SHOE REPAIR

The small shop in Fox Chapel Plaza doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside it’s a living museum of shoemaking tools. Chuck and Sydney Carlson treat this place like a second home—literally. They work seven days a week, slipping between repair jobs, customer chats, and managing their two k

Footworks, a local shoe repair and orthotics shop that had been part of the community for almost five decades, is closing its doors. The business began in 1978 when Gary Lavoie and his wife Dorothy turned a tax refund into a new venture after their tree‑cutting company failed during a severe blizzar