Frank Eberhart, owner of Marvin's Shoe Service, in downtown Athens, Georgia, glues a shoe on April 18, 2018. Eberhart is a second generation owner but doesn't plan on passing down the store to his children due to the laborious aspect of shoe repairs (Photo/Mauli Desai, maulidesaiuga@gmail.com).
Local Athens businesses share secrets and success stories
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ATHENS, Ga. —An Athens record-making plant and shoe-repair shop make going old-school look easy, even today.
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Marvin’s Shoe Service: Serving soles
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Frank Eberhart, the second generation owner of Marvin’s Shoe Service—nestled between Vape Dynamiks and The Bear Hug Honey company—runs an endearingly nostalgic shop in 2018 Athens downtown landscape with ease.
Bought in 1977 by his father, Marvin Eberhart, the store was initially owned by Leonard Hale, according to Eberhart. Hale had operated it prior to the Eberharts in 1937.
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“The first big hurtin’ on shoe repair was when the Adidas and Pumas came out cause they were so popular and [made] so good,” Eberhart said.
Marvin’s Shoe Service and its loyal torchbearers have been at the forefront for many of the significant, yet forgetful advances of modern society.
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Marvin’s has faced and overcame advances in synthetics, rising cost of overhead and location, to operate continuously operate for over 41 years.
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Eberhart remarks his people skills as a reason why his business has fared well, especially compared to other shoe repair shops.
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“I’ve had couple of people say that ‘You're easy to talk to, that’s why we like coming in’ and I appreciate that. One thing [my father] taught me as a kid was ‘Treat people as you wanna be treated,” Eberhart said.
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Kindercore Vinyl: Rolling Out Records
As vinyl sales continue to increase, Kindercore Vinyl, a local vinyl pressing company is trying to meet the demands while maintaining high quality and customer service. Their clientele ranges from local artists to larger record labels.
“That’s why we did this. To help make sure independent artists are taken care of. We all know so many independent artists, as well as all the guys, have been independent artists themselves that we definitely want to make sure they have a good experience,” said Micki Windham, the director of sales.
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The team chose Athens in part because of its vibrant music scene and their personal history with being local musicians, Windham said
Kindercore is an example of the reviving record-making industry, while the niche industry is small in size—with less than 30 plants nationwide—it’s been making a comeback in the past few years.
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“We pressed the first playable record on Halloween of last year, 2017, so since then we’ve done around 125,000 records almost up to our 200th order,” Windham said.
Created with Jenny Vo
Micki Windham, director of sales, at Kindercore Vinyl poses September 29, 2018, at the record processing plant in Athens, Georgia. Windham considers Kindercore's high-quality records, staff's music background and serving independent artists as the main focus on the business (Photo/Mauli Desai maulidesaiuga@gmail.com).
