Footwear Insight

72 • Footwear Insight ~ July/August 2019 footwearinsight.com RETAIL T he custom workshop at Eneslow's flagship store helps people get back on their feet. The four-member team of shoe surgeons, led by manager Khaled El Masry, works its magic in a 1,000-square-foot space in the basement of the shop that serves Eneslow's four stores. Each store has smaller workshops where skilled staff members modify and repair orthotics and shoes. In this space at the flagship, they widen, deepen and lengthen shoes; they add rockers to soles; they raise and lower heels; they add special materials to reduce impact and shear forces, control motion and redistribute pressure; and they make old shoes new again through a variety of repairs. "We've made shoes for people who have one leg shorter than another," says El Masry, who is a board certified pedorthist and orthotics technician. "We've also modified stilettos to make them as comfortable as sneakers." The team, which operates in an assembly-line fashion, is comprised of Artur Zakaryan, custom shoemaker; Mahmoud Issa, custom uppermaker; Dimas Plua, shoe modifications and shoe repair master; and German Jaramillo, customizer of readymade shoes and orthot- ics. At the Second Avenue store, Jack Muratov performs shoe modifications and repairs. Eneslow's custom bespoke orthopedic shoes, which start at $2,500 per pair, are made from the cast up, altered to fit each foot. "We usually make four to five pairs a week," El Masry says, adding that modifica- tions — which can be done on custom or ready made shoes — generally run $35 to $350. Custom orthotics cost $595 to $695. El Masry, who has been with Eneslow since 1995, started making custom shoes in his native Egypt. "I love what I do, and I like to be challenged," he says. "For most of our customers, we are their last chance to walk again; I never give up on customers." He says the satisfaction comes from helping other people. "If I can put someone in a wheelchair back on their feet, I have changed their life," he says. l Eneslow has a custom workshop at its flagship store. Where Eneslow's Shoe Surgeons Operate

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