How a Fourth-Generation Cobbler Became a TikTok Sensation

But a sense of responsibility isn't the only reason McFarland has stuck with the business. He also believes in it. At a time when the country is being flooded with cheaply made footwear, he’s a fierce advocate for investing in high-quality shoes and learning how to take care of them so they can last a lifetime (or longer).

Jim McFarland, left, with his father in one of three cobbler shops the family owned in Lakeland, Florida.

Courtesy Jim McFarland

Why (old) shoes still matter

Over 24 billion pairs of shoes are produced globally every year, and 300 million pairs end up in landfills in the U.S. alone. But it doesn’t have to be that way, McFarland says.

“If more people bought good quality shoes, they could rebuild them many times over,” he says. “And quality shoes are made out of biodegradable products. All those cheap shoes made out of synthetic plastics will sit in landfills for 100 years or more.”

There are many reasons to hang on to shoes, chief among them comfort. (McFarland has several old pairs of “super comfy” shoes that he insists he’ll never throw away.) But the top reason customers bring shoes to him for repair? Nostalgia.

“I’ve had people bring in shoes from relatives who’ve passed away,” he says. “One guy lost his son and wanted me to repair his son’s boots. Another woman came by with her husband’s boots. Told me they were planning to celebrate their 30th anniversary on a cruise, even though she’d recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness. She didn’t expect to live another year. It breaks your heart, some of these stories.”

McFarland gets lost in his own nostalgic memories when talking about a pair of Penny Loafer Bass Weejuns from his closet that could use a makeover.

“They’re from 1984,” he says with a broad smile. “I wore them all through high school. They’re still in great shape, they just don’t fit me anymore.” He pauses as an idea occurs to him. “I bet my son could wear them though,” he says. “Hmm.”

Finding a new audience

McFarland is proud to be part of one of the world’s oldest professions. But he’s well aware that it’s an industry in decline. There were around 100,000 shoe repair shops in the U.S. during the 1930s, but that number has dwindled down to just over 3,000 last year, according to IBIS World. And the number of businesses has been declining by around 4.4% every year since 2018.

But many cobblers are finding a second life on social media. TikTok hosts several cobblers with thousands of followers, including Dan the Cobbler, Boyer’s Boot’n’Shoe, Chilicothe Bootery and Sergio Alberini. But none are as popular as America’s Cobbler, McFarland's TikTok account that has (as of this writing) 1.3 million followers and over 24 million likes. (He also has large followings on Instagram and YouTube.)

It all started during the COVID pandemic, when his daughter, Tori McFarland, thought it’d be fun to give her dad his own social media presence. His first video, in which he demonstrated how to put toe plates on a shoe, debuted on TikTok in March 2021 and was an instant hit. (It was shot by Tori, who still shoots many of his videos today.)

“I figured some people may just find the craft itself to be cool or informative,” Tori says. “I definitely did not expect people to find it so satisfying to watch.”

The videos cover a lot of ground, demonstrating everything from how to replace soles, add new heels and restore nearly destroyed ostrich boots. The comments are almost always positive, with viewers comparing McFarland’s shoe repairs to “a piece of art,” and frequently claiming the videos relax and soothe them.

“This really calms me down for hard times,” one person commented. 

“Your videos are soooooooooo satisfying to watch,” another remarked. “Gives me peace, thank you!”

Turning trash back into treasure

McFarland is having a social media moment, but he and his fellow cobblers are part of a larger cultural trend, with more people looking to repair and reuse the things in their life rather than buy cheap, mass-produced replacements.

There’s the “visible mending” movement, driven by a desire to mend tattered clothing without concealing the stitches. And the “right to repair” movement, which argues that customers should be able to repair their electronic devices rather than line up for the next product release.

“There is room in this country for tens of thousands of people like me — turning trash back into viable products and making a living doing it,” says John Bumstead, who runs a repair shop for old MacBooks called RDKL, Inc. (short for “Roadkill”) in Minneapolis. He regularly refurbishes MacBooks that are more than a decade old, long past their expiration dates. “It’s really the ‘greenest’ thing a person can do.”

McFarland estimates that he's repaired close to half a million shoes during his career. But even he’s encountered the occasional dilapidated piece of footwear that’s too far gone to save.

“I've got three pairs of boots in my shop right now that would take an absolute divine miracle to repair,” McFarland says with a laugh. “That’s the hardest part of my job sometimes, telling a customer that their shoes can’t be fixed. I feel like a vet telling them their dog has to be euthanized. I’m not kidding — these people get emotional.” 

He shakes his head, as surprised as anybody by the bond between humans and their shoes. 

“Sometimes the only hope I can give people is, ‘Well, at least your shoe has a sole, so it’ll probably go to heaven.’ ”