This Toronto cobbler’s most valuable machine broke. His customers raised $10k to replace it.

A Dufferin Mall cobbler thought his business was over when his machine broke. Then, the community stepped up

A Toronto cobbler who has been repairing shoes for more than 20 years in Dufferin Mall says he thought he was going to lose business when his patching and stitching machine broke down last fall.

This Toronto cobbler’s most valuable machine broke. His customers raised $10k to replace it.

For nearly a quarter of a century, Alazar Beyene has been repairing shoes. Ten hours per day, seven days a week, he toils in a tucked-away corner of the Dufferin Mall. It isn’t glamorous work, but it’s kept the Eritrean-born immigrant on stable footing since coming to Canada. That all changed last month, when his patching and stitching machine unexpectedly broke down.