Fixer shoe-d away

Kamran Razaghipou has been given his marching orders.

In 2006 when the Don Mills Centre was demolished, Don Mills Quality Shoe Repair had one-and-a-half years left on its lease.

Based on the hope that he might be offered a location in the new mall  Razaghipou agreed to operate from a temporary location in the Royal Bank building without a long-standing lease.

Their arrangement has been amicable until now.

At the beginning of May the mall’s owner, Cadillac Fairview, couriered an eviction notice to Razaghipou telling him he had until the end of June to vacate his store with his belongings intact.

His replacement: an office tower construction project that might end as part of a common area.

“I’m crushed,” said Razaghipou. “Customers have been telling me I’ve lost weight with all the worry and stress about my store. I just don’t know how to handle it.”

He bought Quality Shoe Repair just prior to the redevelopment of the mall, costing him $160,000, but he didn’t predict anything like this would happen even as he tried to stay in the loop.  

Cadillac Fairview’s senior director of retail leasing, David Pitfield, said whenever a lease or contract is coming to an end, they investigate a variety of factors and determine whether or not the tenant in the previous term justifies entering into an agreement.

“It’s not an easy decision, but it is a process for us,” said Pitfield. “The fact is the same process applies to any other store. It’s not arbitrary.”

Two months ago Cadillac Fairview asked Razaghipou what plans he had, was he looking elsewhere and did he still want a spot in the new mall.

That was the last time he had spoken with anyone regarding store plans for the mall.

“From June last year, the lease has been month-to-month,” Razaghipou said. “I don’t want to fight with them, I just want business with them.”

Since construction in the mall began, the shoe repair store has seen a decline of more than 50 per cent in business, which Razaghipou pointed out, has a lot to do with his store location.

“No one knows I’m back here,” said Razaghipou. “It’s hard for me to attract new customers.”

Friends of Don Mills founder, Simone Gubbay said it’s unfair for the owner to be stuck at the back of the RBC building and be left alone to ride out his lease.

“People climb over sticks and stones to get to him,” said Gubbay referring to the amount of rubble on the floor caused by the mall’s construction. “The fact that he has survived as a business for the past three years, just shows how much we need him.”

Customers, mostly previous residents of the Don Mills area, flock from all over the country just to get their shoes fixed by the handyman.

“It would be disastrous for the community if he leaves,” said Gubbay. “We hope that Cadillac Fairview will be fair and find him a space in the mall somewhere. It’s a bad business decision if they don’t.”

Razaghipou has been looking for a new location, somewhere in the neighborhood to stay close to his loyal customers, but time is running out.  

“I love this job and would love to stay around Don Mills,” said Razaghipou. “This is my life.”