Aurora Shoe Co, NY

Dear Folk,

I am jumping right to my visit to the Aurora Shoe Company and then will back track on our trip to Ithaca and relocating The Boy in his apartment.

I first heard of Aurora Shoe Company when I read about them on Tiny Happy, a NZ Blog you are probably familiar with, see here.  That was several years ago, but I always kept it in the back of my mind that they were in New York State which is just above Pennsylvania.  So when I found out that Rob would be attending Ithaca College and we would be taking him up there, I made it a point to find out exactly where in New York State, and they are located just half an hour North, up Lake Cayuga, was I happy.  So it was on my list of to do things on our trip.  So Friday morning after running errands we headed up here.  It is truly in the country, with a distant view of Lake Cayuga.

As you walk in the smell of good leather assails you, taking me right back to a leather shop of my childhood where my mum treated me to an English small black leather shoulder bag, adding some money, to the money my grandma had given me.  I loved that bag and had it many years.  So good leather smell, and above you see racks of shoes that you can buy if you just walk in the door here.  David is looking for my size, but eventually went to the back after trying on a couple of pairs.

Above you see their new line for the fall an ankle boot for men, and I guess ladies too.  Rob tried on a pair and may come back and get them later down the road.

Above some shoes in Olive Green and Brown.

Here I am trying on an Olive Green pair, the Olive Green tends to vary somewhat in shade.  You buy the shoes snug fitting, as with the warmth from your foot and wear, the leather will conform to the contours of your foot.

We chatted for a bit with David the owner who has had the business for five years and is himself a Kings Ferry boy, coming back to where he grew up.

Decisions, decisions, I did like the Olive Green with the T-strap, but with Rob's advice and how I felt, I went with my original choice.  The thing is that these shoes last a long while, some people have had them up to fifteen years and you can send them back to be resoled.  As David said they have to keep reaching out to new customers, because the shoes last so long.  But if you are like the local girl we met at the winery you will love them and buy another pair, she said she had three pairs.  She told us a local custom is to walk into Lake Cayga with them on and christen them, she had.  David said until he bought the business there was not even a computer.  So I explained how I had heard about him from a Blog Tiny Happy the other side of the world, how crazy is that?

Here I am with my new shoes, all will be revealed.

As we left there was a huge box of scrap leather and he said take what ever you want, that was so nice and we were happy, so we took this piece and a burgundy piece.  In the background you can just see Lake Cayuga.  Now Rob has designs on his mother making him a leather wallet.  His other one is made of duct tape and he has had it since the middle of High School, made by a friend.  He's very picky, must be a certain size etc.  So we discussed that, but will get back to that in a later post.

Ta-da, my new shoes. So here I am later that day on the trail, after dropping The Boy off at the College Gym.  In the background you can see the suspension bridge over one of the Gorges.  The tag line for Ithaca is "Ithaca is Gorges" and it is, all ravines, waterfalls and gorges, just lovely.  I kept telling myself, "what goes up must come down."

See Martha Steward American Made here where you can link to a really nice video of the step by step process of making the Aurora Shoes.

Here is a write up in the Syracuse News that goes back to 2009 when David first bought the business.

I will definitely visit again and will get another pair of shoes down the road, I love them.

Christy