WOODY’S
OVER 20 YEARS IN BUSINESS
Richard Wood opened Woody’s, his shoe and leather repair shop, in June of 1987 and has seen some major changes in his industry over the decades. During the equestrian season, he takes his show “on the road,” setting up a trailer at the show grounds to be available for on-site repairs. “I’ve upgraded my trailer to a 29-footer,” Wood said. “We needed to bring out more equipment, and we needed more workspace. The riders have a big impact on our business over the five-month equestrian season. Things do break. If I wasn’t here on the spot, I don’t know what they’d do. In the beginning of the season, we get bombarded with boots from all over.” As a cobbler, Wood doesn’t think much of many shoes on the market today. However, he keeps his focus on high-end footwear. “Many of today’s shoes are injection molded — they’re made by chemists. They’re glued together using 100 dif-
ferent kinds of glues. They’re not repairable ladies’ high-heeled shoes and men’s good loafers and dress shoes like they used to be. Society women buy the best shoes, and some have them for 40 years,” he said. “In riding boots, we used
to have five big names, and now there are about 50. Your good brands are still making quality products. I’m old school. I’ve been in the original Wellington Mall for 29 years, just trudging along doing a quality job using quality materials.”
summers have gotten busier than previously, but the kids aren’t riding bikes like they used to. A lot of the equestrian folks use bicycles to get around the show
grounds, so we do a lot of selling and servicing in those months. And we have customers bring in bikes that they’ve tried to assemble themselves.”
WHEELS OF WELLINGTON
wellington the magazine | september 2016
20 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
Stan Kilbas of Wheels of Wellington has also seen materials change over the past 20 years. Kilbas opened his store in 1995, moving to its current location in the original Wellington Mall in 1997. “Since that time, the biggest change in the bike business itself has been the products we sell,” Kilbas said. “The road bikes have gone from steel and aluminum to carbon fiber. It used to be that mountain bikes were hot sellers, then the road bikes, and now it’s gone to more of a comfortable cruiser-type ride.” Kilbas now also has to compete with big box stores along State Road 7. “We put a major emphasis on providing the best customer service,” he said. “Our
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