and international travel still recovering from the pandemic closings. Visitors from Australia, for example, often wear cowboy boots that they would like to have spruced up, Bryant said.
Bryant, a native of Las Vegas, spends much of his time at a rented booth in a men’s room near the Aria lobby or at a booth in New York-New York.
Select Shoe also rents space in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Golden Nugget, and Venetian Convention and Expo Center. Another company, Goodfellows Shoeshine & Accessories, is in a number of properties including McCarran International Airport.
Goodfellows owner Shelley Bonner Carson said business has been slow lately for her company too. In addition to its stands in McCarran – in the airport’s C and D halls – Goodfellows has space at several strip resorts and at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
“We survived COVID-19 and are still making shoes,” said Carson from Bonn. “Summers are usually terrible for us, also because people are very casual and wear a lot of sandals and tennis shoes. We hope that this autumn and 2022 conventions will take place again on a large scale. “
Carson from Bonn said there was still interest in the service. That backs up the fact that representatives from Resorts World recently turned to rent some space for a shoe shine stand, she said.
Everyone seems to be pushing for customers.
Whenever Bryant sees someone wearing shoes that need cleaning, he’ll get in touch right away. Take Christopher Helmick, who was in town from Michigan for the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics conference at the Aria, wearing a pair of leather shoes.
When Helmick glanced at Bryant’s booth – which consisted of two customer chairs and two drawers that held everything from a horsehair brush to various cans of shoe polish, wax, and leather care products – the shiner went to work.
“Do you want shine?” asked Bryant.
Helmick did. The conference marked his first major travel excursion since the beginning of the pandemic. He wanted to look good for that.
Bryant would later reveal that he had targeted Helmick because of his shoes – which Bryant always notices – and the convention lanyard he wore.
Helmick’s gloss lasted about five minutes and cost $ 12.
Scott Hansen, owner of Select Shoe, said business is slow but he doesn’t think this will be a final blow to the industry because “there will always be people who care about their looks”.
“When you meet someone, look at their hand first because you reach out to shake it and walk them off your shoes,” he added.
Hansen said the Las Vegas shoe shine business, which had long depended on convention business, began its decline in the recession following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“We were gangsters until September 11th,” said Hansen. “After that, flights were canceled, conventions canceled and when they came back people started to dress up. Congress attendees have not changed anything since then. People used to wear suits to a show, but they don’t do that nearly as often. “
When he first started doing business in the 1990s, Hansen said most customers wore either dress shoes or cowboy boots. Now, he said, all different types of shoes are dealt with.
“We make sports shoes, suede, oil-brown leather, we do everything,” said Hansen. “However, in today’s society, it seems like people simply buy a new pair of shoes when they need some shine. We have become a throwaway society. We are generally more relaxed as a society. That was exacerbated by the pandemic. “
Shiners are also working on guest-dropping shoes, including items from celebrities and athletes.
Bryant proudly says he has shined the shoes of people from every state, countless country, and a few celebrities, including Drew Carey and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback “Dandy” Don Meredith.
“That was fun because I’m a die-hard cowboys fan,” said Bryant.
And now, during the downturn, he’s eager to add more memories to his long career. “I’ll do what I have to do,” said Bryant. “I just hope conventions come back strong because that’s how I eat.”
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