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Joseph, left, and brother Isacc inside an early iteration of Angel's Shoe Repair.
Joseph, left, and brother Isacc inside an early iteration of Angel's Shoe Repair.
Hearing that Seattle’s streets were paved with gold, Joseph Angel emigrated from Rhodes in 1910. He opened a shoe repair shop two years later with his brother Isaac. But times were tough and Joseph’s son, Eli, had to quit school in ninth grade to help his father with the business. Eli’s son, Ray, took his father’s offer to work as an apprentice – and the rest is history. Angel’s Shoe Repair remains in business more than 100 years after it began, with Ray in charge. He uses a sewing machine patented in 1880 and a stitching machine from 1912. Ray says it’s almost as if his grandfather and father are still at the shop. In many respects, they are!
