05/01/2026
My story: 50 years!
I can’t believe 50 years ago, this week, my life changed directions forever!
My father, Jack, died in 1970 and my mom learned the trade by doing. She kept the repair and retail part operating by herself for 6 long years. In 1976 an event occurred that would change my life, the face of shoe repair and the Delmar Bootery forever.
My mom traveling back from her hometown of Rochester NY, and being only 2 miles from her home at exit 23, fell asleep at the wheel of her car and broke her neck. My three siblings and I had a family meeting and decided the fate of the Delmar Bootery. Richard the eldest was trained by my father, but owned his own business and couldn’t take his rightful place in the store and gave it up to the next oldest sister. She could not do it because she was a career army’s wife and lived out of state. The next sibling lived in town but also had her own business and the only one left was me the youngest and the most inexperience to take over the store.
I was 24, pregnant with my second daughter Mandy, and building my real estate business. I just signed a contract to build our home, and the unthinkable happened. I put aside my aspirations and picked-up where my mother left off and assumed the responsibility of the Delmar Bootery and taking care of my mom. Out of devotion and obligation to my mom and the legacy to my dad, I stood in the Delmar Bootery on May 4th, 1976 and said “what do I do now!” I had little knowledge of the trade, except what I learned working with my father as a child but I lacked large caverns of information in order to succeed.
My journey began using my instincts. I depleted the large inventory in the basement and making in relevant to the day. Redesigning the retail and repair area to developed an organize system to do my craft while creating an elegant, inviting, and warm retail environment the public loved. I helped create a shoe repair guild in the Albany area. 35 craftsmen were members and involved in the monthly meeting. It was through this guild that I refined my skills and learned the Master’s tricks of the trade. I learned by doing and repeating the process until it became the high standard that continues to be used today. Along absorbing information from the Master Craftsmen, I attend NYU and was trained in Pedortics. I learned foot anatomy and how the foot functions in relationship to the rest of the body. I learned to make foot appliances and did shoe modification to address the problems of patients that physicians sent me. This on-the-job training took 7 years!
In 1988 I decided to bring shoe repair to a new level and began designing a new elegant concept store. The only location that would realize my expectation was Stuyvesant Plaza.
In the beginning they were not interested in having a shoe repair store in the upscale niche, but my tenacity won them over to the idea. That will be 38 years ago this September! In 2000 my Delmar location was closed because, my mom, became ill and died in 2001. Starting the 21st century, my daughter Mandy Sundling Young, whom I was pregnant with in 1976, has become the third generation of Leonardo’s to run the shop. As I did before her, I raised 4 children in the store so Mandy continued the tradition by raising my two granddaughters, Ashley and Brooke, while working in the store.
Kris, my shoemaker, defected from Poland and barely could speak English. He started working at the bootery shortly after I opened the Stuyvesant store. His uncle, Bethlehem Central’s, Coach Ritchko, came to me and ask if I would give Kris a chance at a job in the store. It was the best decision of my life. I trained him and he has taken the store’s repair to the next level of excellence. If it wasn’t for Kris and my daughter Mandy, I would not be able to enjoy my senior years with my husband. I look back 50 years and I am blessed and very grateful to my family and the generations of customers that have sustain The Delmar Bootery for 86 years!
