00:00Since 2018 Sneakers Prep have been putting one foot in front of the other, building a
00:04shoe repair business in Medway that serves Kent and beyond.
00:08And now business has gotten so big they've moved into a new premises in the historic
00:13dockyard in Chatham that they had to transform into the office they have today.
00:17But the idea for the business started in an unconventional way.
00:21Yeah, so going back to 2018, I used to chuck my shoes in the washing machine like most people
00:26and one pair came out looking a little worse for wear and I thought to myself, there must
00:32be a better way.
00:34And then that Christmas my nail wife Sarah bought me a sneaker cleaning kit.
00:38I cleaned a few of my own shoes, a few of her shoes and then told a few friends and
00:44then
00:44a few friends wanted their shoes cleaned and it just escalated from there.
00:48Since then the shoes they repair tend to be luxury brands like Gucci or Yves Saint Laurent.
00:53And unlike people might assume it isn't just a quick wash, there's a lot of detail
00:57within the shoe that needs to be cleaned, repainted or stuck back together.
01:01Now when you hear shoe cleaning you might just think of scrubbing or maybe even chucking
01:05it in the washing machine but there's actually a lot more detail and nuance that needs to
01:09go into it especially when you're working with designer brand shoes.
01:12Some people assume it would take a matter of hours and just a quick bit of scrubbing but
01:15it can take up to a week to make sure that the shoes are as clean as when they were
01:19first
01:19in the box.
01:20And it's not just a bucket of hot water and a scrubbing brush, there's actually quite
01:24a few tools you might not expect.
01:28So to show you that it's not exactly as easy as you might expect I thought I'd take a crash
01:33course.
01:42Well there you go, not exactly brand new, certainly a little bit better than it was
01:45but I don't think I'll be opening up my own business any time soon, I reckon I'll stick
01:49to journalism.
01:50While it might be the main part of their business it isn't just shoes they work on.
01:54We have had some sentimental items in so we had a lady whose grandad passed away and we
02:00had his wallet to restore and we also had a lady whose brother had passed away and the
02:05shoes that she would like him buried in, she asked for them to be cleaned and restored
02:09as well.
02:10So there is that element of things that are not expensive but very sentimental as well.
02:14The building took a lot of work to be ready and it's even a grade listed property but for
02:19Sarah and Nick with more orders coming in from across the county it might be busy but it's
02:23just another step in the right direction.
02:25Finn McDermid for KMTV in Chatham.
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