As a Hoboken resident for the last twenty years, I am familiar with most of the popular little stores in town. So I am not surprised to see the long lines in certain places. At Fiore’s for the holidays, at Vito’s for lunch, at Carlo’s for pastries, and so on.
But what I was really surprised at was as I was going down on Garden Street and the corner of 7th street on Saturday I saw a long, long line in front of Giovanni D’Italia Shoe Repair. I stopped, curiously, to ask someone what was going on.
“What was he giving away for free?”
They said, “Nothing, just getting our shoes ready for the fall.”
And I told myself, “This guy must be doing something really well,” and I found out from Giovanni that he has been in the same spot for over 49 years.
Well, good luck for another 50.
Chris