Rebori's Shoes owner sells building, closes business

by Paul Schreiber

SBJ Reporter

pschreiber@sbj.net

An almost 50-year-old downtown business has decided its shoes were made for walking.

The building that houses Rebori's Shoes at 322 S. Campbell was sold April 28 to Orlando and Shannon Merced for an undisclosed amount, said Richard Rebori, store owner for 22 years.

Merced, a professional baseball player, played his last three years with the Houston Astros.

Merced was unavailable for comment. Rebori would not disclose a sale price, but said the space was going to be used as a boutique, according to the new owners.

The Rebori family shoe business began in 1912 when Richard's grandfather, Joseph, opened a shoe shop on College Street. It was Richard's father, Ralph, who began the Campbell store following the opening of his first store on Commercial Street in 1945.

The 2,500-square-foot store was opened in the late 1950s, Richard Rebori said.

Richard Rebori used about 1,000 square feet for retail and the rest for storage space and as a workshop for his shoe-repair business. He is a certified pedorthist, and would not disclose what he paid for the building initially.

At one time, the Reboris had six stores four in Springfield, one in Branson, and one in Harrison, Ark. Thirteen years ago, however, the number began to decrease. First, the Harrison store closed due to problems with employee theft, Rebori said. Its inventory was moved to a new store location in Nixa, he added.

Ten years ago, the Branson store closed, partially due to a loss of parking, and eight years ago Rebori shut down the Nixa store as well, he said. Since then, all Rebori's Springfield locations except for the one on Campbell were closed the Commercial Street location sold in 1999. At its peak, Rebori's Shoes had 15 employees and topped $700,000 in annual revenues, he said.

Rebori wasn't actively looking for a buyer for the Campbell Avenue store when he got the Merceds' offer, and he expressed some ambivalence about shutting down. He has until May 15 to be out of the store, but he said he'll be out by next week, adding that whatever stock he doesn't sell will bel disperse to five area charities.

Tending to the cattle on his 120-acre Galena farm and continuing shoe repair will be his primary occupations after the business closes.