POINT LOMA, Calif. (KGTV) — After more than 20 years, a shoe repair shop on Midway Drive in Point Loma is closing its doors. Longtime customers are saying their final goodbyes.
"Nobody can beat Hugo. There is no one like him. He is irreplaceable," said a customer.
"I can’t even think. My head is spinning," said Hugo Arellano.
Arellano is the owner of Leather Magic. He says his lease is up next year, but he received an email from his landlord saying he had to be out in 30 days.
"I called the lady, the manager... I said 'What’s going on?' She said 'Well, we are terminating your lease,'" said Arellano.
But he realized in the lease he signed, the landlord does have the right to terminate it for any reason with 30 days notice.
"They offered no explanation. They said we leased this place for somebody else, and you need to get out," Arellano added.
The shop originally opened in August 2001. Not much has changed since then, but customers say the quality never gets old.
"These small businesses are important to us and the fabric of our country. I see them going away one by one," said a customer.
"I feel like a soccer player when your coach takes you out 10 minutes before the end of the game, and he says you did a good job. I feel that way today," said Arellano.
He plans to move his business to his garage.
