Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 4, 1993 TAG: 9308040016
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Long
Lloyd "Buzzy" Goode Sr. remembers the old-timers.
They would gather every Saturday at his father's shoe repair shop, where, as a kid, Goode had a little shoeshine stand. The men, many of them veterans, would come in for a fresh shine to wear to church on Sunday and to swap war stories.
Goode, 85, cannot recall any of their stories.
But he remembers which war. It was the Civil War.
"All of them had tales," said Goode, who is closing the landmark Bedford business that his father opened in 1912. In a world of Wal-Marts and $150 basketball shoes, in era when people no longer shop downtown, Bedford's oldest existing business just can't compete anymore, he says.
If only he could have kept the license plates.
For in its day, Goode's was much more than a typical shoe repair shop. It was a hub of Bedford commerce, selling everything from sporting goods to Maytag washing machines to state license tags.
And Buzzy Goode became one of the best-known people in the county.
"Now I don't know what I'm gonna do," he said.
Goode's has been his life for eight decades, just as it had been his father's life. His father, L.O. Goode, worked in the store until he died - at age 93.
When L.O. Goode opened the shop, he called it Goode's Electric Shoe Repair. It was on East Main Street across from the old Post Office.
It was a modest shop, just a single room with a potbelly stove. For fuel, they burned rubber scraps off old shoes. Buzzy Goode says it was always warm in the winter.
"You'd get the hottest fire in town," he said. After thinking a moment, he added, "Now don't tell the environmental people about that."
After a few years, they added the shoeshine stand. Goode got 10 cents a shine. Saturdays, he'd come away with $1.50. Mostly, he blew it on movies or candy.
His father also taught him how to repair shoes. Soon, he was working alongside his father. In high school, before football or basketball practice, he always had to get his shoe work done first.
In 1927, Goode enrolled at Roanoke College, where he played in the first college football game he ever saw.
He studied business, never expecting to return to his father's shop after graduation. But the Depression hit, and Goode found himself back in Bedford.
Together, father and son built Goode's into one of the town's most thriving small businesses. In the late 1930s, they began selling fishing tackle. Other sporting goods followed, and they became the equipment supplier to some of the county schools.
Soon, the sporting goods were bringing in more money than the shoe repairs.
They added Maytag wringer washers. The first ones sold for $29.95, Goode remembers. "That's when $30 was $30," he said. Maytags today run about $500, and Goode's still carries them.
The store also became the state's agent in Bedford County for selling license plates, an arrangement that lasted into the 1970s. This was great for business because it brought in a steady supply of customers.
It gave Goode local renown, too. Practically everyone in the county knew him. "People still come in and talk about buying automobile tags here," he said.
In 1936, the store moved from its original location to where it is now on North Bridge Street. Eventually, L.O. Goode sold the store to his son. But he continued repairing shoes until his death in 1970.
Buzzy Goode has since sold it to his son, Lloyd Goode Jr., who lives in Raleigh, N.C., and leaves the day-to-day operation of the store to his father.
Lloyd Jr. tried to sell the store, but couldn't find a buyer. He said he can understand why. "A person who has the abilities to run a business like this can make better money doing something else," he said.
His father also points to such places as Wal-Mart, which has opened a store in Bedford, and to changes in the sporting goods industry.
He remembers when sneakers cost $6. Now they go for 25 times that. And shoe companies once would let him order relatively small quantities. Now they aren't interested unless he can order $3,000 or $4,000 worth of stock.
Other merchants in Bedford describe the shop's passing in one word: sad. However, there is a bright side to this story.
When Goode's closes Aug. 21, a part of the legacy will continue. George Whorley, who has repaired shoes in the store for 47 years, plans to continue the repair service.
Whorley, 67, doesn't know yet what name the shop will use. He's welcome to continue the Goode name, but Whorley hasn't given it much thought. Nor has he decided how long he will keep it going.
But like Buzzy Goode and Goode's father before him, he isn't showing any signs of slowing down. "I figure I've got another 30 years," he said.
by CNB