After 135 years, four generations and countless shoes, the last handmade dance shoe shop in Australia is closing its doors.
Salvio's Shoes, founded by Enrico Salvio, has become a familiar part of the arts community in Australia, supplying everyone from The Wiggles to the Australian Ballet to Sigrid Thornton and King Kong.
But cheap foreign imports and the rise of internet sales have hit the business hard, according to Enrico's great-granddaughter Cathy Lennox, and her husband Philip.
"This hasn't just happened in a few weeks, this has happened over the last five years. The whole family is gutted. We're not happy that it's happening," Philip said.
Philip is the fourth generation to learn the fine art of making shoes, and was taught by his father-in-law Ted, now 82.
"Ted has so much knowledge and skill that he's passed on to me and unfortunately once I'm gone, there's probably two or three people left in Australia who still do it our way, everything by hand," he said.
Surviving wars and recessions, Salvio's moved from its original Melbourne store to Sydney in the 1920s and later to its current Randwick address in 1943 and has built a loyal following over the years.
"We've had families come in here for generations; grandmothers who have bought their daughters, and then their granddaughters. It's hard to lose that."
When the couple announced the closure on Facebook, there were thousands of responses.
"Salvio's have looked after my five daughters through dance, debutante balls and weddings since they were little girls ... the quality of their shoes were matched by no other," said one woman.
"We have used Salvios for every child in my dance school, for 50 years now - even our newest babies wear Salvios," said another, a dance teacher from Queensland.
Philip said they are the latest victim among many smaller bricks-and-mortar stores faced with the overwhelming power of online shopping.
"We used to be able cover our overheads with the wholesale side of it, but we're not even getting that anymore because the shops aren't buying because the bricks-and-mortar shops are closing," he said.
"It's just not financially viable to manufacture in Australia because of the cost of components."
In the lead up to closure on June 30 however, Phillip said Salvio's will be doing a roaring trade.
"People are coming in and buying multiples of everything. One grandmother came in the other day for a little pair of tap shoes. When we told her we were closing she said 'Well, l'd better buy a bigger pair as well'."
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