THomas Macmillan Photo
Mesias Brito hung out his shoe shine shingle at Union Station with high hopes for his new business: improving his English and earning the money he needs to bring his wife and son from Ecuador to New Haven.
Friday was opening day for Brito’s Shoe Shine Stand inside New Haven’s main train station on Union Avenue. Brito, a native of Ecuador, opened up shop at 7 a.m. By 1 p.m., he had brightened and buffed four pairs of shoes. His shift was less than half over.
Brito says he plans to work from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at his shoe shine stand. Those are long hours, but he needs to build up a base of clients, Brito said in Spanish.
As he waited for more customers, Brito explained how he entered the shoe shine business.
He’s lived in New Haven for just one year. Before that, he spent a decade in New York City, where he worked as a cobbler in two different shoe repair shops. His son was born in Brooklyn in 2001. Brito and his wife were short on money; she and his son decided to move back to Ecuador.
After moving to New Haven a year ago, Brito started working at the Kimberly Diner in Milford. Every now and then, as he passed through the train station on his way to visit New York, Brito would see the sign above the shoe shine stand: For Rent.
The previous shoe shiner, a man named Oscar, passed away about a year ago. The stand had been vacant ever since.
With the help of the Spanish American Merchants Association, Brito signed on to rent the shoe shine stand and quit his job at the diner.
Brito said he hopes his new job will give him more opportunities to practice English. It may also give him the time and money he needs to send for his wife and son in Ecuador. Now that he has his own business, he’ll have a more flexible schedule, giving him more time to spend with his son when he arrives. “Here I’m the boss,” Brito said.
But first he needs to build up a base of clients. That’s why he’ll be putting in 15-hour shifts initially. “When I do a good job, more clients will come,” Brito said. Then he can hire a second shiner and split the day into two shifts, he said.
On the sign above his stand, Brito lists his prices: $3 for regular shoes, $4 for “half-boots,” $7 for “full boots.”
In perhaps his best advertising move, Brito’s black Rockports exhibited a soft shine. He said he applies cream to them occasionally, to keep up appearances.