As the city of Binghamton moves to demolish and redevelop parts of the Binghamton Plaza, Leather Corner Shoe Repair is set to embark on a new chapter after serving the community for over 50 years.

Since 1972, Tim and Philomena Harris have provided leather repair services and custom alterations to customers in the Southern Tier and beyond. Tim Harris began working in the shoe repair business as an employee back when the store was a cobbler shop before relocating to New York City to work in a wholesale leather store called R.O.N.A. After the operation moved to California, he and Philomena Harris moved back to Binghamton and bought the failing business. The couple repurposed the store and has proudly owned and operated Leather Corner Shoe Repair ever since.

“The big picture of us being here originally was a combination of luck, chance and opportunity,” said Philomena Harris. “When we came back up from Manhattan, we were able to buy all the machinery, mostly because I had gotten an inheritance from my dad and that’s where the money came from to buy the shop.”

Clearing out the store will be no easy task. The walls in the back portion of the store are lined with industrial-grade leather manufacturing machines, which Tim Harris has no intention of disposing of. He plans to store the machines in his basement after moving them from the shop.

Leather Corner Shoe Repair has had a supportive and reliable customer base ever since the beginning, even serving famous figures like Chubby Checker, a rock-and-roll icon from South Philadelphia who rose to popularity in the 1960s with his hit cover record “The Twist.” Tim Harris proudly displayed a pair of leather boots and said it was the third pair he had custom-made for the artist.

Despite keeping a steady flow of customers, Tim and Philomena Harris said that maintaining a business has never been easy, saying that new tariffs have raised prices of essential items. Many materials required for the leather repair business, including the hides themselves, are not manufactured in the United States and must be imported. These price increases are just one factor pushing the couple to seriously consider whether to reopen in a new location away from the plaza.

“They don’t want me to go out of business,” Tim Harris said of his customers and the wider community. “But I’m almost 80.”

Because of their age, Philomena Harris said they did not want to “get into signing a long lease,” while Tim floated the possibility he could continue working with leather products as more of a hobby. He pointed to the high online prices that leather jackets are now sold for, with many starting at $2,000 and going up to $5,000.

The Harrises received a pair of letters last month — one from the plaza owners and the other from the city’s Economic Development office — indicating their lease will terminate on Feb. 28, 2026. The latter stated that plaza tenants can schedule meetings with the office to ask questions and inquire about available commercial spaces.

New York Pizzeria, another business located in the Binghamton Plaza, recently announced it would relocate to a new property a short distance east of the Plaza.

Whether or not the Harrises continue Leather Corner Shoe Repair, the impact they have left on the Binghamton community over the past several decades is clear.