Chicago cobbler pivots to making religious goods during pandemic
Feb 18, 2021 catholic news service
Larry DeAngelo shines a cross using a shoe machine at Al s Shoe Service in Mount Prospect, Ill., Jan. 13, 2021. (Credit: CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Chicago Catholic.)
When the pandemic forced many people to work from home last spring, business at Al s Shoe Service in Mount Prospect, outside of Chicago, almost completely dried up overnight.
MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. When the pandemic forced many people to work from home last spring, business at Al’s Shoe Service in Mount Prospect, outside of Chicago, almost completely dried up overnight.
Owner Larry DeAngelo, who inherited the business from his father, Al DeAngelo, and who has been repairing shoes for almost 50 years, watched as days went by and no customers came in.