Eighty-Two Year Shoemaker in İstiklal Avenue Shut Down

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In my childhood, whenever I walked on İstiklal Avenue, I would look inside the windows of Mahmut Kundura. I would wait for my shoe size to become 40 to buy those black patent shoes.

I enter Mahmut Kundura not to buy a pair of shoes, but to make a news story. It has been shut down before I was able to buy those black patents.

Many small shops that give the İstiklal its identity have been shut down due to economic reasons in the last few years.

Being one of them, Mahmut Kundura was famous for its custom shoes.

Mahmut Soyman founded the shop in 1936 and handed it over to his son. Halil Dağlı (79) has been running the shop for 63 years, joined by assistant Ahmet Dağlı later on.

They were having economic difficulties although they are the property owners, says Halil Dağlı.

"There is not enough demand, hence the production is declining. Since we were not able to find a solution, we had to shut down the shop.

"One feature of this shop is manufacturing custom men's shoes.

"A great majority prefers branded shoes today. Customs shoes are thought to be bulky or out of fashion."

In the days they were in-fashion, Mahmut Kundura manufactured shoes for many celebrities and politicians. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the republic, İsmet İnönü, his successor, and Franz von Papen, a former ambassador for Germany, were among them.

Mahmut Kundura kept Atatürk's and İnönü's shoe lasts for long, before giving them to a museum, Dağlı says.

"The shoes are modeled preserving their styles at the beginning. They might be nostalgic but they are stylish and elegant enough.

"This is one of the reasons for the shutdown. There is no one to wear these shoes."

While the texture of the district changes in the last few years, with a great urban transformation project in the Tarlabaşı area and with shopping malls and many cafes opening, old small shops, including the İnci Patisserie, Emek Theater, Robinson Crusoe Bookstore, Rebul Pharmacy, and Librairie de Pera, are being shut down one by one. (HC/FD/VK)