‘I have a purpose’: Lake Zurich community helps 85-year-old shoemaker find a new home

As you would expect after a lifetime in the shoemaking and repair business, Johnny Bafaloukos has plenty to share about his trade, including a backstory that's hard to picture given his kindly manner.

But right now the focus is how the community is rallying to help the 85-year-old find and carry on in a new location in downtown Lake Zurich.

Volunteers will assemble Saturday morning to help pack items from Johnny's Shoe Repair into donated trucks and move them to a new space around the corner.

“We should have a good crew here to box everything up,” said Michael Muir, who grew up in town and read about Bafaloukos' need to move on Facebook.

Johnny's has been in downtown Lake Zurich for 45 years, and at the corner of Old Rand Road and Main Street for nearly half that time, even after a devastating Thanksgiving Day fire early on.

But after the village sold the building where he operates, new owners True North Properties Inc. informed him they would not be renewing his monthly lease.

When Janice Gannon, a former village trustee, learned Bafaloukos had received a 30-day notice to leave the space, she took to Lake Zurich Chat seeking community support to help the longtime business survive.

Expecting modest interest, Gannon was surprised when the post received about 1,000 likes.

“I got an overwhelming response. It really pulled at people's heart strings,” she said.

Among those who saw the post was Muir, who didn't know Johnny but had available space in his nearby insurance office building. He offered it to Bafaloukos for as long as needed.

“He came and introduced himself and said, ‘I've got a place,’” Bafaloukos said. “I said, 'You are a godsend.’”

God is central in what became a second life of sorts for the old shoemaker. As a young man, Bafaloukos said he was an “agent” for organized crime in Cleveland with “a gun on my side, police in my pocket.”

Facing gambling debts and threatened repercussions, Bafaloukos fled to the Chicago suburbs and opened shop in Lake Zurich in 1979. More about that later.

Muir, who leads the Knights of Columbus Lake Zurich, corralled volunteers and equipment for the move.

“It's what we do,” Muir said. “Growing up in the area and being down the street and a business owner, I wanted to help.”

Others have been dropping off boxes and packing materials.

True North founder George Ieremciuc said the company is forced to address overdue maintenance in Johnny's space to secure insurance for the building. Ieremciuc in an email described Bafaloukos as a “sweet old man” who the company loves as a person.

“We love his business and we would never evict Johnny,” he said.

Bafaloukos maintains a sense of peace about the situation, a testament to his devout faith, prominently proclaimed in religious and biblical signs throughout the storefront space. On the counter are copies of handwritten essays for anyone interested.

“You'd be surprised the encounters I (have with) people. It’s because of the signs. They want to know. They ask,” he said.

Shoe repair may be seen as a dying trade, but business is good at Johnny’s and Bafaloukos’ work ethic remains strong, despite some medical issues.

“I couldn't retire. I've got to feel like I could still do something, I have a purpose,” said Bafaloukos, who lives about a mile from the shop.

Bafaloukos came to the U.S. From Greece as a boy. Three years later, he began working as an apprentice for a shoe manufacturer in Cleveland, according to a village proclamation marking his 40th anniversary in Lake Zurich.

“I used to make shoes by hand. I started when I was 12,” Bafaloukos said. His instructor said “If you make them, you can fix them,” he added.

At one point, Bafaloukos owned a large shoe shop in Cleveland and employed six shoemakers. While shoes were being sold for upward of $300 a pair in front, bookmaking was going on in back, he said. Success bred temptation, Bafaloukos freely admits.

“I got greedy and got in trouble,” he said.

He settled in Lake Zurich, and a seed of faith was tweaked by a visitor to the shop. After a back-and-forth conversation, the man, who remains a friend, left a leather-bound Bible.

Bafaloukos said he kept it for the leather but put it on a shelf. When he picked it up months later, the man reappeared for the first time since the initial visit. That was the turning point, Bafaloukos said.

“I'm a broken down old shoemaker saved by the grace of God,” he said.